Kirk Skinner (00:11):
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Kirk Skinner. I'm the Federal Security Director for Greater Tampa Bay. I have the distinct privilege of introducing the former governor of South Dakota and the DHS Secretary, Secretary Noem.
Secretary Noem (00:33):
Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Kirk. I appreciate it. And Kirk is in a leadership position here as FSD at the Tampa Airport, and we so appreciate all that he does every day to get up and to keep people safe here. Today, we have an exciting announcement. As you know, the TSA is tasked with keeping people safe while they travel on our airlines and they go through our airport security systems and do a phenomenal job year round, day after day.
(01:02)
TSA is under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security. And over a month ago, we had a Democrat shutdown in Washington, DC that resulted in all of these individuals behind me and many, many more across the country not receiving their paychecks. The Democratic shutdown was devastating to them financially, to their families, to taking care of those that they love and putting food on the table and roof over their head each and every day.
(01:26)
It negatively impacted the lives of millions of Americans, including the hardworking employees at the Transportation Security Administration. So today we get the opportunity to do something different. Now that the government is open and operating, these individuals behind us, they continue to serve regardless of their situation and to keep people safe even when they weren't getting paid and the government was shut down.
(01:49)
Despite those shameful partisan games, our TSA employees showed up every single day and went above and beyond to serve the American people. Now, we've made some exciting announcements at TSA recently. You've seen me in the last few weeks announce a $1 billion investment into new technology that will be deployed across the country at our security checkpoints to increase not just security systems for individuals that use our airlines, but also will make their jobs easier and more efficient.
(02:18)
And they'll be able to focus on their customers, those that travel, but also know that the technology that they're using is streamlining the process to help them get people through those checkpoints even faster. We also have announced that we are implementing REAL ID and they've been doing phenomenal work, making sure that people who travel have the right information, that they have the correct ID.
(02:39)
And so far we have 94% compliance with REAL ID across our airport systems. REAL ID was passed in law over 20 years ago, and no administration had implemented and put it in place. And it's incredibly important that we know that people are traveling on our airlines should be there, that they pass security checkpoints, that we know who they are, and that they're using an ID that is verifiable and that it is compliant with the law.
(03:07)
So that implementation has been put in place. We're grateful to see people across the country and around the world using REAL IDs, but we're also making sure that it's facilitated and that people understand that we will be following the law. And now these individuals behind me, I want to talk a little bit about them because they're all being recognized for exemplary service during difficult times, but also on every single day when they show up for their jobs.
(03:33)
I'm so proud of them and I'm proud of everyone in leadership who inspired them to continue to do their jobs and to do them well. Because of that hard work, I'm here to present each of them that are behind me and many, many more will also receive the $10,000 bonus checks for doing their jobs and doing it as an example to their fellow employees and colleagues. Some of them will use them dollars to pay off mortgages. Some of them will use it to pay off debts.
(03:59)
Many of them maybe will buy an extra Christmas present for a loved one in their life, but they probably will use them for their priorities to make sure they're taking care of their families and their friends. Their stories inspire me every day. That's why we have these press conferences is so that the American people can truly understand the people that serve at TSA. And I want to talk a little bit about a couple of them before I turn it over to your questions. First, TSO Officer Felice. Is that correct?
TSO Felice (04:28):
Yes, ma'am.
Secretary Noem (04:30):
Yes. During the Democrat shutdown, Felice provide a care for her disabled husband, continued to take care of her household bills and priorities. And I wanted to open it up to her to maybe share a few thoughts with you all about why she serves at TSA, why she does her job, and maybe what this $10,000 bonus payment will mean to her after this government shutdown. Would you mind coming up and sharing just a little?
TSO Felice (04:55):
Yes, ma'am. I joined TSA six years ago, and I love my job. I love working with everyone you see here on this stage. The leadership we have is excellent. They looked out for us. This airport looked out for us. Thank you, Tampa. It's just been phenomenal. They fed us. Leadership put together all kinds of things for us, gas. Also, I participate in the Commute program with Enterprise that's associated with TSA. I mean, it's just been phenomenal. And thank you so much for coming here and recognizing all of us. We really appreciate it. Thank you.
Secretary Noem (05:48):
Thank you.
