customs and protection. as such, you in the agency that you lead was displayed the traits that president roosevelt to find as is indeliblyas american. you must show courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity and party hood. you in the agency that you leave are the face of america. ..a to millions across the borders every year. americans return home from foreign soil your agents to greet them. when emigrants' reach the borders the agents who greet them. when merchandise flows across the borders this is a treat to be to facilitate trade. you enforce our triet laws. and when the wrongdoers' sent hazardous products to the shores

your agents work to protect us. you have a tall order. customs and border protection main a twin mision >> it helps to maintain ourco economic security, and it helps to defend our national securityd as you pursue your tasks as you commissioner you must commit too carrying out both of thet both agency's twin missions. and you must do so with thel people first. youfoo must remember that your agencies a struggle mission isia to facilitate international trade. in the beginning, america's trade laws and you must renewste and strengthen your focus on this historical trade mission. you must do so not at the expense of you r securityty mi commission but in concert with it.it i expect you to bring as much eincerity and party who to thiss task as i know you will bring tl securing our nation's borders. international trade is a viablea component of the american ompon economy.enican

in 2009, american imported more than $1.5 trillion of goods. our economy simply cannot function without the smooth flow of international trade.ade. last summer, senator grassley and i introduced the customs ans facilitation trade enforcementat reauthorization act. and we hope that this committee and this congress will address customs reauthorization this year.yea. as the commissioner of customs, you must carry out your duties and represent america with courage, honor, truth. and you should display these di virtues in your personal life as well as in your professional capacity.profsional at the heart of your credibility and as the commission cbp will be the enforcement of laws about whether employees are legally able to work it. in this duty goes to the heart of responsibilities of thees department of homelandp securitu mr. bersin, while the financemr

committee was betwting yourmittb nomination, we discovered thatha you fail to properly completeymt and maintain employment eligibility verification forms, ktherwise known as i nine. you fail to do so for any of tha 10 household employees with whom you employed over the past two o decades. ask the person responsible forre securing the nation's borders, your failure to follow th e lawl in this matter is unacceptable. during the april recess ap president obama exercise hisma i power tso make recessss appointments. among those appointments was yours. the constitution gives the right.nt that but it is also the right of thef senate and the role of thisofths committee to review your record and decide whether you will be allowed to continue your service beyond 2011. the committee has a constitutional responsibility to the amermicanitt peopleeehas t review the nominations in its ns jurisdiction.juridiction and as a a nominee formissn

commissioner, you have a responsibility to provide a complete and honesthe to inform, now however that you've been appointed, it is now your dutyyo secuoth facilitate our economic security and our nationale the security. as you do so ination energy to u consider carefully traits that president roosevelt described as theve quintessential american.in i urge you to adopt those traitu as you fulfill your newful leadership responsibilities. n urge you conduct yourself inua the agency in a matter thatmat brings pride to yourt office, your people, and your country. now to our witness. but first, senator boxer will introduce a witness. b senator boxer. we're very honored to have you. whether to proceed?nk you ve >> thank you. i would askr unanimous consent that you would place into the record senator feinstein's statement in behalf of alan of bersin. >> without objection.

>> i am so pleased to be here. today to introduce alan bersin, president obama's nominee to be commission a of the borderof protection. mr. bersin who has beencustom sg as commissioner since march is a omm trusted public servant with anth wealth of experience and a knowledge in issues critical to the mission of u.s. customs and border protection.protect board of security enforcing theh law, protecting our nation's homelande and economic security. ve kno known allen for many years, and in 1993 i recommended minatedesident clinton no to seo serve as the u.s. attorney for the southernor district of california. in addition to its u.s. was attorneys duties, he was namedsa by attorney general janet reno to be her special representative for u.s. border issues. as thee borders are alan was responsible for all activities on the southwest border, s stretching from texas too california here he made striking southwest border anding cracking down on drug smugglerss

his top priorities.h alanasis during this time that r learned of many challenges facing law enforcement personnel on the border. a perspective that has served him well as assistant secretary for international affairs and orecial representative forpresef border affairs at the department of homeland security, and now a. u.s. customs and border comm protection commissioner.d mber mr. chairman and members, missi californians understand the missionof and the work of u.s. customs and border protection very well. many of myn very constituents workedwofor for cbp and countless otherd californians have frequently contacted cbp officials, whether tact theyed are local law enforcemenm officials who helped protect ouc border and prevent the flow of drugs, board officials transportation officials who work move cargo in and out ofout orlifornia's land and sea ports, or business owners seeking a e tieady state and legitimate floi ef goods between nations.b california and also no alan bersin very well.verywel throughout his career, our hasce

gained the confidence and the respect of leaders in both parties. he was appointed california secretary of education by republican governorr schwarzenegger, and my friend, jerry sanders, the republican mayor of san diego, selected alan to lead the san diego regional airport authority.nal h alan also has led the san diegos county school district, servedso on thel california state boardf education, potluck at the uc berkeley, and the university of san diego school of law. and reserve a special counsel to the los angeles police commission. governor schw arzenegger hascomo called alan quote an expert on border security issues, who, quote, knows the importance of encouraging legitimate international trade and travel, unquote. californians know that alan californ understands the key role of key role u.s. customs and border protection place in securing our borders, keeping american safe,t and protecting u.s. economic interest. this is a very important time for u.s. customs and border. cut

protection. prot our nation faces many challengee and threatens the border with illegal immigration, drug smoking, violence in mexico, bo threatening our borderin addiono commuters. in addition to defending our borders, everyday cbp officialsp deal with the enormous task of ensuring the safety and security of trade cargo that enters the u.s., preventing intellectualy d property, and counterfeiting and law.rcing trade laws. we also ensure safe and legitimate travel in and out ofo thef u.s., but so nearly 7000 miles of land bordered with mexico and canada, crosses over 57,000 truck, rail, and sea cargo containers, seize illegal drugs, apprehend criminals andpr inspect cargo for harmful agricultural.te they serve on the frontline inad so many critical areas, and alas bersin is uniquely qualified to lead this agency. so i joined those republicans,ba democrats alike who say to you, please move forward with this it confirmation.

