Speech #CREC-2018-01-09-pt1-PgH34_t13

These DHS employees are involved in a diverse range of overseas operations targeted at terrorism prevention, counternarcotics, and preventing human smuggling. I am particularly interested in the efforts of the National Targeting Center, which is housed within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to embed intelligence analysts in overseas information sharing operations with international partners to prevent terrorist and other criminal networks from carrying out attacks and criminal operations with impunity. In fact, in a short while, the House will be debating H.R. 4578, the Counter Terrorist Network Act, which, among other things, authorizes overseas deployments from the CBP. About half of overseas DHS personnel are from the CBP and are involved, among other things, in screening U.S.-bound passengers at airports, inspecting cargo being loaded on ships bound for the U.S., and training other nations' customs and border force. Additionally, the DHS also assigns Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents, Secret Service special agents, and Transportation Security Administration officials to overseas posts to engage with international partners on counterterrorism, counternarcotics, information sharing, and criminal investigations, as well as security screening and vetting programs. Just last month, CBP personnel were credited with helping Ecuadoran authorities interdict and arrest seven people and 800 pounds of cocaine. Specifically, a CBP team participating in an aerial surveillance mission in drug transit zones near South America tracked a low-flying aircraft that intelligence reports indicated had not filed a flight plan and, with a long-lens camera, snapped images of the plane's tail number and other identifying details and radioed Ecuador who were waiting when the plane landed to arrest the smugglers. According to CBP, its P-3 plane program patrols more than 42 million square miles in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean and last year contributed to 145 drug seizures, helping American and foreign authorities capture a combined 34,108 pounds of marijuana and 193,197 pounds of cocaine, according to Customs and Border Protection records. More broadly, DHS personnel stationed overseas make important contributions to the Department's efforts in securing the homeland and keeping the American people safe. As such, it is imperative that these individuals are utilized efficiently and effectively.