Homeland Security

As Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee my top priorities are to address the al Qaeda-Hezbollah terrorist threat, border security, cyber security and fixing the Department of Homeland Security to ensure it is capable of carrying out its core mission of protecting the homeland.  In addition, I am working to make the nation’s airport security system smarter and more efficient.

Being a Texan, border security is of the utmost importance to me.  In November 2012, I authored the second edition of his report “A Line in the Sand: Confronting Crime, Violence and Terror at the Southwest Border”, which revealed the increased presence of Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America and their relationships with drug cartels that control smuggling routes into the United States.

I have also helped secure three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Texas to provide law enforcement with better border surveillance and have worked towards identifying existing Department of Defense technologies that have proven successful in Iraq and Afghanistan, for use along the Southwest border without duplicating research and development, ultimately saving taxpayers money and making the equipment operational more quickly.

Cyber Security is also a very pressing matter in today's world.  I served co-chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th President, which presented cyber security recommendations to President Obama’s administration upon taking office in 2009.  In 2012 I authored the Cyber Security Enhancement Act, which passed the House, and would help harden federal networks, improve coordination inside and outside of government, improve research and development as well as the quality of our cyber workforce.  With a high concentration of high tech companies in the 10th Congressional district, I maintain a closerelationship with the high tech community from Austin to Washington to Silicon Valley and have worked to include industry in shaping cyber security policy in order to promote information sharing and protect critical infrastructure.