News and reports from the Department of Homeland Security.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are issuing a technical rule to improve and modernize aspects of the Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Program, which provides legal protections for cyber and physical infrastructure information submitted to DHS.

U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced members that will serve on the committee’s subcommittees in the 118th Congress

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following statement after an announcement today from the United States Postal Service (USPS) saying they intend to move forward with awards to modernize and electrify the postal delivery vehicle fleet:

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, convened a hearing where he urged the Senate to confirm Dr. Colleen Shogan as Archivist of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced bipartisan legislation to extend federal programs that help support local fire departments across the country.

Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) and Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) led the Subcommittee members in calling for a briefing from NORAD and DHS on the possible compromising of homeland equities by the Chinese surveillance balloon that infiltrated U.S. airspace for several days in early February and was capable of conducting intelligence collection operations.

Despite Biden’s Department of Homeland Security celebrating lower migrant encounter numbers last month, CBP had over 156,000 migrant encounters along the Southwest border in January. Don’t be fooled: while the monthly encounter numbers were lower than the previous month, over 156,000 encounters is not a good month.

Full Committee Hearing: “Every State is a Border State: Examining Secretary Mayorkas’ Border Crisis”

Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) released the following statement on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee’s (NSTAC) report to President Biden.

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) announced the first Full Committee hearing of the 118th Congress, which will focus on the widespread and debilitating impact President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas’ border crisis is having on communities across the United States of America.

This week Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) is leading the new and returning members of the House Homeland Security Committee on a “border bootcamp” to the border in El Paso, Texas to get a firsthand look at and be briefed on the daily operations of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Texas State law enforcement partners during President Biden’s current border crisis.

A former FBI special agent was sentenced today to 72 months in federal prison for conspiring to accept at least $150,000 in cash bribes and other items of value in exchange for providing sensitive law enforcement information to a corrupt attorney with ties to Armenian organized crime.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Jason Lee Henderson, age 36, formerly of Wray, Colorado, has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for conspiring to commit money laundering.

District Attorney Brian Middleton announced today that Robin Laschae Williams, 32, was arrested for the alleged theft of $30,000 to $150,000 in COVID19 relief and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster funds.

Karen Hawkins Gier, 53, of Morgan City, Louisiana, was convicted yesterday afternoon by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown. United States District Judge James D. Cain, Jr. presided over the trial this week.