Date: 2015-07-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1656. the "Secret Service Improvements Act of 2015." The "Secret Service Improvements Act." is important because it will provide vital resources and strengthen protections of this important agency. The Secret Service agency is one of the most elite law enforcement organizations in the world and has earned this reputation by providing 140 years of unparalleled service to this nation. However. the Secret Service is facing a number of challenges. including the need for more resources. better training. better use of technology. and a better understanding of emerging threats. This bill addresses each of these needs. I am particularly pleased that Section 14 of this bill incorporates my amendment to create an Ethics Program Office to fully and effectively implement and administer the ethics laws. regulations. and policies governing Secret Service employees. In recent years. the image of this oncerevered agency has been tarnishedboth because of misbehavior of agents and performance issues that resulted in security lapses. Much of the negative attention on the personal behavior of Secret Service agents was initially prompted by the revelations in 2012 involving the solicitation of prostitutes by agents of the Secret Service in Cartagena. Colombia. At the time. it was reported that a dozen Secret Service agents engaged the services of prostitutes before a presidential visit to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas. I attended that Summit and was appalled to have learned of the behavior of some of the agents. In my capacity as Ranking Member of the Judiciarys Subcommittee on Crime and Senior Member of the Committee on Homeland Security. I examined the Cartagena incident. and met with thenDirector Mark Sullivan to express my concern and press for strong corrective action. In fact. I have engaged in persistent oversight with respect to issues involving the Secret Service. ranging from the intrusion into the White House last year to the 2009 incident in which a couple evaded security to attend a state dinner at the White House honoring the Prime Minister of India. I have met with Directors of the Secret Service on multiple occasions over the past several years to discuss and address performance and misconduct issues. Agent misconduct of the sorts that have taken place in recent years is unacceptable. It is more than offensiveit jeopardizes the ability of the agency to carry out its core mission. To address misconduct issues and ethical lapses by Secret Service personnel. the managers amendment includes a provision I developed. in cooperation with the Secret Service. that will help elevate the issue of ethical conduct at the agency through the creation of an Ethics Program Office. With respect to other issues related to the protection provided by the Secret Service. it is clear that the agency has been operating at an unacceptable level of resources. The agency is understaffed at the agent and Uniform Division levels. resulting in shifts that are too long and which leave inadequate time for training. The agency also needs to better use stateoftheart technology and communications equipment. All of these deficiencies contributed to the security breakdowns that allowed a man to climb over the White House fence. evade Secret Service officers while running across the White House lawn. and then run into the White House itself. The goal of H.R. 1656 is to prevent future such incidentsand to protect against even more sophisticated threats that could result in far more harm. This bill also would require that future directors of the Secret Service. after nomination by the President. be subject to Senate confirmation. The current Director. Joseph Clancy. appears to be doing a good job in reinvigorating that agency. and we do not propose this as a criticism of him. or the Presidents selection of him. in any way. However. this positionas is the case with the directors of the other law enforcement components of the Department of Homeland Securityshould be Senateconfirmed. reinforcing the need to appoint the most highlyqualified candidates and elevating the position in stature. With the consideration of this legislation today. we recognize that it is unfortunately the case that the Secret Service has recently failed to live up to its high standards with respect to the protection it provides our President and others. By adopting the "Secret Service Improvements Act." we can help restore the agency so that it will be better prepared to achieve its mission.