'Damn, That's The Third Time': Morgan Luttrell Reacts To Mayorkas Calling Him 'Congresswoman'

5 months ago

At today's House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) questioned DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, where he called Luttrell "Congresswoman."

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Transcript

00:00 I now recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Luttrell, for five minutes of questioning.

00:03 Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary. My colleague has actually just kind of initiated the

00:07 conversations that I wanted to have with you as well. You're

00:11 having discussions with HSI, HIDAT, DPS, out of the state of Texas. One of the biggest issues that

00:20 they are confronted with is their ability to navigate aggregated data on the criminals that

00:26 are moving the individuals into sex trafficking space. Are you comfortable with the amount of

00:34 money that you're asking for in the cyber risk, cyber threat domain and the artificial intelligence

00:38 and machine learning space? Because they're two different entities that need to work very well

00:41 together. And my concern is that the right hand is not talking to the left. We need to expand the

00:48 ability for our agents to process the data. And in the budget proposal, there's only $5 million

00:55 for the new AI office. Are you happy with that number? Congressman, we are pleased with receiving

01:02 additional funding when it comes to crimes of exploitation. I must tell you that if I

01:08 had a wish list, the amount of money would be greater. The amount of personnel that we could

01:14 dedicate to this would be greater. This scourge, this heinous crime is of extraordinary breadth

01:25 and depth of depravity. And we work every day. It is remarkable what our personnel do

01:33 to combat this with our state and local partners, as well as our international partners. This is

01:39 one of the top issues that is raised when I am engaging in the international arena with our

01:45 Five Eyes partners, as well as our European Union colleagues. I hate to speak for the body itself,

01:51 but I think we're really hungry and have a good appetite for the expansiveness of AI in this space.

01:58 This is where I'm going to tell you to be hyper aggressive in order to save these women and

02:02 children that are in this problem set. Congresswoman, Congressman. Damn, that's the third

02:08 time you've done that to me. I'll tell you, I don't even know where to go with that. I was

02:11 hoping you weren't going to do that. Congressman. I mean, we go into the pronouns and all that stuff.

02:16 Congressman, three strikes and I'm out. I understand that. Let me share with you that

02:24 we are indeed harnessing AI to advance the mission in the fight against online

02:31 child sexual exploitation. At the same time, AI presents a risk because the perpetrators use it

02:40 to advance their depraved criminality. And so, Congressman, this is something that we are

02:46 harnessing for good and fighting against bad. That's where I was going earlier. When do we have

02:52 the ability to touch the individuals that are being touched by the bad actors? I'm hoping we do.

02:57 And I know that's a very aggressive problem set. I'm going to roll right on you to immigration.

03:06 And the Senate bill, I never even saw it. So just give me a little latitude on this one.

03:11 I think you're the 14th Homeland Secretary, if I count that. Is that correct? You're number 14?

03:16 I am the seventh confirmed. Seventh confirmed. OK. I don't know where I got 14. I thought it

03:22 was on Wikipedia. Whatever. OK. Mr. Hunter, this Deputy Secretary Hunter was in front of the Border

03:31 Security Subcommittee a few weeks ago, and we were talking immigration issue, immigration policy.

03:36 And I had asked, tasked, requested, because in your opening statement, you said Congress has

03:43 not reformed immigration since the 90s. Well, it is our job to pass legislation, but the subject

03:48 matter experts in immigration live underneath your umbrella. I consider you, are you a subject

03:53 matter expert in immigration, sir? I certainly am admiring of those who know much more than I.

04:00 My ask was, and I was with Mr. Schwoz and Ms. Ramirez were in agreement with this,

04:05 it would seem that the frontline operators are the best to address the immigration issue and where the

04:13 blockade is, where the choke point is. Has a policy ever been written from the Department and

04:18 sent up to Congress? Because I've never seen one. So I'm asking you, have you done that in your

04:24 tenure as Secretary? Have I myself submitted policy recommendations? No, rewritten the policy

04:32 that Mr. Garcia holds up frequently in our hearings that you can't even read. It is the

04:36 absolute problem. Has the Homeland Security Department itself said, you know what, here's

04:41 a problem set. Congress can't get anything done for the last 20 something years. We're going to

04:45 write it for you, submit it. This is the best course of action. Has Homeland Security done that?

04:50 There are two powerful examples. Number one, on his first day in office, President Biden

04:56 presented legislation to Congress. Secondly, I had the privilege and the honor of sitting

05:01 beside the bipartisan group of senators who worked out a compromise that I urged Congress

05:08 to pass. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You bet.

05:11 Gentlemen's time has expired. I now recognize the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Strong, for five minutes.

'Damn, That's The Third Time': Morgan Luttrell Reacts To Mayorkas Calling Him 'Congresswoman'

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