Good morning. I’d like to welcome everyone to this hearing to consider the nominations of Terrance Cole, to serve as the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Gadyaces Serralta, to serve as the Director of the United States Marshals Service.
Each of the nominees before us today have impressive qualifications, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you. I’d like to thank your family and friends for coming today. I’m sure they’re all very proud of you.
Mr. Cole, you’ve an impressive background in law enforcement.
You started your career as a police officer for your alma mater, the Rochester Institute of Technology, before serving several municipalities.
You then entered the DEA, and served there for twenty years in some challenging places like Colombia and Afghanistan. Having excelled as a Special Agent, you advanced into DEA leadership, taking supervisory positions in several components of the DEA, including the Special Operations Division.
By the time you left the DEA in 2019, you were the Assistant Regional Director for the DEA’s Mexico City Division.
After a brief stint in the private sector, Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia appointed you to serve as the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security in 2023. While there, you took the fentanyl crisis facing your state head on with great success.
Your experience in law enforcement is accompanied by glowing letters of support from many individuals, including sheriffs and chiefs of police from around Virginia and colleagues from your time at the DEA.
Mr. Cole, it’s clear that you have vast experience addressing the plague of illegal drugs facing our country. DEA desperately needs strong, experienced leadership after President Biden’s Administrator funneled taxpayer dollars to friends, filled positions with unqualified contractors, and stood down on key cartel arrests because of interagency rivalry. I’m looking forward to hearing about your vision for the DEA.
Mr. Serralta, you’re also well suited to serve as the Director for the United States Marshals Service. You began your career with the Miami-Dade Police Department as an Officer in 1990.
In 2015, you left as Major. In that time, you demonstrated sound management skills and kept Palmetto Bay safe.
In 2018, my colleagues and I confirmed you as the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Florida by voice vote. As the Southern District of Florida’s Marshal, you’ve conducted several successful initiatives.
For example, in 2020, you led Operation Triple Beam, a thirty-day operation focused on reducing gang and violent crime that resulted in 150 arrests, the seizure of 45 firearms and six kilograms of narcotics.
Mr. Serralta, your distinguished career as a police officer and Marshal demonstrates strong leadership and experience that will serve you well as Director of the U.S. Marshals Service. I look forward to hearing from you today.
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