TSO Felice (05:49):
Thank you so much.
Secretary Noem (05:50):
Here, let me give that to you.
TSO Felice (05:51):
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Secretary Noem (05:51):
Absolutely.
TSO Felice (05:51):
Thank you.
Secretary Noem (05:54):
Wonderful. I told her she didn't have to go first and then I made her go first. So you did a great job. Always surprising people. Thank you for that. Next, we have TSO Waleed. Despite facing his own financial challenges during the government shutdown, he expressed to his colleagues every day the importance of their work. He overcame temporary hardship and shutdown to help safeguard our country against terrorism and other threats that we have.
(06:24)
And his unwavering dedication was a testimony to so many people who worked for him. He was recommended as someone to talk about at this press conference because he's so highly deserving of the recognition of today and how so many of his colleagues look up to him and want to repeat and continue to focus on being more like him in how they serve. They work hard and the attitude that they have to continue to serve the public. So Waleed, would you come up and share a few words?
TSO Waleed (06:52):
Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
Secretary Noem (06:53):
You bet.
TSO Waleed (06:55):
Good morning, everyone. I joined TSA about 14 years ago. The 9/11 attacks is what brought me here. I wanted to be a part of the dedicated people that want to defend this homeland, and I'm very proud to serve and I'll continue to serve. The shutdown was difficult. Being a supervisor, a leader, I had to find the balance between the hardship I have at home and at work on a daily basis.
(07:29)
During the government shutdown, I had to walk the floor and talk to my officers to bring the morale up, to make sure they're okay. It was a lot of support, but not enough support for everybody. And I convinced them that there was help out there and they have to engage with us, with the senior leadership, to find ways to help them out, and it worked out pretty good.
(07:53)
Tampa Airport, Tampa Bay area, thank you everyone for being out there for us. We really appreciate it. The traveling public as well. A lot of support, a lot of encouragement. People are very, very kind, and it's all appreciated.
Secretary Noem (08:19):
Thank you.
TSO Waleed (08:19):
Yes, ma'am.
Secretary Noem (08:19):
Thank you, Waleed.
TSO Waleed (08:19):
You're welcome. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Secretary Noem (08:19):
Thank you, Waleed. We appreciate that and appreciate all of your leadership at TSA as well. Next, I want to talk a little bit about Abby. Abby Ingley went through the government shutdown facing some stress, some uncertainty, financial hardships.
(08:35)
She postponed her personal vacation that she had planned for a long time and canceled leave so that she could stay here and not just cover her shifts, but cover shifts for other individuals that were in different situations that maybe had to miss because of childcare or because of other issues that they had at home. On duty, TSO Ingley projected a steady and a calm demeanor, and she proactively checked in on her fellow officers.
(09:00)
She encouraged all of her teammates to use the available resources that were available to them. And I do want to take this opportunity, not just to thank other individuals at TSA for supporting each other, but to thank Tampa Airport here for supporting everyone during that government shutdown and the uncertainty that it created, but also the private companies that stepped up and helped supported these individuals with gift cards or financial support to meet their needs during that difficult time.
(09:27)
We appreciate Ashley as she volunteered for additional assignments and she strengthened our team readiness by assisting with assessments and different training that was available. So Ashley, I'd like to ask you if you'd like to come up and say a few words.
TSO Abby Ingley (09:41):
Hello, everyone.
Secretary Noem (09:43):
Or Abby, I guess. I said it wrong. Didn't it. I'm sorry.
TSO Abby Ingley (09:45):
I'm Abby. Been with TSA for four years. I recently transferred down to TPA a year ago. Since then, I've been extremely grateful for this community that I'm in. Very thankful for the leadership that we have here. Thankful for my coworkers who showed up every day, helped out. We did a great job during the shutdown. It wasn't easy for any of us. I definitely took the opportunity to use some resources that we had locally here.
(10:16)
We went to Feeding Tampa Bay. They had an awesome food bank that each of us could go to at least once a week. And we also had TICO provide us up to a $500 grant to provide for our electricity bill. So I'm very grateful that we had that opportunity. And thank you, Secretary Noem, for letting us talk.
Secretary Noem (10:38):
Absolutely. Thank you, Abby. Appreciate it.
TSO Abby Ingley (10:40):
Thank you.
