Homeland Security

“BOOM! Whoosh!” Awesome doesn’t begin to describe the teeth-rattling thunder of a Patriot missile going supersonic right over your skull as it races to intercept an incoming enemy missile, successfully I might add.

I’m a Patriot fan. It protected Mrs. Koehler’s only son and helped return him from two major theater wars in the Persian Gulf, one in 1991 and the other in 2003. Both times whilst staging in Kuwait anticipating the invasion of Iraq.

Patriot wasn’t new in 1991 and it’s still frontline in 2012. That’s quite a run.

Mass shootings this summer in Aurora, Colorado, and Oak Creek, Wisconsin, horrified Americans and re-kindled debates over gun control, public security, and mental health. They have also focused attention on so-called “lone wolves,” individuals who commit atrocities without material support from an organization. Authorities, news organizations, and our public discourse have denounced the two perpetrators as deranged criminals and domestic terrorists. What lies behind these declarations?

On August 15, the first of perhaps a million or more people who qualify for the DREAM Act will begin stepping forward to apply and pay fees for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a form of temporary deportation relief for undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria. Each case will be evaluated individually, but I am encouraging those who meet the basic criteria to consider applying for DACA or at least get all the information they can about whether it is the right thing for them. Thousands will join me and Senator Dick Durbin, the author of the DREAM Act, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago at the Navy Pier for a workshop on the new program conducted by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and numerous local groups.

On the quiet Sunday evening of April 8, 1956, at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina, Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon ordered his recruit platoon into the tidal marsh as punishment. Six recruits drowned. The public outcry almost did the Marine Corps in – and it resulted in dramatic changes to the leadership and conduct of Marine recruit training.

At a time when the House, Senate, and White House have been unable to come to agreement on a host of issues, the bipartisan consensus on the need to act on cybersecurity has offered some hope for action. The inability of the Senate to proceed to debate the various proposals is thus particularly disappointing. But there is a possible path forward.

President Obama’s reckless amnesty agenda has proved to be both dangerous and deadly for the American people. The House Judiciary Committee this week released a report finding that thousands of illegal and criminal immigrants not detained or deported by federal authorities have gone on to commit more crimes, including murder, rape, kidnapping, and child molestation. 

As part of the committee’s oversight responsibility, a subpoena was issued to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last November for a list of illegal and criminal immigrants who have been brought to the agency’s attention through the Secure Communities program but who have not been detained or deported by the agency. 

Secure Communities is designed to keep our neighborhoods safe by identifying illegal and criminal immigrants in police custody who have been arrested and fingerprinted. Rather than protect the American people he was elected to serve, President Obama has not enforced this commonsense public safety program. 

There may not be agreement on the size and shape of the future force, but there is growing consensus among the nation’s leaders that it’s time to bring U.S. nuclear strategy into the 21st century. This consensus includes two former commanders of U.S. Strategic Command.

Cybersecurity is a critical goal for our nation, and many have urged Congress to enact legislation to address the serious threats posed by hackers and other cyber attacks. At the same time, any new legislation must incorporate robust safeguards for our constitutional rights, and we must ensure that we do not create the equivalent of a new program for warrantless government wiretapping of private internet usage. The information sharing program in the new Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (S. 3414) introduced last week is designed to meet both of these goals – to enable the federal government and the private sector to work together to protect our nation’s computer networks while simultaneously protecting Americans’ civil liberties.

The Republicans are stepping up their efforts to chip away at the president’s credibility on national security.

Late last month, in his drive to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt over Operation Fast and Furious, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) inserted material from a sealed wiretap warrant application into the Congressional Record. Information contained in such applications cannot be released absent a court’s permission, and those who violate the law can be held in contempt. But by placing the information in the Congressional Record — rather than directly releasing it to journalists — Rep. Issa shielded his otherwise illegal conduct behind the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.