Markwayne Mullin And Martin Heinrich Discuss Senate Security In Aftermath Of Minneapolis Shootings

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During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) discussed security measures in the Senate.

Transcript

00:00of the legislative branch bill. It's not really finally because we will go back to CJS.

00:07I want to thank Senators Mullen and Heinrich, as well as their staffs, for their hard work.

00:13And I will curtail the rest of my comments in the interest of time, but know that I very much

00:22appreciate your work. I'll now recognize Vice Chair Murray if she would like to comment on this bill.

00:28Just real quickly, I want to thank both Chair Mullen and Ranking Member Heinrich for your

00:32tremendous work on this bill. It supports our hardworking congressional staff that all of us

00:37rely on. It supports CBO and CRS and GAO, which provide priceless insights to help us write strong

00:44legislation and root out waste and fraud in government. And it's important as well because

00:50of the incredible work both of you have done on supporting the dedicated personnel who keep us

00:55and our visitors at the Capitol safe. It includes an essential increase for Capitol Police and

01:01emergency funding to protect lawmakers. I know both of you are committed to working on that,

01:06and I just personally want to thank you for that. I appreciate everyone's hard work, and I will be

01:10a yes vote. Senator Mullen, Chairman of the subcommittee, please proceed.

01:16Thank you, Chairman. I want to thank the committee leadership for the commitment to moving this

01:20appropriation process forward. The American people deserve transparency and accountability in the

01:25budget process, and this is a positive step forward. I also want to thank Ranking Member Heinrich,

01:30who we have a very good relationship with, for his support in drafting the bipartisan legislation branch

01:36appropriations bill. This meets and needs the needs of Congress and our agencies in a physical,

01:42responsible manner. The bill, which provides $7.1 billion in funding to the legislative branch,

01:49builds a strategic investment we have made to improve the security of Congress and strengthen

01:54our capabilities to work on behalf of the American people. It also provides additional resources for

02:00the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and the Capitol Police to keep the Capitol complex, the members of Congress,

02:05our family, staff, and most importantly, our visitors safe while they're here. We are committed to

02:10continue working in a bipartisan manner with the committee and Senate leadership and the authorization

02:14on the best path forward to address the involving security concerns. In closing, I want to thank

02:20Senator Heinrich's staff, Richard Braddock and Molly Ackers. Is that what I'm saying right?

02:28Yes? Okay, thank you. And my staff, Molly McCartney, and their work putting this together. I know they

02:35work countless hours, put us in touch, talking through several issues. With that, I know we have some

02:42questions about security. I don't know if you want me to address that now or if you wouldn't like me to address

02:48that now. Just for the members' concerns, there's a lot of issues that came out, especially after what

02:55happened in Minnesota with member security. Martin and I have spent multiple conversations together making sure we

03:06address these concerns. We put report language in here to allow us to address those as needs come through.

03:12I've been working with Jennifer at Sergeant Arms, working on a test program that we're probably going to

03:18roll out, hopefully, in August, where we will have a really good idea of the cost it will take to

03:25properly address security concerns for members, not just here, but also in their home states.

03:32Also, looking at technology security concerns in the member's house. I mean, because a lot of us are here,

03:39why our families are at home. We want to make sure they're secure. We have a good path forward on

03:45funding for that, but before we just throw money at it, we want to know what it's actually going to

03:51cost so we can properly appropriate it. I am absolutely not opposed to looking at security for

03:56everybody here. I think that is probably something we need to do, and I'm fully committed on following

04:03through with that process, but I can come back to the committee, hopefully, in two months and actually

04:08have a very accurate proposal to what we need to fully fund the program.

04:16That, I'll yield back.

04:17Thank you. Senator Heinrich.

04:20Thank you, Chair Collins and Vice Chair Murray. The legislative branch bill is the smallest that this

04:26committee produces, but it's also one of the most important because it really helps ensure that we

04:32maintain our role as a separate and equal branch of government, and this balance of power has never

04:38been more important, I think, than probably right now. To be an effective check and balance to the

04:45executive, the Congress, and our support agencies need the resources to carry out our responsibilities,

04:50and I especially want to thank Chair Mullin and his clerk, Molly McCarty, for working on us, on this

04:57bill with us in such a constructive and productive manner. I also want to thank my team, including

05:04Richard Braddock and Elizabeth Hill, for their work to develop this bipartisan bill. Neither side got

05:10everything we wanted, but we continue to find common ground on many important matters. To achieve that goal,

05:17our bill continues to focus on investments in security, oversight, campus operations, and

05:22constituent services, and I want to again thank Chair Mullin for his commitment to work with me on

05:29ensuring that we provide the necessary resources for the protection of the Congress. Our bill provides

05:36some placeholders, as he mentioned, for several security-related activities that Chair Mullin and I have

05:41collectively agreed to further develop and appropriately fund in conference based on

05:46additional information that we expect to receive from the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and the Capitol

05:52Police, and I think that this bill really provides a bipartisan package that supports our most critical

05:58needs, and I would urge all of our colleagues to vote for it, Madam Chair. That is the bulk of my

06:04comments. There is going to be a manager's amendment, and I will urge support of that as well, just for

06:09to be brief. Thank you.

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