and we thank you so very much for the opportunityan to be youh >> thank you, senator, very much. we appreciate.h. your full state will be erectedm as a that of mr. feinstein. we appreciate you advising the t committee of what course we should take.shou >> thank you by. much.right. >> mr. bersin, your full stable, also been directed.part ofthe why don't you proceed? >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, chairmanrocee bau, members of the committee.member i tshink you for this opportunit to appear here today. senator baucus, i look forward in the context of these of questions and answers to respo responding very directly to the concerns and to the values that i share. in 20 years of public service,, the reputation for truthfulness and straightforwardness is oneie that i have cherished and nurtured with care. and i need to clarify and set

straight, in your mind, and in n the mind of the members of thism committee,b any doubts to the contrary.le me let me begin by introducing members of my family who are here. >> and have them stand to, so w, can all see them.we will >> first, my wife and judge lis, foster, judge in this. th or for san diego county, california. >> judge foster, welcome to hav. your. second,me >> our daughter, alyssa, who is and employed, affiliate with the urban outfitters country in philadelphia. third, zach miller, alyssa's fiancé, they will be married just over two weeks in weks california.ia. >> congratulations, both of yout >> andul lastly, a new member oa the family, karen, who has been at my side and assisting in school systems, as well as in

law enforcement that karen and heinrich, san diego, and now in cbp and washington. cp >> welcome, karen. >> mr. chairman, ranking member grassley, members of the committee, i'm deeply appreciative appreciative and humbled by president obama's nomination of me to serve as commissioner united states customs and border protection. and i'm grateful for the support and the confidence of secretary janet napolitano. the work of cbp is critical to our country's economy and security. and i want to take a moment to thank the men and women at cbp for the job they do. cbp's personnel or on the front lines defending our country. terrorists, transnational criminals, they also play a role in them an important one in facilitating trade and travel. they do so at a great risk, and all too often with ultimate allw sacrifice.sacrif before joining yoicue. here thi

morning, senators, i participate as s part of this week in the valor ceremony customs and border protection.whicll con which will continue this afternoon. we commemorate those men and women who have given their lives in the service of the country and the agency. menis an honor to work with the men and women of customs and border protection, about four to discuss it with you as i have begun to doiscus with them.beguo my vision for cbp and my fitneso and qualifications for then job. i have spent most of my adultli life living and working along b the border, and i've seent-handh firsthand challenges and the in issues involved with bordercuriy security. and with facilitating economiccg activity, trade, travel, across the board.by job by jobs every from the private t sector, as a corporate attorney practicing commercial law, tolao law enforcement as united states

attorney, the attorney generalae southwest border representative, rid most recently as homeland cu security's assistant secretary for international affairs, and secretary napolitano's specialos representative for border affairs. my public service has included participation and leadership ind the educational sector as superintendent of schools in saf diego, the california secretary of education, and then moved on as chairperson of the san diego county county regional airport authority. my experience is are varied, buv in these jobs and as a private d citizen, i have been involved in many of the issues that are thed day-to-day bread anday butter cs cuscerns of customs and border protection's. these include border security, law enforcement, working with p international partners, working with the public and with work to groups upin the facilitating the lawful movement ofn trade and

avelel. and running, bleeding, and managing large and complex organizations. cbp has critical security and trade missions.my might expect in the private sector and government has convinced me that these two at missions, facilitating trade and cnsuring security, which are,hi often presented as being being antithetical with a zero sum. and, in fact, becomes a very. cr when wy.e apply the right t strategies and marshall the right combinations ofegies per, infrastructure and technology, we can increase our security,cuy and we can facilitate the flows of lawful trade and lawful travel. the key, i believe, is to segnt segment the flows of people andt goods by the level of risk they present. risk segmentation allows us to o focus our law enforcement resources on the people or goods that we know are dangerous, orar about which we know the least.nn

and in turn, minimizing delays of goods and people we know aree not dangerous, but are lawful ad and legitimate. trusted traveler programs like century, next is an global entry are examples of such an approach. by allowing travelers too volunteer for appropriate screening and background checkss cbp is able to quickly processes preapproved low risk travelers,r and focus on other travelers about whom we know less. the same, senators, apply to cargoes and goods such as the customs trade partnershipainst against terrorism, or ct pat. to be clear, nonetheless, our overarching mandate is to i protect the safety and theafetyt security of the american people. ome attempted bombing of flightb 253 on december 25, and the the recent attempt to detonate a car bomb in times square and thatmar

makes clear that we continue tou faces serious threats.. every day cbp officers andd agents interdict and stopt ed threats, at and between our land, and sea ports of entry. in powering cbp's operations toe do their job will be a focus ofi my time atr cbp. that means making sure they havy the resources, equipment, equen, training, intelligence, and the leadershipd to support and fulfill their biosecurity missions. i would like to thank you and your colleagues, for the support you've shown cbp, with the cb resources congress has provided, cbp has experienced unprecedented growth since 2004. and it is now an agency of one g and 57,000 employees. border the border patrol has doubled in size, size, and we are more secure s with much work to be done. be i am sensitive to the concerns that cbp has not paid enough attention to facilitatingational

