WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Today, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) delivered the following opening statement in a hearing discuss the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) operations and its interactions with adversarial foreign governments, especially with the Cuban Regime.
This hearing comes considering a May 2024 delegation from the murderous dictatorship of Cuba, hosted by TSA, which included a tour of sensitive security areas at Miami International Airport (MIA) and a meeting at TSA Headquarters in D.C.
WITNESSES:
Melanie Harvey
Executive Assistant Administrator for Security Operations, Transportation Security Administration
Stacey Fitzmaurice
Executive Assistant Administrator for Operations Support, Transportation Security Administration
Watch the hearing HERE.
Watch a clip from Rep. Gimenez’s questioning HERE.
See below for a transcript of Chairman Gimenez’s opening statement, as prepared for delivery:
Today, our Subcommittee is meeting to discuss Transportation Security Administration’s International Operations and their interactions with adversarial foreign governments, especially with the Republic of Cuba, a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
May 20, 2024, marked the 122nd celebration of Cuban Independence Day, an extremely significant date for Cuban expatriates, many of whom, like me, fled their home after the Communist dictatorship takeover.
Each year on May 20, Cuban-Americans remember the sacrifices made to escape communism, celebrate the freedoms we enjoy in the democratic United States, and pray for those who are still subjugated to the rule of the brutal Communist dictatorship.
However, on May 20, 2024, TSA and the State Department welcomed Castro regime agents to the home of the largest population of Cuban-Americans in the United States by hosting them for a tour of Miami International Airport.
This is a slap in the face to Cuban-Americans all across the country.
Serious precautions must be taken while dealing with the Communist Cuban regime.
Cuba is among the chief counterintelligence and national security threats to the United States.
Just 90 miles from the Florida Keys, part of the district I represent, the regime actively works to deepen ties with our adversaries by allowing the Chinese to operate spy bases and by conducting joint military exercises with Russian warships.
Furthermore, our diplomats in Havana have been victims of anomalous health incidents that are potentially the result of a foreign intelligence service using microwave technology to target our foreign service officers—causing brain damage and long-term disabilities.
Additionally, Cuba’s intelligence service actively recruits spies from U.S. federal agencies, and some of their agents such as Victor Manuel Rocha, Kendall Myers, and Ana Belen Montes have spent decades passing classified information to Cuba. Their information shared to Cuba has caused countless deaths of Cuban citizens attempting to work against the Castro regime and American service members operating around the world.?
I am deeply concerned about the careless nature of this visit. It is evident that TSA and the State Department neglected to take the threat of Cuban officials on American soil seriously which leads me to believe they do not think Cuba poses any real threat to the United States.
TSA and the State Department failed to notify or coordinate this visit with the airport authority, state and local officials, and did not notify Congress of their intention to host a State Sponsor of Terrorism on American soil.
Furthermore, TSA continued the delegation’s visit and allowed the agents access to TSA headquarters after some of my House and Senate colleagues and I sent a letter to TSA Administrator David Pekoske and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressing our outrage.
To make matters worse, senior leaders within TSA, including Administrator Pekoske, were unaware of this visit, which further demonstrates TSA’s negligence and calls into question TSA’s ability to appropriately interact with adversarial foreign governments, such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Cuba.
Unfortunately, we have been through this fire drill before with another Department of Homeland Security component.
Originally published at https://gimenez.house.gov/2024/7/for-immediate-release-chairman-carlos-gimenez-holds-hearing-on-castro-regime-agents-at-tsa-facilities
