▶ 0:17:11Chair Crapo: The committee will come to order. We meet today to consider favorably reporting the nomination of rodney scott to be commissioner of the U.S. customs customs and border protection. As we have done with other nominees, the meeting this morning will provide members with the opportunity to offer remarks on Mr. scott's nomination. We will notify members of the time and location later today to conduct a vote, and it is my understanding it will be at 11:30.
▶ 0:17:42Chair Crapo: At this hearing, at his hearing, Mr. scott outlined his vision for the workforce through revamped training and expense in -- expansion of resources to modernize and enhance efficiency. I look forward to working with him if confirmed to ensure the cbp is focused on border security, national security, the flow of legitimate trade, and enforcement of U.S. trade laws. Mr. scott's 29 years of service to the U.S.
▶ 0:18:11Chair Crapo: Border patrol and our country makes him duly qualified to oversee cbp, one of the world's largest law enforcement agencies. Mr. scott knows what policies make cbp effective, and I am confident he will implement these policies as soon as he is confirmed. I will vote in favor of his nomination, and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same. I now recognize senator wyden.
▶ 0:18:34Sen. Wyden: Thank you very much, Mr. chairman. U.S. customs and border protection is responsible for all of the goods and people flowing across our borders. It is no exaggeration to say the person in charge of this vast agency is tasked with protecting our country and our economy. That is certainly a tall order. Unfortunately after careful review of his background and qualifications, I can firmly say that the evidence shows that Mr. scott falls short.
▶ 0:19:06Sen. Wyden: In my view, he is unfit and unqualified to be cbp commissioner. He has no experience with customs, facilitation, or enforcement. Donald trump is creating the biggest disruptions to the U.S. customs system that I have seen in my time in public service. He is prepared to leave it in the hands of somebody who has no experience with customs.
▶ 0:19:30Sen. Wyden: The head of cbp will also be in charge of limiting the impact of trump's disastrous tariffs on supply chains and workers. If goods crossing the border get backed up or delayed, that can make or break small businesses in my home state that rely on these goods. Oregon is overwhelmingly a small business state. When you go at it, you can probably count the number of big businesses on both hands. We are a small business state.
▶ 0:20:00Sen. Wyden: Small businesses are getting hammered by these tariff policies. Nothing I have seen in Mr. scott's background shows me he is prepared to meet the challenges I have described. He also has a long history of problematic leadership and judgment. Perhaps the most egregious example is his involvement in the cover-up of a homicide of a migrant detained while Mr. scott was leading the border patrol office in san diego. In 2010, a migrant by the name of Mr. rojas was detained after crossing the border.
▶ 0:20:30Sen. Wyden: He was then beaten by cbp agents and eventually died as a direct result of his injuries. As the guy in charge, the question then becomes, what did Mr. scott do? First he did not follow his own agency's policies. He did not immediately referred the incident to outside investigators. Instead, the office he led started their own investigation into the death of Mr. rojas.
▶ 0:20:58Sen. Wyden: A former cbp internal affairs official told us the investigation was "not an investigation, it was a cover-up." one Mr. scott supervised. An independent human rights commission ruled a few weeks ago the U.S. government violated human rights principles in the death of Mr. rojas.
▶ 0:21:22Sen. Wyden: Fast-forward to 2020 when the trumpet minister should appoint a staggering number of law enforcement officials in my home town of portland to suppress peaceful protest. He was serving as chief of border patrol at that time, and at that time, they provided vast support for the deployment of federal law enforcement officers, that was peaceful protesters -- that whisked peaceful protesters away in unmarked vehicles.
▶ 0:21:49Sen. Wyden: Now in his second term, donald trump seems eager to use every tool at his disposal to weaponize the federal government against groups and individuals that disagree with him or attempt to push back on his agenda. Now in his second term, donald trump seems eager to use each tool at his disposal to weaponize the federal government against groups and individuals that disagree with him or attempt to push back on his agenda.
▶ 0:22:12Sen. Wyden: The person in charge of our borders has to be somebody that is able and willing to push back on the worst impulses and directives of donald trump. We don't need to question what Mr. scott would do if given a questionable order from donald trump because we already know. Him and a willingness to enable donald trump's policies to target american citizens exercising their constitutional rights.
▶ 0:22:42Sen. Wyden: Again, I want to come back to the proposition that customs and border patrol, and I think this is well understood on both sides of the aisle, that at the helm of this critical agency, you need somebody who will prioritize protecting american families and facilitating trade that benefits american businesses. And you need a commissioner who will crackdown on fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking. We know that law enforcement can make a difference. We have seen evidence of that in my home state just recently.
▶ 0:23:08Sen. Wyden: We need a person who is going to not be preoccupied with doing the political bidding of the president, but to focus on the kind of agenda that taps the skills and experience to make sure that we wring every bit a benefit out of customs and border patrol, a critical agency. For all of these reasons, I cannot support Mr. scott's nomination, and I will urge my colleagues now to vote no and will continue to urge that as we go forward.
▶ 0:23:37Chair Crapo: Thank you, senator wyden. I see there are no other senators here desiring to make a statement. So we will at this point recess and reconvene on the floor at 11:30, during the 11:30 vote, and have our vote at that time. Without objection, it is so ordered, and the committee stands in recess.