international trade. trae, conc concerns that are reflected iner senate bill 1631, the customsomt facilitation trade act reauthorization act. what i want to make clear to you today, senators, is my commitment to work with the work congress and private sector, the trade community, and others secn within the federal government os trade facilitation issues.de f i know the importance ofinternl international trade to thenomy united states economy, and to our remaining economically competitive. i alnisong know there eco arcoemp areas inre reas which cbp can improve. we cuwellcome some of the ideas of the customs reauthorization act, and i look forward to working an i i wa you to implement them. int want also to emphasize that intellectual property rights protection and consumerintell pt safety as well as trade security are critical enforcement priorities for our agency. i pledge to take your concerns into account, to work with the

trade community, to provide notice of our intended acty activities, and to remain asents po transparent as possible toctor congress and private sector, thc trade community, andommunit othn agencies concerning decisions me being made affecting trade at cbp. mr. chairman, it is an honor to appear before you, the ranking member and the members of this committee. i look forward to our dialogue, and to respond to any questions you mayr have. >> thank you, mr. person. senator grassley. >> mr. chairman, and members ofi therman committee, i am late geg my opening statement because i had an amendment on the floor oe the senate. floor of so thank you for this opportunity. oportunity. welcome, commissioner bersin,ome and also welcome to your family and friends. this hearing reinforces the role that the senate finance committee serves with respect to presidential nominations.nation. the administration should learn from this hearing that thehat

advice and consent role of the sin is not something to be takee lightly, and that due diligence undertaken by the committee iste be simply by to si society, and i compliment theorg chairman for reinforcing that point with this hearing. the nomination was recessed appointed on march 27, despite a knowledge that the administration had that the finance committee on a bipartisan basis, and i want too emphasize bipartisan, had serious concerns with respect to conflict in information pertaining to the proper docum documentadocumentation of domestic staff fired by thestaff nominee. and we should put that number i the record, mr. chairman. >> without objection. >> u.s. customs and border protection plays a crucial roles in our nation's borders. the agency is charged -- charged with protecting our homeland ane

facilitating legitimate flow of trade.ther are 57 as 57,000, employees, and itorcr enforces laws for over 40agencie agencies of the government. one in $7 trillion of importedtd goods and collected about $30 billion in duties and fees, so very, very important. as a result, decisions made by any commission of customs has a vast impact on the economic welfare of our nation. why it and that's why it's imperative that the proper balance be struck between the agencies duel responsibilities and for several years now, i have been concerned that the agency's customs revenue and commercial functione have not been sufficiently prioritized. it's important that commissioner bersin restore the right balance. for example, full implementatio

of automated commercial environment and international trade data systems are critical to facilitating trade flows. yet the development of theese system is significantly behind schedule your guy look forward r to hearing how thed commission intends to get thatack on implementation back on track. another concerned that i would like to raise is the level ofise consultation between customs ofs border patrol and congressional oversight committees, as well as consultation between cbp and other federal agencies over the past few years. there have been three instances th in which cbp issued aing preliminary ruling without consulting the programming, and asnsulting a result cbp was foo withdraw -- suspend rule-making. i'd like to hear theo commissioners say whether he shares this concern, and if so,f how he will address it as a priority. a finally, i would note that last

year senator baucus and notyear introduce customs facilitationsn and trading reinforcement authorization act to reauthorize cbp and we prioritize its traden functions so any views on that bill would be very muchapprecied appreciated. instead of my oral presentation, i gave a shortened version of ao longer statement. i would like to have the printer longer statement take the place of what i have just said.. >> thank you, senator. mr. bersin, i have three standard questions that we have, movies and i will ask them righl now. will the first, is there anythinghe you're aware of in them first background of my present ackgroa conflict of interest for thect f duties of the office to which ou the nominee to?ti >> no sir.been >> think you. >>ey reason first or otherwise that would anywayol prevent you from fully and fly honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to which have been nominate? >> no, mr. chairman,.ted?

>> without reservation to ciaraa respond to any readable summonsp to appear apnd testify before ay duly constituted committee of congress? sir, except as required douc by law. >> what would thaterwise be? >> i do, sir. >> thank you., sir. i have not heard any other way does make that reservation. and have now withdrawn thatou he reservation? >> i have, sir. >> thankithdrawn th you. mr. bersin, as commissioner of customs, you're responsible for enforcing america's immigrationg laws at our borders. borders and during the finance committee vetting process, you failed to timely complete the i-9 forms that verify your household authorized to work in the united states. you're very to maintain that i-9 forms clearly goes to the heartt of the responsibly as commissioner of customs. and it's obviously concerning.og explained to the committee why you failed to complete and for

maintain i-9 forms form your household employees. >> mr. chairman, i want to emphasize from the beginning thm lack of i-9 forms was fully disclosed, that, in fact, my wife and i indicates that each of the employees that have been involved in our household overvd the in o last 20 years, theirelo eligibility to work in the united states has been verified. in each case, documentation of n the same time that is required cith regard to the i nine form,c the occasion to fill out and maintain in the household files, the b business files, passports, permanent resident cards, secuers licenses and social security cards, in each case and with respect to eachn employee, we verify the eligibility of that person to work in the united states. similarly, with regard to each of those persons, we were sure

to pay taxes do with regard to the employment. an and aldl those taxes were dulyu paid, with the exception of $56 that was a deficit that ourur at accountant in connection with the committee staff discovered, and hence has been paid. but over 20 years no employee, ineligible to work in the united states, has ever worked in our household. h no employee who has worked in our household has not had taxes paid in connection with that employment.emplnt. mr. chairman, as i have d knowledged that my wife and ii simply did not know and were mistaken in not knowing that an i-9 forms was the form thatedeo needed to record the information i've just alluded to. aluded passport numbers, socialers, security numbers, driver's licenses. instead of having it on that

