Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Tuesday said that he is committed to the Coast Guard’s plans to recapitalize its aging assets which are critical to saving lives and interdicting drugs and illegal migrants at sea.
Kelly told the House Homeland Security Committee in his first appearance before Congress as head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that the Coast Guard Commandant would “hit me in the head with a bat” if he didn’t support the service’s ongoing replacement and modernization of its cutters, aircraft and C4ISR systems.
“Their equipment is very, very old,” Kelly said at the hearing, which was largely focused on security of America’s southern border and President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders on pausing immigration from certain countries and completing a security wall between the United States and Mexico.
Kelly praised the Coast Guard for being “in the fight every day” for its rescue and crime fighting operations. In his prepared remarks Kelly stated that “Successful Coast Guard interdictions in the maritime transit zones feed a cycle of success, subsequent prosecutions lead to actionable intelligence on future events, which produces follow-on seizures and additional intelligence.”
“We have to recapitalize the organization,” Kelly said.
The Coast Guard is well on its way to completing purchases of new short and high-endurance cutters and will soon begin acquiring new medium-endurance vessels. The service is also working with industry to design and acquire new polar icebreakers.
Kelly also said that Trump has ordered a “complete top to bottom relook” on cyber security. Last week the president was expected to sign an executive order on cyber security but signing was canceled without explanation by the White House.
Trump last week said he will hold heads of federal departments and agencies accountable for managing cyber security risks of their networks and that their network security could be better. He also said that agency’s information technology systems will be modernized for better security and other uses.
The cyber executive order is still being worked and is “vastly different” from a version that leaked recently, Kelly said, adding that the earlier version “did send shiver, my own organization included.” He said DHS is working with the White House on the executive order and that it will work with Congress “to make sure going forward that the EO says the right things and gets at the right problem.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the committee, said he doesn’t want a cyber directive “that is inconsistent with current law.”
Kelly also said that DHS is maintaining its current role in maintaining security for federal civilian networks.
In early January before Trump was inaugurated former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson designated the election infrastructure of states and localities as critical infrastructure, which means the department will provide cyber security assistance and protections to these systems on a formal and enduring basis. Kelly said that he agrees with the designation, saying that the department “should help states here.”
In late January Trump issued an executive order that temporarily suspends immigrants and non-immigrants from seven countries, including Iraq, Libya, Iran and Syria, from coming to the U.S. until the U.S. can enhance the vetting of these individuals. Kelly said that these countries don’t have the institutions in place to give the U.S. confidence that their nationals applying to come to the U.S. are who they say they are.
Trump’s directive doesn’t spell out what the enhanced vetting procedures might be but Kelly said they could review checks of social media accounts and questions about who is financing their trip to America. If these individuals don’t cooperate they won’t be allowed into the country, Kelly said.
The countries in question are broken or near-broken and in the case of Iran a sponsor of terrorism, Kelly said.
Typically refugees applying for asylum to the U.S. also go through vetting by the United Nations refugee agency in addition to checks by U.S. authorities.
Regarding Trump’s plans for expanding a border security wall along the southern border, Kelly said that Border Patrol and local law enforcement personnel in McAllen, Texas adjacent to Mexico told him last week that there are specific areas where additional physical barriers are needed to help stop illegal activity at the border.
Kelly said that where new or upgraded sections of physical barriers are constructed will be prioritized based on security requirements. Ultimately how much additional fencing is built beyond the current 654 miles is unclear. Kelly said the additional wall won’t be “built everywhere” at once.
Kelly also said that personnel and technology, including aerostats, will be part of the border security solution.
Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol, has been deploying various sensors and technology, including aerostats and towers, to improve security along various stretches of the southern border for years.