WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released the following statement on President Obama’s appointment of Joseph Clancy to be Director of the U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security:
“The U.S. Secret Service is a critical agency and its mission is an essential part of our national security. However, incidents over the past several years, including some as recently as this fall, have raised serious questions about the agency and its ability to fulfill its responsibilities. In December, an independent panel issued a number of common-sense recommendations for the Secret Service involving the agency’s leadership, operations, training, and mission. Today, I welcome the news that the President has named a permanent director to lead the agency. As interim director of the Secret Service, Joseph Clancy has already started to implement a number of the panel’s key recommendations and worked to help the agency turn the page. Given the challenges facing the Secret Service today, it is more important than ever that the agency has a permanent and capable leader in place to continue efforts to improve agency operations from the inside out. It’s also critical that the agency and its leadership have the necessary resources to continue these efforts and meet its overall mission in an effective manner. That’s why I urge my colleagues in Congress to avoid a shutdown of the Secret Service and pass a clean, fiscal year 2015 funding bill for Department of Homeland Security in the next several days. I look forward to meeting with Mr. Clancy and discussing his plans to usher in a new chapter for the U.S. Secret Service as our committee continues to monitor the agency’s progress.”