form, we had i it on a piece ofe paper that was in the file and d maintained by us in our home. it was a mistake.istake >> isn't it true though that the vetting process began at thatd foint you did not provide it.9'o you'd need i-9 forms for any of those employees? >> we did not because we did not know that they were necessary. but at the same time --ey. we >> i was budgeted know it was th necessary. when you're a u.s. attorney, were you aware at that time of i nine? s >> camp, i was aware that in thy business context that i ninth need to be filled out so that they could be maintained by the business and available for inspection. >> what was your experience, to enforce assembly requirements of the immigration act, but at nobt time did i know and make the

mae the connection that the domestic ic context of household employers that they were required. quired i want to emphasize, mr. chairman, and ranking member -- >> isn't an employer and >> employed, whether business employer or domestico employer? >> there is -- >> there is a form issued by the homeland security. >> i am aware of the formal awar requirement now, and i have madh clear that i acknowledged the error and a mistake and the violation. and will obviously see to it in the future that the form isthe filled out on the form prescribed by the government ann naintain in the form.aintai but i do want to emphasize thata the underlying documentation was re reviewed, and that thehe eligibility of every employee who workeder for us and with us was verified. and i believe that's been tat acknowledged by the committeemmt staff. didn'tind it incredible though,

about the inet application.oblio that doesn't pass thelity credibility task. >> mr. chairman, if i'd known about it, if my wife and note about it, iabt would be of no difficulty to actually put the information on the i-9 forms. d i didn't know about it. i did not benefit by not having it in the file. ha there was no reason why we would not do it if we knew it. did we did not know whether it t applied in theh case of part-tie housecleaning help when they had verified their eligibility and had, written down, the documentation that indicated their eligibility to work. >> failure to fill out i ninth is something this committeethis should pay very little attentio. to.d and as this piece of paper is worthless in your view to it should not have to fill it out if they don't fill it out, well,

years later maybe get around to eg it. even though theund to law provis rgot t exact dates, the date of hire i think is difficult, within three llsiness days, later theloyer i employer must allow their portion of the i-9.u are bcally basically are saying it's irrelevant? >> i'm not saying it's irrelevant. >> you know, whatever we don't know that, it's no big deal.eal we get around to it, that's kind of what it sounds like specs, what i am saying is it's a formu and acknowledged the mistake ina not having information that we obtain in that form. but i'm also saying that having information on another piece of paper that is the sameinformaion rnformation is -- shows the respect, the need to verify eligibility in a way of notat nt ndving that information in thewi first place would indicate. if we had known about the form we would have used it because we had theform information, able t.

make it of able to the committet staff. and they believe that thehe substance of the immigration law was observed.a that's not to say, and i think we have acknowledged speed is have we received those of the documents speak with yes. >> that you're referring to? particular? >> we had photocopies of the passport, of the passport cards with regard to to employees, to employees for u.s. citizens andy their passportsees were provid. the third employee was aa thirde permanent resident, and hernt ar permanent resident card was provided. i don't believe as well as copies of socialpi security cars and in one case, i believe a b california driver's license. >> the obvious question is, you kn know, the job as commissioner, that's basically the person in e charge of overseeing a lot of the verification, the

truthfulness of employees, aof person status. e and it just seems like you are k prettye you cavalier about i ni. ended basically say, if i hearhu you correctly, that i ninth are not that important, that other documentations, i ninth are not that important. and you're saying that we shoult overlook the failure to fill ot an i-9 forms is, just overlookls at. >> mr. chairman, i am not denying the air, denying the violation with regard to thefore form in which the information was contained. what i am saying, and i say this as a former prosecutor, with regard to the immigration and customsregard to th enforcementd be the enforcement agency that if a person stepping back from r my own personal situation, if a person had the informationave t called for by the i-9, copies of passports, copies of pertinent resident card, copies of social security cards, copies of thisio

information, to demonstrate the eligibility of the person to work in the united states, it woulnot rem would not remove the violation, but it would put into light and into context that failure to t maintain the information in thah form. ar as i would say. diffeence. >> y. -- what documents did you think you had to provide and what did you get that information?spec with respect to each of these th documents. >> from the time i was a u.s.toy attorney and the time of the clinton administration, from thl zoe baird incident on, i knew there were two requirements and my wife and i verify each of those with regard to each identi employee over the nefixt 20 yeah the first is that people working in your household needed to beu eligible to work in the united n states, and you need to see proof and evidence of that eligibility. the case of every

employee. the second requirement was thatt household employees needed to be -- you need to pay household taxes with regard to people p working in the household. every employee over 20 years has the taxes pay for, thein the documentation, establishing that is not in dispute. >> senator grassley? >> the finance committee memo oe her nomination dated may 12ion d states that you received advice during theh vetting process that some of your employees could be categorized as independent contractors. i want to know who gave you this advice, and in what capacity whc were theyit working on your nomination. >> senator grassley, ranking rag member grassley, let me put that statement in the exchange with e your staff in the context. from 2006 until now, as commcated in response to thee

committees questionnaire, we pe employed six people in our household. three of them were providing housecleaning services part-time, three days -- threehe days a week. the other three persons who worked in our household were college students who were from the local college in san diego. who drove from time to time our children, since my wife and i both worked, drove into and appointments and required school events or sportingho events. they were paid on an hourly basis, and they were, as i say,t they use their own automobile to drive our student -- our children. of the six employees, my wife and i treated them as, treated all of them the same.

