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Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, my message today is to the administration and particularly to President Trump, who is very forcefully enforcing the immigration laws that were not enforced in the last administration, a message about bringing justice to some people who have been harmed by the previous administration.

On January 20, President Trump's first day in office, he signed the Executive order that is called Securing Our Borders Executive Order. His Executive order properly instructs the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to ``fulfill the requirements of the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005.'' That is music to my ears because I have been involved in that issue in regard to the kids who have been lost in this system of immigration that the previous administration has not been able to follow. As I said, that is music to my ears.

For years, my oversight has sounded the alarm on the Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security's failure to fully implement the 2005 DNA Fingerprint Act.

I have a lot of whistleblowers come to me on different subjects. Three whistleblowers--Mark Jones, Mike Taylor, and Fred Wynn--disclosed to their superiors that the Department of Homeland Security wasn't following the 2005 law. In other words, they were not taking DNA from the people whom they were supposed to be keeping track of. Specifically, these whistleblowers disclosed that the government wasn't collecting the DNA from individuals encountered at the southern border like the law requires.

As you might expect, because it happens to so many whistleblowers, instead of being thanked for pointing out this failure, the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection officials retaliated against these whistleblowers. That is why you hear me say so often that whistleblowers are a very--I would like to say they love their country. They want to see their government just simply enforce the law. Then we find out, as I am going to show you, how they are treated like a skunk at a picnic.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Taylor had their law enforcement credentials removed. After 30 years of Federal service, Mr. Taylor lost his law enforcement retirement benefits. All three were subject to harassment.

The Office of Special Counsel has the power to investigate and did investigate and substantiated their whistleblower disclosures and that retaliation occurred.

President Trump and this administration, moving so forcefully to see that the laws are enforced, ought to appreciate whistleblowers who are telling the truth about the government not carrying out the law. In this case, I am asking President Trump to immediately remedy the situation of these whistleblowers.

Last year, how I became acquainted with a lot of this--at least the details of it--I hosted an oversight roundtable with these whistleblowers. The roundtable exposed that the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection failed to take the DNA of the individuals charged with the tragic murder of Rachel Morin despite having three opportunities to take those fingerprints. Had the Biden-Harris Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection done their job, there is a chance that Ms. Morin would be alive today.

This Executive action couldn't come soon enough. That is why I am pleading with President Trump or his staff to follow up and make sure that justice is brought to these three whistleblowers. Then the President is going to see that the law is enforced. I don't have any doubt about the President seeing that this law is carried out in the future because full compliance with the law will make our border stronger and our citizens safer.

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