{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/otherstatements?ContentRecord_id=8396f763-383e-4e4d-93cc-e47595497c52", "Senator Carper's Statement on the Nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas", "2013-12-19", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Mr. President\u2014 The Committee which I am privileged to chair \u2013 the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee -- is responsible for working with the Administration and others to help protect our nation\u2019s security at home and abroad. At the same time, we strive to make sure that federal agencies work better and more efficiently with the resources we entrust to them.\r\nDuring my years of public service, I\u2019ve learned that the most important ingredient in enabling organizations to work is leadership. That is the case both in government and the private sector, and in organizations large and small. Part of our shared responsibility here, then, is ensuring that we have effective leaders in place across our federal government.\r\n\r\nAnd, it is every Senator\u2019s constitutional role to provide advice and consent on the President\u2019s nominations in a thorough and timely manner as part of the Senate\u2019s confirmation process.\r\n\r\nWhile Congress will soon wrap up the 2013 session with far less to show for it than many of us would have liked, the Senate will soon have the opportunity to fill a key leadership post in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)\u2014the role of Deputy Secretary.\r\n\r\nThis Department, as we all know, plays a critical role in protecting our nation from harm\u2014whether the threat relates to terrorism from abroad, home grown extremists, cyberattacks, or natural disasters.\r\n\r\nBecause of the Department\u2019s significant role in the security our country, I have been very concerned, as my colleagues well know, for many months about the high number of senior level vacancies at DHS. In fact, the Department has been without a Senate confirmed Deputy Secretary since April and without a Senate confirmed Secretary since early September.\r\n\r\nEarlier this week we took an important step to address this problem by voting to confirm Jeh Johnson as the next Secretary of DHS with overwhelming bipartisan support. That\u2019s good news but we shouldn\u2019t stop there. We need to ensure that Secretary Johnson has a Senate-confirmed leadership team in place, including Alejandro \u201cAli\u201d Mayorkas as his Deputy.\r\n\r\nThis evening I\u2019d like to take some time to speak in strong support of the nomination of Director Mayorkas\u2019 nomination and explain why I firmly believe that he\u2019s one of the leaders we so desperately need at the DHS.\r\nAs of this week, more than eight months have passed since Deputy Secretary Holl Jane Lute stepped down from her post. And, nearly six months have passed since the President nominated Alejandro Mayorkas, currently the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, for that post. It\u2019s time to put in place Senate confirmed leadership in this very important Deputy Secretary position.\r\nThe former Deputy Secretary, Jane Holl Lute, was widely respected by the Members on my Committee and many of my other colleagues in the Senate for her leadership, management, expertise, and candor. She made great strides in many areas \u2013 for example, in narrowing the operational and management issues identified as \"high risk\" by the Government Accountability Office.\r\n\r\nI think it\u2019s safe to say that the Department needs somebody with her same level of commitment to tackling problems head-on.\r\n\r\nAnd I also think it\u2019s safe to say that Director Mayorkas understands and is well-prepared to tackle these management challenges and is committed to continuing these reform efforts needed to move the Department further forward.\r\n\r\nDirector Mayorkas has a distinguished record of leadership and public service. In fact, he has been confirmed by the Senate not once but twice \u2013 first as the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, the youngest U.S. Attorney in the country at that time, and again, in his current capacity, as the leader of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). He has also served as a partner at a major U.S. law firm, O\u2019Melveny and Myers.\r\n\r\nDirector Mayorkas has a long and distinguished record in law enforcement. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he aggressively prosecuted drug traffickers, human smugglers, and violent criminals.\r\n\r\nAs U.S. Attorney, Mr. Mayorkas led the largest federal judicial system in the United States and was appointed by the U.S. Attorney General, Janet Reno, to serve on her advisory committee on ethics and government.\r\n\r\nSince his confirmation\u2014by voice vote\u2014-by the Senate in 2009, Director Mayorkas has served as Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services since 2009, skillfully leading the largest immigration system in the world. In this capacity, Director Mayorkas has been responsible for an 18,000 member workforce that maintains more than 200 offices worldwide and is supported by a $3 billion budget.\r\n\r\nAnd Director Mayorkas has led the effort to turn around an agency that was widely considered to be foundering and helped put it on the path to professionalism and competence.\r\n\r\nHis first action after being confirmed was to order a top to bottom review of the agency to identify its strengths, and weaknesses. When the review concluded, Director Mayorkas became concerned that Citizenship and Immigration Services was prioritizing speed over security when it came to processing visa applications.\r\n\r\nIn order to make sure that national security concerns were getting the proper attention, he created an entire new Directorate responsible for policing visa issuance, reporting directly to him. This ensured that national security professionals would have a seat at the management table, and a voice in all major decisions.\r\n\r\nDirector Mayorkas has proven that he is an exceptional manager during his time at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Let me give you some concrete examples of how he has made the agency more effective.\r\n\r\nHe dramatically improved what I believe is one of the most important programs in all of DHS, e-Verify. This is the voluntary program that allows employers to check whether prospective employees are eligible to work in the United States.\r\n\r\nI was pleasantly surprised to learn that, under Director Mayorkas leadership, the number of employers using e-Verify tripled\u2014from 156,000 employers in 2009 to 473,000 today. The number of people processed by E-Verify also increased from 8.7 million to 20.5 million. That is just tremendous improvement in this important program.\r\n\r\nHis implementation last year of the President\u2019s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program\u2014a hugely complicated and challenging undertaking that brought hundreds of thousands of people out of the shadows\u2014 has also been widely praised.