because consistent with what i've said for the two decades,, we look to assure that they were eligible to work in the united states. stas we verified their eligibility. and the second is we paid their. taxes. is, it was only after the irnf confirmation process in the vetting process that theve distinction was made that suggested that the college students we paid on an hourly basis, worked sporadically, whon used their own car, wereere independent contractors. and it appears to me that thatt was a fair characterization.fair i regret making thati distinction, senator, but, in fact, we've not made a distinction in terms of payingag their taxes and verifying their eligibility. their elgibility >> did somebody advise you onebv this? questioninging on whether -- i just want to get who gave you that advice and in what capacity were they working on your nomination during the vetting process to?ttingroces senator, in connections? withanh

analyzing the nature of the employment duties i receivedies advice from within the department at the homeland security. i also received advice from lawyers and friends from outsidg of the government. i talk i t to people, obviously in connection with the vetting hou. process, at the white house. i responsible for having made the distinction. and i take -- i'm accountable for that. it strikes me as a distinction that should not have guided my response to the committee staffo >> well, did anybody advise you to not discuss the employee independent contractor switch with the committee? did anybody advise you not todv? discuss that? >> no, not to that -- that's ao, decision i made, but i want togh emphasize, senator grassley, that there was no intent in fac

to conceal those three college students. because in fact, they were theted on tax returns that wereo provided to the committee. schedule page listed in figure was not a question, and i benef benefited in no way of havingme conceal the employment of those stories didn't pick their nameso came to the attention of the sta staff because they were in thes tax doctors that we provided to the staff. >> okay. would you giveld yo another nominee in a similar situation who had received a similar advice? >> not to make distinctions than were notot made at the time ofte hiring, that is to say, there th were no decisions made in the di way people were treated in terms of verifying their eligibility ying t and paying their taxes. i would not draw a distinction in the context and then analyzec it, looking backward. >> i would like to go on to

another matter i want to discuss with you.uss and this comes from a november 18, 2009, story in thee "san diego reader." youhad the story said you had d personal h financial state in a border real estate through a partnership called alt-a terminal. that was created in october 96 with your relatives during this time yesterday's u.s. attorney for the southern district of california and also as attorney general southwest border representative. in fact, it indicates you still have an interest in the terminar properties. but would you describe ito rtii. uour involvementit i with the ao you're related to any other investors in the property? >> this was a family organize, s organize by my father law that is to seize.

i was a limited partner, along with my wife, lisa, and took noo active role or involvement in the management. and that property was disposedf of seven or eight or nine years ago. the partnership that is tis reflected in the 278 does not thatin, does not include property at the u.s.-mexicane ef border on the edge of it it. >> i do have a question though, when the property was involved,e oas your involvement in this inv partnership appropriate given your position as partne u.s. attorney,attorney and as the attorney general southwest border representative? >> i believe so, senator. i bela there was no activity that i acy took him either in connectionher with the property, or as u.s. attorney that affected the valur

or disposition of that real estate. >> so then, maybe my last l question is not appropriate. you don't have any interest nowe and otay properties? is that what you're saying?ou wu >> no. sir, otay properties, it is an llc. it does not hold the propertye e that was referenced in the article that you have just y referred. >> well, then let me sat sk yreu this last question been.n then. in your role as commissioner of customs and border protection, is it conceivable that what you do on the job could impact theep value of these properties? >> no, sir. >> the next person is under ourm arrival isr. mr. bingaman and tm mr. bunning, and then the senator from washington. and in the senator, texas. tex >> mr. bersin, thank you for be being here and congratulations on your appointment to this ths important position. let me just state, i don't need questi anymoredo questions on a.

i think we have gone through this subjectg extensively here, but let me just state that in my view, it is clear that you complied with the spirit of thew immigration laws in that you made a legal determination, a determination as to the legal status of employees and kept records to verify that that had been done. and you pay taxes as you pointed out, on those individuals. and the fact that it was not done on this form is unfortunate, but not fatal, in my view. let me ask about the job that you are taking on, because it is an extremely important job that you've already taken on. and that is as head of customs and border protection, in my state of new mexico, as you well know, this is an extremely important position. and i am impressed with all of the background experience you had in trying to deal with

border protection, particularly in the southwest border. let me ask about infrastructure along that border. one of the things that i've been pushing for is his problem of what do we do about outbound inspections? we -- it's clear when you look t at the violence going on inmexio mexico, particularly in the city p of juarezar and other northern mexico city's, that much of that violence is fed by the ready availability of large amounts oo cash, largef amounts of weaponrf that come across from the unitem states. and i'm concerned that we don't have in place the necessaryture

infrastructure, the dedicated outbound inspection teams thaton we need to really monitor any of that. of is this something that iss someg getting fixed?hat what's your view on the?ing fix? >> senator bingaman, the notion that we neged to pay attention,t not only to matters coming nortg through our borders, but rather going south, the cycle of drugs, guns and cash is actually one continuous cycle that requireste attention to outbound as well ae inbound. and cooperation with mexico.thef the core of the secretaryd the napolitano's and the ap administration's approach to the problems on the southwest border. last march. in 2009, when therye secretary announced the initiative with respect to the southwest border, she instructed and oms and border protection andra ice to engage in southboud

checks on a regular basis. there are two parts to this,thee senator. one was the creation of teams, eustoms and border protectionop field operations, see bpo's, together with border patrol agents, detail to the ports of entry,t working with state and local police officers underundee stone garden grants, as well as immigration and customs imm enforcement agents started to do a systematics inspections of cas going south. the second part is, is what youo allude tou with regard to technology. we do not have in most of thee n ports of entry either on the northern border or southern border, a system of capturingrig data with regard to license plates going south. what we do in some places sucht. as sandy zito across from tijuana. we are moving to remedy that into a trick by by creating license plate reading away frome the port of entry, and where we

