Department of Homeland Security officials declined to testify Tuesday at a Senate hearing on keeping Americans safe in Europe following last month’s attacks in Brussels, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs said.
But Secretary Jeh Johnson was on Capitol Hill at the same time as the scheduled hearing conducting a press conference on to ask for additional funding for the department in fiscal 2017.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in his opening statement that the committee invited officials on March 22 from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center to testify at Tuesday’s hearing on threats to Americans in Europe.
“Unfortunately nobody from any of those departments or agencies agreed to testify, which is disappointing to me,” the chairman said. “I know Secretary Johnson is on the Hill today having a press conference on additional funding for DHS.”
The senator suggested that appearing before the committee to talk about threats the department must counter may have been a good way to convince Congress it needed the extra money.
“Listen, we want to support the department having the tools, the resources, they need to keep this nation safe,” the senator said. “I think a pretty good way to try and secure those resources is coming before a committee like this to lay out the reality of what the problem is, so I am disappointed we don’t have a government witness today.”
Instead, expert witnesses from four think tanks testified before the committee on threats to Americans traveling or living in Europe and what steps the country can take to mitigate them.
