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October 18, 2023

Cybersecurity Awareness Month insights and analysis

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security

In this interview, U.S. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (MS-2), Ranking Member, House Committee on Homeland Security, discusses the state of cyber security, both in the U.S. and internationally. He addresses national security, ransomware threats, emerging legislation, “target-rich, resource poor” industries, capacity building efforts across the globe and so much more. Don’t miss this! How does the U.S. plan to bolster cyber security resilience, amidst an increasingly hostile threat landscape, … Continue Reading


November 02, 2022

Domestic terrorism is a threat we can’t ignore

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman, House Committee on Homeland Security

Since the 2016 election campaign, rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans in Congress has inspired right-wing domestic terrorists to violence. In this time, we have seen an uptick of extremists of all types willing to engage in political violence, we’ve seen militia groups mobilized to violence for the 2020 election and we’ve seen political violence continue throughout and beyond Trump’s presidency. This August, after the … Continue Reading


October 27, 2022

Cybersecurity Awareness Month highlights the importance of improving US cybersecurity

by Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Chair of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation

A series of high-profile cyber incidents at the beginning of 2021 catapulted the 117th Congress into action. Across chambers and party lines, and with steadfast leadership from the Biden-Harris administration, we came together to enact enormously consequential cybersecurity policy. This Congress also ushered in a new era of collaboration with the private sector, which has come to the table to work with the federal government to develop sound policies to advance improved cybersecurity … Continue Reading


July 27, 2021

We have started investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Nothing will be off-limits.

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson

On Jan. 6, a violent mob attacked the citadel of our democracy - the U.S. Capitol - in an attempt to prevent Congress from doing its constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. On Tuesday, the bipartisan Select Committee on the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol begins its work investigating the facts, circumstances and causes of this assault on our democracy. I had hoped that such an investigation would be carried out by … Continue Reading


January 15, 2021

Why the Senate must confirm Biden's Homeland Security pick on Day 1

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson

In nearly 28 years in Congress -- including six spent as chair of the US House Committee on Homeland Security -- I have never experienced a day quite like that which my colleagues and I endured last Wednesday. Having lived through 9/11 and other attacks, most Americans have little difficulty appreciating the threat of foreign terrorism and the need to vigilantly guard against it. But never in our lifetimes has the threat of domestic terrorism struck so close to the bedrock of our … Continue Reading


June 25, 2020

Mississippi needs to ensure safe, equal access to ballot box in November

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson

The recent police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have forced a national conversation on systemic racism. Across the America, protesters have demanded that the government empower marginalized communities of color. For me, empowerment starts with access to the ballot box. Over the course of our history, however, the manner in which the state of Mississippi has administered elections has disenfranchised people of color. Whether through the location of far-flung polling places or … Continue Reading


April 19, 2020

Create Coronavirus Commission now to review pandemic response

by Reps. Bennie G. Thompson, Adam Schiff, and Stephanie Murphy

The fight against coronavirus is unlike any our nation has waged in modern history. But this is not the first time we have been tested in such a sudden and devastating fashion - and Congress should draw lessons from our past experience. On Dec. 7, 1941, Imperial Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, killing over 2,000 Americans, crippling the Navy's Pacific Fleet and drawing us into World War II. On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, murdering nearly … Continue Reading


March 18, 2020

False Claims, Families In Danger: This Isn't A First For The Trump Administration

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson & Rep. Zoe Lofgren

The Trump Administration has made false and contradictory claims in an effort to obscure its failure to plan for and manage a crisis, putting children and families at great risk. You might think we are talking about its response to the coronavirus pandemic. However, we are referring to the Administration's so-called "zero tolerance policy," which resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the US-Mexico border. A new government watchdog report out today suggests … Continue Reading


February 28, 2020

Commitments to diversity in national security must go beyond Black History Month

by Chairman Bennie G. Thompson

Black History Month is a typical time for the country - including our national security establishment - to celebrate the accomplishments of African-Americans with remarkable legacies in their respective fields. We rightfully celebrate the achievements of African-American national security leaders, including former National Security Advisor Susan Rice and former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, and others. Honoring the contributions of these trailblazers is critical as our nation looks … Continue Reading


November 07, 2019

Trump still owes us answers on Mississippi ICE raids, lack of business prosecutions

by Chairman Bennie G. Thompson

It has been three months since the massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Mississippi, and the Trump administration has yet to answer key questions on its planning, timing, and scope. By all accounts, the Aug. 7 raids were an excessive show of force that upended communities across Mississippi and took parents away from their children. ICE has only targeted workers - rather than employers - for prosecution. Worse yet, these raids focused on the same community - Latinos - that … Continue Reading