have the footprint to be able ti put the technology in place, we're looking to do that. because we except as as an important function of theth agec agency. >> that, let me just ask one more question on that very issue, because this license plate reading capability, as you indicated, is in place in a few locations. it is not in place, and my state in any of the border entrances. i am told that the drug to enforcement agency owns andtes operates license plate readers and injury are border patrol checkpoint. does cbp have access to that information? is there a way to ensure that, that some kind of license plate capabng capability be put in all of these checkpoints so that wep don't have frankly the problemo stostolen vehicles in my state

is a serious one.us one a and particularly as you get toward the southern part of the state, but even in albuquerque getget a lot of cars stolen. and i've never seen again. but the understanding is they tnd up inin mexico.erstaing is being t more is being done on this license plate reader issue? >> center, a drug enforcement administration at the department of justice and cbp argued engage in discussion. web develop a joint project. i met yesterday, as. circumstances turn out, with mr. placido. we discussed the matter and i believe we will have an the arrangement up and working in a documentation of it in the very near future. n >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator bunning? >> thank you, mr.can chairman. i'm going to go back just to touch base so i can try to grasp

how a farmer -- former u.s. attorney for the southern district i guess, southern district of california? >> yes, sir. >> wouldn't know federal law. since your job as a federal attorney, u.s. attorney would be to enforce the federal laws in that area. you had 10 household employeesld since 1993, it's my understanding. how many of these employees did you file are maintained a for my ine for verification of their legal status in the timeframe that is required by federal law? >> we did not have the verification of eligibilityvee which was secured for each one y

of those employees on the form required by law, senator. we have acknowledged that. >> so you didn't know there wash such a law? 't you didn't comply with this?n >> i did not know that apply to to household help. senator, this is not a form thap needs to be thought that it is one that needs to be filled out -- >> i can to you as an experienced person who as a normal citizen of the united states, hired domestic employees, i knew about it. federam not a federal prosecutor.l pr i am not a federal u.s. attorney from the southern district ofctf california.ca and i knew from the irs that i had to file taxes for those fi people, if they made over ale certain amount of money. so a few understand my difficulty, background that your wouldn't understand the

requirements, it's extremely difficult for this committee trying to get information and verify it, that they have difficulty understanding it that also.nding when the finance committee asked how many a household employees u ho had since 2006, you told them three. tre when, in fact, there had been bn six. why didn't you reveal the other three household employees? hous >> senator, as i indicated to the ranking member these were the three students who were --dh >> but you are paying them a saudi. -- >> know, we were not paying them a salary. >> you are paying them by the>>r hour. >> we were paying them hourly. they were not working on a bigger gsc ohnedule. they weren't as needed.they they use their own car to drive our daughters. >> but you are paying taxes? >> yes, we were.>>es, we

>> okay.kay. so you clearly treated all ofc those household workers assehol employees forwo tax purposes? >> we did, senator, and we didpu for purposes of verifying their eligibility to work in thteted united states. because as you know, independent contractors are casual hires are not required to have the employer pay taxes or fill out --ut >> i'm going to go back to the question that the ranking member -- to advise you to tell you tht finance committee that they were independent contractors? c was of someone connected to the obama oadministration who was adminish helping you through the venting process, or did you, out of ignorance, just not list him on a i-9 for the. >> as i said, senator bunning, did not -- there was no

intent to conceal the threethe e college students. their names appeared in the tax returns that were furnished to this committee. in fact,rr it was a way in which their names came up. iup w with regard to the advise that we received, regarding the treatment of them in a retro active sense as i indicated, wee received advise and counsel from unsel fr a variety of sources. but i am responsible for thebuta dishes in thatm was made to make a distinction. >> you made that distinction.in. >> and had not been made at the mime of hiring of employment.e >> before you recess appointed in march, i assume that the administration as to whether you want to be recess appointed. at at that time you knew you were e not finished with our committees vetting process come and youentc knew there were significant issues to be resolved. why did you agree to be recesso appointed rather than let theere committee process come to a conclusion?

>> i am -- senator, having prouf to be appointed at the time cbp needed leadership. it was a major agency or recent -- >> we know that there will. particularly in the wakeat. of the december 25 attempt over detroit, the importance of having leadership in place wass made. the administration. i appreciated that, and do not believe it was a wrong decision. >> but good -- >> having an opportunity to --an >> please answer my question. did you agree to be recesseal ?ppointed?sappointed >> i did not say that i wouldt not be. it was not my decision to make that.on >> were you asked? we are asked by the administration whether you wanted to be recess appointed? >> i was asked whether not i would accept the appointment inh

may, and i said yes or.ir. >> thank you. >> time has expired. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. bersin, good to see.at thankor cantwell you for your ws to serve, and thank you for coming to the pacific northwest are obviously the northern border issues are a great interest to us, and the movement of goods and u services also a g part of our economy. so making sure that we havee s security for the flow of of commerce and individuals is vers important. ery one of the issues that you help us in trying to address was the relationship between custom border patrol agents and local law enforcement, and particularly those living on thn olympic peninsula area. so i appreciately that.i how do you think we keep thathik relationship going? what are some of the lessons you think that we should learn from that, and had to make sure thate local law enforcement stakeholders are partoca olf lar

national security infrastructure? >> senator cantwell, i think you for those comments, and i also want to thank you for the assistance that your staff ine washington and also people likel nancy provided to us in your p home state, to actually build those relationships and sustained a partnerships that re critical to the operation of customs and border protection, otecti particularly on the northern border where we do not have the numberno of agents that we have we elsewhere around the country, in terms of airports and seaports,d let alone on the southwest border where have almost 18,000 agents. l so the multiplication of our pr presence in partnership with the state, local and tribalership authorities that your office has helped build is a criticalisa dimension to our activities on the north. and i think we have made progress, not only in terms ofsn regular outreach in meetingss jf jointly with the community, but

