Recognizing and Honoring the Employees of the Department of Homeland Security

RECOGNIZING AND HONORING THE EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

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

I rise today in support of House Resolution 134, which honors and recognizes the contributions the employees of the Department of Homeland Security make to our country's safety and security.

I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this resolution with my Homeland Security colleague, CHRISTOPHER CARNEY, who chairs the Management, Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee. I also want to acknowledge other original cosponsors, including my subcommittee ranking member, MIKE ROGERS, full committee chairman BENNIE THOMPSON, and full committee ranking member PETER KING, a man who has worked on Homeland Security issues, and I greatly admire his work.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to help bring this resolution to the floor today because I think that DHS employees are too often overlooked and underappreciated, and unfairly criticized in most cases despite their most dedicated and earnest efforts to do their job, which they do very well.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that they have been tasked with an almost impossible job, I think you will agree, and am confident that DHS employees are doing the very best they can under some extraordinary, difficult circumstances.

I was, however, particularly disappointed to learn, as the recent survey shows, that the morale of the department is low, and that DHS employees have less job satisfaction than any other group of Federal employees. That is not good to see. I have heard that the department's employees are concerned that they do not have the resources to do their jobs effectively, that they are not promoted based on merit, that creativity and innovation are not properly rewarded, and, perhaps most troubling, most of them do not believe that they have access to adequate information about what is happening in their department.

This needs to change, as far as I am concerned. I am heartened that department secretary, Michael Jackson, has told DHS employees, ``Starting at the top, the leadership team across DHS is committed to address the underlying reason for DHS employee dissatisfaction and suggestions for improvement.'

I also commend DHS Secretary, Michael Chertoff, in comments before our committee last week for acknowledging the problem and promising to fix it. I believe it is imperative to the security of our homeland that the dedicated men and women who carry out the directives and policies that Congress puts forward feel good about themselves and the jobs that they are doing so they can best achieve the very noble goals toward which they are working.

It should be proud of the work the more than 200,000 employees at DHS work tirelessly to help prevent and respond to acts of terrorism, natural disasters and other emergencies. I think Secretary Chertoff's directive to the Homeland Security Advisory Council to establish a culture task force to respond on ways to empower, energize, and create a more mission-focused culture within DHS and among its Federal, State and local partners was a good first step.

I would say, however, that the answers lie not in creating more bureaucracy but in streamlining and better defining the mission of DHS headquarters and allowing its component organizations to use their particular talents and expertise to accomplish their individual mission in as efficient, creative, and innovative manner as possible.

I also believe we must acknowledge the role that Congress has played and will continue to play in the ultimate success or failure of the department in accomplishing its mission of defending America and saving lives. We in this body must be sensitive to the demands and mandates that we place on DHS employees in the conduct of the war.

I think we can all agree that an overwhelming majority of DHS employees are hardworking, as I said. They are dedicated and hardworking individuals who are personally committed to keeping us, our families, our country secure from terrorist attacks and other disasters that could befall this great Nation.

We must remember, however, that decentralized congressional jurisdiction over Homeland Security issues and the desire to provide proper oversight often makes it difficult for them to do their job. I hope that, especially as members of the Homeland Security Committee, we do not unintentionally make their jobs more difficult in our desire to do our jobs.

I want to thank full committee chairman BENNIE THOMPSON, ranking member PETER KING, subcommittee chairman CHRIS CARNEY, and subcommittee ranking member MIKE ROGERS for bringing this resolution to the floor today.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution and recognize the contributions DHS employees make to protect and secure our Nation. They should know that we understand the daily challenges they face and appreciate the dedication and hard work, the professionalism which they embody, and they conduct themselves in a fine manner.

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

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