Secretary Noem (10:46):
So I had her name wrong in my notes. Her name is Abby Ingley. So thank you for that and thank you for your leadership. We appreciate all that you've done. And Kish Leani Madrid Medina closed on her new home on August 30th. She got engaged on September 27th, just about a month later, just days before the shutdown impacted her dramatically financially and her family.
(11:10)
She was all set to start on a new chapter in her life, but had to postpone purchasing furniture for her new home and celebrating her engagement. Despite all of that, she continued to show up for work. She kept positivity and professionalism in her demeanor and her attitude, and she helped collect and do assessments and engagements to ensure that her fellow officers remained focused on threat detection during this significant time. And so I would like to recognize her as well to come up and to say a few words.
TSO Kish Leani Madrid (11:40):
Thank you. Hello, my name's Kish Leani Madrid. I like to thank Kristi Noem for this opportunity. I've been with TSA for three years now, and I would like to thank all our managers, all our staff for providing us a lot of help. There were a lot of resources. Definitely everyone kept asking questions every single day, asking if I was okay. There was a lot of resources, like Abby said. Feeding Tampa Bay was very helpful. There was a lot of raffles going around with gift cards for gas. Gas trucks was also available for us. So thank you guys for all the support. Thank you, Kristi Noem.
Secretary Noem (12:25):
Thank you so much.
TSO Kish Leani Madrid (12:26):
Thank you so much.
Secretary Noem (12:26):
Congratulations. Yes. Thank you, Kish Leani. Thank you for telling your story and for putting an example forward that everybody could follow and appreciate and want to be like. I'm incredibly grateful for all of the individuals that are behind me for their service, for the thousands of others that are being recognized for their exemplary work, and for all the other individuals that continued during difficult times to show up for work, to do their security operations, and to keep Americans safe. So with that, I'm going to hand out the checks to the individuals behind me and then we will take some of your questions. So Robert, where's Robert? I'll come to you. Reese. Ricky.
TSO Ryan (13:07):
Thank you.
Secretary Noem (13:07):
Absolutely, Ryan? Daniel? No?
TSO Ryan (13:07):
Thank you.
Secretary Noem (13:07):
Congratulations. Lewis? Sorry. Appreciate it. Freddy.
TSO Freddy (13:07):
Yes, ma'am.
Secretary Noem (13:07):
All right. Good. Steven?
TSO Steven (13:07):
Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
Secretary Noem (13:07):
Yes. Thank you. Absolutely. Steven? Absolutely. Joanna? Yes. Thank you. Emily? Congratulations. Thank you for your time. Brittany? Thank you so much. Carl?
TSO Carl (13:07):
Yes, ma'am.
Secretary Noem (13:07):
Thank you, sir.
TSO Carl (13:07):
Thank you.
Secretary Noem (14:19):
Appreciate it. Kirk, I want to thank you for all your leadership here, and I want to thank everybody for all the work that you do to keep Americans safe and following and fulfilling the mission of TSA and all the work that you do each and every day. We've recently experienced our busiest travel day in history with over three million passengers securely screened and checked over the Thanksgiving holiday.
(14:40)
And we're so grateful that even though more and more people travel on our airlines and through our airports, that we continue to keep them safe and fulfill our mission. So with that, I'll open it up to any questions that you may have.
Audience (14:50):
Secretary, what is your reaction to the lawsuit that was just filed against ICE and the federal government for forcing the App Store to remove the alleged ICE trapping apps. Is that appropriate for the government to urge Apple to take those apps out of the store?
Secretary Noem (15:09):
Absolutely. I think the violence against our ICE officers and our law enforcement is completely unacceptable and anything that would dox them and release their whereabouts when they're out doing law enforcement operations against violent criminals is wrong and needs to be stopped. Those apps endanger their lives, and remember that most of these law enforcement officers live in those communities.
(15:30)
They're out there on the streets and neighborhoods where they live, where their children go to school. They care about their communities and they want to get dangerous criminals off of their streets. So we're doing targeted arrests across the country to make sure that those who would violate Americans and citizens that live in these communities will be removed. They'll be brought to justice, and then they'll be deported.
Audience (15:57):
Are all TSA officers here at TPA receiving these checks today?