law enforcement to law enforcement exchanges such as i the interoperability of communications that i think holds outmunicati great promise other partnerships around thepsn country. >> and do you think that customs and border protection only more on law enforcement in the kinddf of unification and securities to the border works obviously this is a highly sensitive issue when people are miles and miles ande miles, miles away from the border. and all of a sudden are stopped and pulled over by someone they don't even recognize as a law enforcement entity. . .nted in places where dispatch systems are shared between local law enforcement and customs border protection specifically border protection patrol this kind of collaboration and going out together to the community to explain the role of the checkpoints to the community so

that people understand why they are in place and also are sensitive to the complaints that people raise about them is an ongoing feature of the learnedration ndone thawe we've learned a lot a from.ta >> that and tojo keep taking that kind of communication back from the law enforcement and thh community? >> absolutely. >> thank you.> absolutel thank you,y. mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, mr. bersin. i want to start by asking you te about the unmanned aerial systems being operatede byems customs and border protection office air and marine. and as you know, there cbp has five predator drones.ones i brought a nice little model oy that so everyone can see what they look like. but astonishing to me that the e

department of defense has 6000 unmanned aerial vehicle in itsr inventory.nd y and yet more protection is responsible fore maintaining board security. we only have five. and as you know, three operate out of arizona, two out of north dakota. and taxes has the longest common border with mexico has none. as do know, i've written and ioi know governor perry has asked secretary napolitano to proceedt with all dispatch to correct. at this point, were still waiting for the faa to issue a certificate of authorization because somehow they just have been issu able to do with that what c would consider to be a timelyon basis. can you tell me what the cbp has

done to want a certificate of authorization is issued? first of all, let me ask you,ngc have you done anything tooura encourage the faa to ann i unchecked move on quickly and then i'd like you to tell usus what's cbp has done to preparee for the issuance of that cetifica certificate so we can get a likh drone like this in the sky as soon as possible over texas. >> senator cornyn, it did uav see a way that's under consideration by the faa has sense constr of common bias with regard to the coa covering west texas. there's another one that would cover actually the sixth uavwoul that we have come at the maritimes that would raise an se corpus. with regard to the land o predator, the west texas coa. it is my anders handing that the legal deadline for issuance and consideration of the faa iss

oming within a couple of weekse and in fact, we havef been makig regular inquiry.ith i have a meeting with faator bax administrator babbitt next week in which we will, i trust, youri good news because it's not fluently essential dimension of homeland security and willri become so even morety a will ase into the future.e-- so i think the other coa havinge to do withr the guardian, so-called maritime guardian predator is one that was filed h more recently and we will expect the faa and due course torexpect consider that. the secretary napolitano iscret given direction.g i was present when she met with governor perry and she is with this, as they cbp.p. >> well, mr. bersin, i appreciate your answer. you can understand whennator gaa particularly senator bingamano talked about of course the violence occurringurse in mexig

growing concerns about the spillover effects in the unitedh states while using the very best technology we have to provideove security, both reception of perc security and real security at the border is an absolute imperativerebor here it and this something that is very, veryhig high on my purge list, very important to me.i and so i hope that this happens with out any more undue delay. n but i want to say, we shouldn'ts stop there. i know there. fbi night has been dispatched., it is unworkable and assessment has been made as to what needs to replace it. we're all waiting to hear what that assessment is because we know that the border is not toot urre.sec they are more.e than half a million people detained comingd across our southern border last year and who knows how manyand people actually comekn that ourh not detained and returned toa their country. and we note that with the drugs,

the weapons, w the people being brought almost across the bordee at willr by the cartels and othr thganized criminal gangs that this is a problem that has to be dealt with with a concrete plan. which gets me to the budget. the administration requested an appropriation of 11.17 billion for 2011 which is 3% decrease and in 2011 it amounts to further decrease of 318 million. what is the plan to increase the number of bids on the ground border patrol fiscal infrastructure and technology so that the american people can be assured that the federal government is doing everything it possibly can to secure the border?

>> senator cornyn's said in 2004 the border patrol is more than doubled in size. we now have a border patrol -- >> mr. bersin, i know that. that's a good but it's not good enough and that's what i want to know what is your plan going forward? >> we have worked through recognizing the fiscal constraints that we face as a nation that we will not decrease the number of border patrol agents on the ground. in fact we will maintain the steady state notwithstanding the attrition that you see in an organization as large as that. with regard to the ports of entry, the cbpo will also be maintained at a level just below 21,000, officers. we will i believe be seeking to redress the 200 additional air and marine people that we need

to maintain the states, so at youe yr po i think you would agree that we are much better resource than th ever before, that we are seeing the benefits of that, that there's additional work to bedos done and as we consolidate ourr efforts, i would expect that there will be further growth. but together with the technology, whether it's uavs or an adaptation of fbi night, we must in fact combine the technology infrastructure, witho the boots on the ground. let m >> mr. bersin, let me say in conclusion. i'm sure you're concerned almosr to authorize are properly ro resourced so that legitimate commerce and trade, which comm benefits our nation as well as their tradingh ben partner.tner, mexico to the south and to the north, that those be improved. but i would tell you the status quo in terms of staffing and