September 17, 2019

We need the full picture on domestic terrorism

by Chairman Thompson

Imagine that you have been given a jigsaw puzzle to solve without the reference picture on the box and without all the necessary pieces. Clearly this is an absurd-and impossible-task. But when it comes to understanding the full picture of domestic terrorism, Congress and the American people are trapped in this futile exercise. In March, we learned-from unpublished FBI data leaked to the press-that there were more arrests tied to domestic terrorism than to international terrorism in 2017 and … Continue Reading


July 23, 2019

Social media companies are failing to stop the spread of terrorism online

by Rep. Max Rose

The Christchurch terrorist exploited the extraordinary power of social media to broadcast his message of violence and hate across the world. As he brutally murdered 51 people and wounded 49 more in two mosques in New Zealand, his livestream on Facebook ran uninterrupted-and before it was ultimately pulled down from Facebook, it was quickly posted and shared millions of times across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms. This is the new age of terrorism, defined by the rise of … Continue Reading


July 07, 2019

No More Excuses from Administration on Border Facility Conditions

by Chairman Thompson

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General issued its latest alert on severe overcrowding, prolonged detention, and unlawful conditions in Border Patrol facilities, this time in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Of the 8,000 people in Border Patrol custody in the area, 2,669 were children. Dozens of unaccompanied children under the age of seven had languished in custody for two weeks or more. At the majority of the facilities, the children had no access to showers, … Continue Reading


July 26, 2018

Family reunification deadline puts spotlight on crisis the administration created at the border

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS)

One thing that all Americans seem to agree is on is that our nation's immigration system has been broken for decades and is in dire need of reform. While politicians have been fighting over this for years, the blame for the ongoing humanitarian crisis at our southern border and in children's shelters across America belongs to one person only: President Donald J. Trump. While images of children taken from their families no longer fill the front pages of newspapers, very little has changed on … Continue Reading


March 02, 2018

TRUMP SLUMP: His racially charged, xenophobic words hurt our economy. Will that make him stop?

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member, House Committee on Homeland Security

We're losing billions of dollars and thousands of jobs over inflammatory Trump language that's caused many foreign students and tourists to avoid us. President Trump's incendiary, xenophobic rhetoric - often masquerading as homeland security policy - corresponds directly with recent declines in U.S. favorability abroad and overall global confidence in U.S. leadership. Over the past year, there has been a stark decline in the number of international visitors to the U.S. and international … Continue Reading


February 14, 2018

The Russians — and the Midterms — Are Coming

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA)

In November 2016, 139 million Americans cast their votes in the wake of a massive Russian cyber-enabled operation to influence the outcome of the presidential election. The Kremlin spread disinformation through hundreds of thousands of social media posts. Russian agents hacked U.S. political organizations and selectively exposed sensitive information. Russia targeted voting systems in at least 21 states, seeking to infiltrate the networks of voting equipment vendors, political parties and … Continue Reading


October 20, 2017

One Month Since Maria Hit Puerto Rico, President Trump Must Commit To Long Term Recovery

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security

Since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico one month ago, President Trump has made a number of bizarre statements, typically via Twitter, about the federal government's obligations to relief efforts, the status of relief efforts, and the Americans living in Puerto Rico. Although the statements were often incorrect and at times profoundly offensive, I tried to concentrate on the disaster relief mission, and hoped that he too would take on this mission with a greater sense of obligation - rather … Continue Reading


July 10, 2017

Vacancies in federal cybersecurity directorate leave the U.S. more vulnerable

by Ranking Member Thompson

Regarding the June 28 news article “Ukraine fares worst as cyberattack sweeps Europe with ransom demands”: It should be noted that there are numerous vacancies in the Department of Homeland Security and its National Protection and Programs Directorate, which is charged with protecting U.S. cyber-infrastructure. President Trump was quick to install most Cabinet heads. Hundreds of other positions, including deputies who ensure the government is running, have not been filled. NPPD has no … Continue Reading


June 20, 2017

Trump’s budget decimates our local first responders

by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS)

After the Manchester bombing last month, local police officers, firefighters and paramedics were first at the scene. After the mass shooting inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016, the first to respond were local first responders. The same was true after San Bernardino in 2015 and after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Time and time again, we are reminded that local first responders are our first line of defense in response to acts of terrorism. Terrorist activity always … Continue Reading


February 27, 2017

Independent Commission Must Investigate President Trump’s Potential Russian Ties

by By Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS)

The endurance of our nation's security, sovereignty, and democracy is not a partisan issue. This is a top concern for all Americans and should be a top priority for the leaders that we send to Washington, whether Democrat or Republican. As elected officials, my colleagues and I swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We, therefore, have a responsibility to do our due diligence in investigating Russian interference, and … Continue Reading

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