The committee conducts oversight and handles legislation (and resolutions) related to the security of the United States.

A majority of members are required for certain actions including: issuing a subpoena, entering executive session, and immunizing a witness.

In the 109th Congress, the House Select Committee on Homeland Security was established on June 19, 2002, pursuant to H. Res.

The committee was composed of nine members of the House: Mr. Armey, chairman; Mr. DeLay; Mr. Watts of Oklahoma; Ms. Pryce of Ohio; Mr. Portman; Ms. Pelosi; Mr.

House control switched parties again at the beginning of the 112th Congress in 2011, and King again became the chairman, and Thompson the ranking member.

In November 2017, the full Homeland Security Committee held a hearing to understand how fast the U.S. government could install CT scanners into every airport in the country in order to fight threats to airlines.

The hearing was scheduled because a classified security briefing that was held earlier revealed vulnerabilities to the aviation system that concerned committee members.

“The purpose of the CWMD is to work every day to prevent another catastrophic attack, one using weapons or materials that have the potential to kill our citizens in numbers that dwarf previous attacks,”[2] said James McDonnell, assistant secretary for countering weapons of mass destruction and director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office for within DHS.

In his remarks, the subcommittee chairman Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) said that the threat of weapons of mass destruction "has changed and become more diverse.

"[2] One witness discussed drone delivery of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons as one of the newest threats to homeland security.

[2] In June 2017, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly testified before the committee regarding DHS's piece of President Trump's Fiscal Year 2018 Budget.

[3] During the hearing, members of the committee from both parties "expressed opposition to the Trump administration's proposed budget that would cut funding for training and deployment for local security programs by as much as 30 percent next year [2018]."

[4] The president's budget for 2018 would:[4] In November 2017, in an annual oversight hearing called “World Wide Threats: Keeping America Secure in the New Age of Terror”, leaders of the U.S. government's national security agencies “offered troubling assessments of the growing threats from terrorism, both internationally and domestically.”[5] Resolutions electing members: H.Res.