\r\n\r\nWithin 60 days, Director Mayorkas managed to implement a program that processed hundreds of thousands of people, while ensuring that the appropriate security checks were performed. That is simply stunning.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s something else that I found interesting. Just yesterday, the Partnership for Public Service issued its rankings of the best places to work in the federal government in 2013. I was dismayed to find out that the Department of Homeland Security ranked last on their list of Cabinet Departments. However, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was one of the highest ranked components within DHS, coming in at 76 out 300. And when Alejandro Mayorkas took over in 2009, employee satisfaction with senior leadership increased by 21 percent.\r\n\r\nWe need more of that kind of proven and committed leadership at DHS.\r\n\r\nEverything I have learned about Director Mayorkas over the past year has led me to conclude that he is an exceptional candidate to be the next Deputy Secretary at DHS.\r\n\r\nBut don\u2019t just take my word for it. Director Mayorkas has received glowing accolades from a number of our colleagues who have worked closely with him. Among them are Senators Mary Landrieu, a valued member of this committee, and Dianne Feinstein, who recommended Director Mayorkas for his positions in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations.\r\n\r\nWe have also received dozens of letters from a distinguished, bipartisan group of individuals and organizations asking us to move forward with this nomination. I would like to take a little bit of time right now to share with you what some of these distinguished people have been saying about Director Mayorkas.\r\nAmong those writing on Director Mayorkas\u2019 behalf are many individuals whom a lot of us deeply respect -- Jane Holl Lute, the former Deputy Secretary, and Richard Skinner, the last Senate-confirmed Department of Homeland Security Inspector General who was nominated by President George W. Bush.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nI particularly value what Jane Holl Lute has to say, given that she has an unparalleled perspective on what it takes to be an effective Deputy Secretary\u2014having been one herself. She said this about Director Mayorkas: \u201cAs I have come to know Ali, I can tell you that he asks no more of others than he does of himself, and, in leading by example, sets a standard of excellence for all who consider themselves commited to public service. In my view, Homeland Security could be in no better hands.\u201d\r\n\r\nThat is what the last Deputy Secretary has to say about Director Mayorkas.\r\n\r\nIn one of two support letters Mr. Skinner sent our committee \u2013 including one earlier this month \u2013 he said of Director Mayokas: \u201cDuring my tenure as Inspector General, Mr. Mayorkas demonstrated that he possessed the intellectual wherewithal to make objective and oftentimes very tough decisions on complex, multifaceted issues, and a genuine commitment to the mission, vision, and core values of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He is a strong leader who will be able to bring together diverse interests in collaborative efforts.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe list of supporters for Director Mayorkas also includes other senior officials in the George W. Bush Administration such as Kenneth Wainstein, who was President Bush\u2019s Homeland Security Advisor.\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s what Mr. Wainstein had to say: \u201cAli has consistently shown an exceptional ability to mobilize, manage, and lead people and organizations\u2026.as USCIS Director, he has effectively led a large and complex organization during a time of continuing change and challenge. His marked success in that difficult role is a stong predictor of his performance in the Deputy Secretary position.\u201d\r\n\r\nI could not agree more.\r\n\r\nThose from the law enforcement community also laud Director Mayorkas\u2019 leadership. For example, we received strong letters of support from the people charged with securing our borders during the George W. Bush Administration\u2014Robert Bonner, Ralph Basham and Jason Ahern\u2014who all served as Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection\r\n\r\nMr. Bonner wrote: \u201cIt is not merely his willingness to serve the public good that impels me to write this letter of support for his nomination, it is rather my firm belief that Ali has the experience, skills, talents, and plain old good judgment to be an effective Deputy Secretary, perhaps the best DHS has ever had.\u201d\r\n\r\nMr. Basham wrote: \u201cMr. Mayorkas has already served the Department well and honorably in the role of Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I also believe Mr. Mayorkas to be a public servant of integrity with a clear and distinguished track record of leadership.\u201d-\r\n\r\nAnd Mr. Ahern said: \u201cit is my strong opinion that Director Mayorkas\u2019 experience and leadership will be invaluable as DHS continue the work of protecting the homeland against threats of all kinds. As the Department of Homeland Security continues to mature, Alejandro Mayorkas is the right leader to continue that development and also meet the many critical mission challenges faced every day.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo the three most senior border security officials who served under President George W. Bush all agree that Director Mayorkas would make an outstanding Deputy Secretary.\r\n\r\nBut it is not just former DHS officials who feel that way. Chuck Canterbury, the National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, said that Director Mayorkas\u2019 \u201cprofessionalism, leadership skills and integrity make him an ideal candidate for this post.\u201d\r\nAll of these individuals who have worked closely with Director Mayorkas have spoken highly of him, citing his integrity, his commitment to excellence, and his tenacity.\r\n\r\nIn his confirmation hearing, Director Mayorkas said that his goal in life has always been to bring honor to his parents. His parents brought him to this country as a refugee from Cuba. They worked hard every day to give him the opportunity to go to school and make a better life for himself. Like them, he has worked hard all of his life.\r\n\r\nI believe that he has brought great honor to his parents and to this country and would continue to do so as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.\r\n\r\nI urge all of my colleagues to support Alejandro Mayorkas.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/otherstatements?ContentRecord_id=8396f763-383e-4e4d-93cc-e47595497c52"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9052669629454613, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}