Secretary Noem (15:57):
TSA officers that are being recognized with $10,000 bonus checks are being recognized for exemplary service. So they're nominated from their leadership teams that goes up through the supervisors at TSA and then recommended for those bonus checks. So it's not just based on one factor or another. It's for individuals who continued to show up, fulfilled their shifts, but also did other things to help through the shutdown that helped the entire team to be successful.
Audience (16:25):
But not all of the officers are receiving?
Secretary Noem (16:26):
Not every single officer that works at this airport is receiving one. Only those that have been nominated for exemplary service by supervisors and leadership.
Audience (16:35):
How many are those? How many will be receiving?
Secretary Noem (16:36):
Well, there's 16 up here on stage today. There's many more, and there's some that will continue to be recognized. So as we continue to go through the next month or two, we'll continue to recognize more and more individuals for all that they did. The nominations for these bonus checks hasn't stopped, so there may be more that get recommended. And we'll continue to do what we can to thank them for their service, but let them know that the work that they do matters.
Audience (17:06):
For today, it's everyone on stage.
Secretary Noem (17:06):
Well, actually what they've got in their envelopes is a piece of paper that says the direct deposit will be in your account. Does that sound good? All right. That's how our accounting system works. And so they've got a piece of paper that says that direct deposit will be coming into their account on their next pay period and there may be other officers that will receive that good news too.
Audience (17:23):
Some unions have expressed concerns with these [inaudible 00:17:28] subset of workers. What's your response?
Secretary Noem (17:30):
I would say those individuals sound like the Grinch. They should be happy when other people get rewarded for doing good work. In this country, we should be grateful and cheer on other individuals around us that we can point to that work every single day to keep us safe.
Audience (17:44):
Secretary, for property owners, what information should landlords or apartment managers be expected to provide to ICE agents?
Secretary Noem (17:54):
I don't know what they would be expected to provide to ICE agents. I think that they should comply with all federal laws that have always been followed in the operations that are being conducted by ICE agents or CBP officers or any federal officer or local law enforcement that's out there trying to keep them safe.
(18:11)
I want to remind everybody, any operation that we're doing out on our streets and in our communities every day is done with the same protocols and processes that every law enforcement investigation has ever been done under. We still follow all of the same protocols and processes and we make sure that every law is enforced.
Audience (18:29):
Now, there's been reports that the president is possibly considering replacing you. Have you got any indication of that?
Secretary Noem (18:36):
No, I don't have any indication of that. The president is fantastic. I'm very proud every single day to be able to work for him.
Audience (18:44):
Do you expect you to be serving all four years of this term?
Secretary Noem (18:47):
I will serve at the president's pleasure, which I'm very grateful to get to do, and he gives me a wonderful opportunity to do a job that matters for the safety of the American people.
Audience (18:58):
Do you expect any raids to happen in the city of Tampa or in the Tampa Bay area?
Secretary Noem (19:03):
I think everybody should know that across this country that we're going after violent criminals to help America be safe. The president campaigned and won election on a secure border and on making sure that we're getting violent criminals out of our country. That's what we're focused on every single day, and there is no safe haven in this country for criminals that would perpetuate violence against the American people. If there's murderers or rapists or traffickers out there, we're going to come find you. We'll bring you to justice, and then we'll deport you.
Audience (19:31):
Analysts are warning that mass deportations could deepen the housing crisis by removing both renters and the construction labor force. What do you believe those analysts are getting wrong?
Secretary Noem (19:42):
We are so grateful that President Trump is focused on making sure that people in this country are safe, but also that they have the ability to care for their families, put food on the table. And he gets up every single day to make sure they have more dollars in their pockets to meet their family's need. So thank you, everybody. And you have a wonderful day. Thank you. Thank you so much.
TSO Waleed (20:03):
Ma'am, thank you very much, ma'am.
Secretary Noem (20:12):
Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, guys.
TSO Officers (20:18):
Thank you.
Secretary Noem (20:19):
All right. We'll get it into your account as soon as possible. Sound good? All right, let me know if you need anything.
TSO Waleed (20:24):
Will do. Thanks a lot for being here.
Secretary Noem (20:26):
You bet.
TSO Waleed (20:26):
Nice meeting you.