{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=CCCCAEC8-A2B6-4BA9-A419-41FB20436FD1", "Senator Carper Statement on Selection of General John Kelly to Lead the Department of Homeland Security", "2016-12-07", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013\u00a0U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following statement today after the announcement that President-elect Donald Trump has selected General John Kelly, former commander of U.S. Southern Command, to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).\r\n\u201cI sincerely congratulate my friend General Kelly on his selection to be the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. General Kelly is a man of steady leadership who has years of experience working with our neighbors in\u00a0Latin America\u00a0as commander of U.S. Southern Command. Having worked with General Kelly personally on efforts to address the root causes of the surge in migration of children and families to our southern border, I am encouraged by his ability to build relationships with our partners in the region. I also applaud his recognition of the primary role that\u00a0our country\u2019s\u00a0demand for illicit drugs plays in fueling violence and instability in South and Central America. \u200eThe work\u00a0General Kelly has done to cut the supply of illicit drugs traveling through Central America and Mexico into our country has aided law enforcement efforts here at home and helped to reduce the threat these drugs pose to public health.\r\n\u201cThe next DHS Secretary will face critical challenges on a number of fronts,\u00a0including ever-evolving threats in cyber space, increased challenges in emergency preparedness\u00a0due to\u00a0more frequent and deadly extreme weather events caused\u00a0by\u00a0climate change, and efforts to continue the progress made by Secretary Johnson in improving management and efficiency and\u00a0improving\u00a0morale across the department.\u00a0I am\u00a0grateful to General Kelly for his honorable service to our nation\u00a0and\u00a0look forward to discussing with him\u00a0during the confirmation process\u00a0the importance of our continuing commitments in Central America and the department\u2019s ongoing efforts to address emerging challenges. I also look forward to discussing the moral obligation we have to fix our broken immigration system and help the more than 11 million people already living in this country come out of the shadows and fully pursue the American dream.\u201d", 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/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=CCCCAEC8-A2B6-4BA9-A419-41FB20436FD1"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7531100418418646, "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"}