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Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, colleagues, I rise today to address the nomination of Governor Kristi Noem to serve as the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

I think we will all agree that there are very few jobs more important to the safety and security of American lives than that of Secretary of Homeland Security.

Created in 2002 in the wake of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the DHS Secretary and the Offices and Agencies under its purview are responsible for some critical things, including our national security, working to protect us against terrorism. DHS implements our Nation's immigration policy. DHS directs disaster responses to States and Territories across the country. And, of course, they are responsible for cyber security and election security.

It is a role that I believe requires complete and total commitment to the safety of the American people above all else--above politics, above personal ambition, and above loyalty to one man or movement--because for whomever is Secretary, American lives are literally on the line.

Unfortunately, in the months and years prior to Governor Noem's nomination, and certainly over the course of her nomination process, it has become clear to me that she is not fit for the job. Time and again, she has demonstrated her loyalty lies more with President Trump than it does with the American people, and it is my belief that, when pressed, we cannot count on a potential Secretary Noem to make decisions that are in the best interest of the people and of the values that we hold as a nation over doing the President's bidding.

So, today, I want to take a few minutes to explain my thinking--both to the nominee and to the Nation--about why I believe she is unfit to lead a Department of this importance.

To begin with, leading DHS is so much more than about providing fodder for FOX News. In recent weeks, the people in my home State of California have seen just how vital this Department and its Agencies can be. As of today, multiple wildfires across Southern California have burnt over 55,000 acres. They have destroyed more than 16,000 structures, and they have taken the lives of at least 28 Californians.

Even as firefighters continue to fight massive blazes like the Palisades and the Eaton fires that have raged for weeks, red flag conditions persist, and new fires continue to ignite. Northwest of Los Angeles, for example, the Hughes fire grew to more than 10,000 acres in just 2 days.

But while the fight still rages on, we know that, in the months and years to come, Los Angeles will rebuild. But we are going to need the rest of the country to support Los Angeles in its recovery, just as Los Angeles has always been there for the rest of the country.

This is now Los Angeles's time of need, and we are going to need all of you. We are going to need Federal disaster aid, and it will require a nonpartisan effort from FEMA.

Whether it is wildfires in Los Angeles; hurricanes in Florida, Louisiana, the Carolinas; or ice storms in Texas, Mother Nature does not distinguish between red States and blue States, and neither should our disaster response efforts. Yet, even as we speak, President Trump is floating reckless ideas like eliminating FEMA, suggesting that States take care of their own problems.

President Trump wants to impose conditions on aid to California while thousands of families have lost their homes and businesses. In a situation like this, when lives are on the line, we need a DHS Secretary who will do right for all Americans. We need a DHS Secretary who will speak truth to power. But based on her testimony before this body, I don't believe Governor Noem is capable or willing to do that.

So, yes, Southern California has a long road back to rebuilding our communities, and, as I said, we are going to need all hands on deck, which brings me to my next point.

Immigrants in Los Angeles will, no doubt, be critical in the rebuilding of our communities. Over 40 percent of construction workers in California are immigrants. But more than that, our national economy relies on immigrants too.

Let me remind folks that during President Trump's first term, his administration--the Trump administration--designated workers in the healthcare, food and agriculture, education, public works, and other sectors as essential workers during the pandemic. And those sectors include millions of immigrants, both documented and undocumented. That is right, colleagues. Undocumented immigrants are and have been, for a long time, a critical part of our healthcare workforce, of our hospital industry, of our tourism sector, of our transportation systems. And they make up around 42 percent of our agricultural workforce. Think about that the next time you are in the produce section of your grocery store.

If tomorrow President Trump could snap his fingers and deport all undocumented immigrants from this country, as he has threatened to do, our annual GDP would drop by 6.8 percent.

So let's be clear. Do the math. Mass deportations would lead to mass inflation. Businesses would shutter. Crops would rot in the fields. Prices would rise for all Americans.

Even in the face of political headwinds, we need a DHS Secretary who will tell the truth--and not just to the President but to the American people--tell the truth about how the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are not violent criminals but they are critical to our economy.

Instead, during her confirmation hearing, Governor Noem repeatedly made false claims about undocumented immigrants. Under oath, she repeated lies that misrepresent noncitizens as security threats. She even denied the well-documented existence of family separations that occurred during the first Trump administration.

We can agree or disagree on policy, but don't lie about the facts. Because if a nominee can so easily lie about a verifiable fact just to curry favor with President Trump, how can we trust him or her to tell the truth to the American people during a crisis?

And between a potential Secretary Noem, a Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and the Border Czar Tom Homan all competing for President Trump's attention with hard-line immigration enforcements, the Department of Homeland Security will suffer.

Other Agencies and responsibilities within the Department will falter. Roles like critical investigations into theft or into child exploitation would take a back seat to their political priorities, areas like cyber security and election security--agencies like CISA, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is a critical resource in an age of misinformation and disinformation and attacks on our elections. And I speak from experience. You may recall that I served as California Secretary of State, the chief elections officer for California, prior to me coming to the Senate.

But rather than rise to the occasion, to meet the real threats that we are confronting, Governor Noem has stated that she wants to downsize CISA and cut back on our election security efforts, and I don't take those threats lightly.

So from national security to immigration to disaster response to election security, we face serious challenges, colleagues. Not one of those challenges will be solved by prioritizing loyalty to one man over loyalty to our country and to our Constitution.

So given her clear, unwavering allegiance to one man over country, for her willingness to push falsehoods over facts, I will oppose her confirmation and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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