Reps. Thompson, King, and McCaul urge House leadership to expand committee’s jurisdiction over DHS

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the leader of the House Homeland Security Committee, is urging House leadership to support the expansion of the Committee’s jurisdiction to ensure it has the authority necessary to fully authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Thomas said the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation to create a “single, principal point of oversight and review for homeland security” has not yet been realized almost 20 years after the 9/11 attacks. Thompson, along with former committee chairs, Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Michael McCaul (R-TX), sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Republican Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) outlining the request.

“From port, border, transportation, and cybersecurity to countering the rise of domestic terrorism to responding to disasters, DHS is tasked with a broad and challenging range of mission,” the current and former Chairs wrote. “Sixteen years ago, the 9/11 Commission expressed concern that the way Congress was organized would hinder DHS’ development and bog down critical reform legislation in a web of referrals. Over the past sixteen years, we have had some successes, but the promise of a standing House committee over DHS has not been fully realized.”

In addition, six former Secretaries and Acting Secretaries of Homeland Security – Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff, Janet Napolitano, Jeh Johnson, Rand Beers, and Kevin McAleenan – also sent a letter to Congressional leadership with the same request.

The former Homeland Security secretaries cited “the need to consolidate and strengthen Congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in order to make possible the fundamental changes that DHS urgently needs to protect the American people from the threats we face in 2021.”