deployment of technology when it comes to border security is not acceptable to me and i don't think it should be acceptable to the american people. we don't cut corners when it comes to the national security when it comes to funding the department of defense. we do what it takes and the american people i know are committed to doing what it takes to make sure the nation is secure and i think the same thing applies to border security. the american people are terribly upset. they are scared, they are mad and they don't understand why we are not doing more to secure the border so i would suggest we need a plan from the department of homeland security, from customs and border protection about how to get it done and then we need a price tag and then the congress needs to deal with that as a responsible body because the american people simply are not going to be satisfied with a flat lie budget a no and no more border patrol agents because of budgetary concerns.ys

security is my forte. >> thank you very much. i sense your sense of emergencyd >> senator wyden is next. >> >> thank you, senator cantwell and welcome to mr. bersin. let me if i could turn to a different topic. and i come to it because i share are here on the finance su subcommittee, the tradebc subcommittee. and this is especially important to our part of the world, the trade jobs, that pay better than non-trade jobs in my home state. something like one out of six jobs depend on international trade. ind if confirmed, you would pla an especially important role in key feature of this whole whole policy arena. and that is the enforcement ofdh theat i anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders. and of course, the agency cbpenc plays an essential role in a pls and whole host of enforcement

ciforts that are especiallyre ee important at this time. we're seeing this a legals transshipment, particularly by the chinese, falsified country of origin marking. undervaluation of good to pay pa less duty come in this classification of goods, thecatf list goes on and on as you know. and in effect, the cumulative consequences of all of this are u.s. industries forking over or millions of dollars to try tolif fight these costly trade disputes, just to keep on getting the consequences ofencef illegal dumping and the harm that they are faced as a result of the lack of enforcement. i do have concerns that thisis agency, which is our front-liner defense againstont-line unfair s not adequately enforcing thercin orders that are on the books. so let's just walk for a minute through the tool at your

disposal and first, let's start with what specific actions are wit you prepared to take at thisyopp point toar make sure that anti-dumping and countervailingc duty orders are enforced quite >> senator wyden, with regard to the revamping, if you will, ofif cbp's mission on trade, in orden to ensure not only members ofme congress, but also the trade community that we take equally as important and asand as complementary the promotion of trade, they motion of american economic competitiveness as parr of the security regime. we need to look at theto look u antidumping and countervailing duty issue that you raised, actually see it in the samen thn context as intellectual property rights, protection and consumer productsrop the safety protecti,

so we need to promote trade, bue support the trade bus. i am aware of the perception that we have not used the full power of the agency as an d th agency. so i've met with interest thehe draft of unfair trade reduction act of 2010 and think that201 several of the tools that are in there should be considered as as important measure that we can use as we ramp up our enforcement profile. i should say though that we need o put this in the context oftht the overall review of the trade function that has been initiated at cbp under my leadership, toua look at the resources, to looks, at the processes and procedures that we used and to look at importantly the relationships we have with other federal

agencies, for whom we serve ase executive agents including u.s.. por, department of commerce and on the unfair trade side of the house. ho but the kinds of tools that aree in there, need to be integrated into this review.rev the notion that we should have uniforme not procedures to lookt the allegations that are made and to do it and a consistent way around the country. bp oughtept that cbp ought to collect cash deposits fromm te importers are suspected duringrf the course of investigation of invading antidumping and countervailing duty orders isrsa another matter that obviously will be of great concern and consternation toa the trade. t but with proper outreach and proper appplication and enforcement, that could be an importantlica tool.l. the notion that commerce, the department of commerce and the

department of homeland securitye to cbp should issue an annualssn report detailing allegations ofs violations in this field, eld, actions that are taking investigative lead and any results at being the inc. is a idea that should be looked at seriously. the old saw that if you don't measuret it, you can't managemet applies in terms of regulatorysf activity as well as other areas. and lastly, we are looking in the entire review of the tradeae at the number of resources that in terms of personnel we devote and somecbpa promotion. cbp is an agency of under 50,00e employees, just under 900the function. i haven't been there long enough to know exactly how many moreore resources we need to devote to this, buto d i'm confident thatn do need to build up the

personnel tablet to this kind of nvestigation of penalty sanction.tion >> mr. chairman, my time ising.. i'm convinced -- >> go ahead, senator. >> thank you.>> thk you, much, m r. chairman.this is this is a quick point. ab clearly, mr. bersin is talkedasd about on the ideas that you and i have been discussing him a mr. chairman, to step up enforcement.rcement, and i think the general direction we're talking about and highlighting some of the points he is clearly direction yo go in. you have american industry spending significant sums to defend themselves against unfair import command to save yourself, how was it that they have too mr monitor compliance with existin wrders, particularly when theye walk away and say that that rcemliance and enforcement ofeno the government's job at the agency is you are talking about. mr. chairman, i am encouraged by the response we've gotten and i want to highlight again -- ant

they've had a long-standing interest in these kinds of issues and i went to work of with you as we beendoin doing on all the straight batters in a thank you for the for time. tim >> thank you, senator. a couple more questions. it's my understanding, mr. bersin, that when you were first contacted by our staff during the bidding process, yout indicated there were three employees that i guess are in i question and you did supply rspt documentation to those three, i that correct? >> yes, sir. respe's also my understanding that in effect to the other employees, an additional threee that she did not volunteer, that those employees work for you, but s that issue arose during te vetting process when they asked you a question about whether yoe

had further employment for the employees at that time youou in indicated, when asked by the staff, that you have additionald ploys in adddiition to thosese three.that is that correct? >> yes, senator.n as i indicated to senator ni bunning, the six employees included the three that are discussed in the three collegeo students. stude >> is a correct you provided >>cumentation to the first three? >> that's correct. >> is it true you did not provide documentation for the subsequent three? wi >> when my wife and if met witht the committee set up int march, we supplied information regarding the payment of taxes for people who were employed by s.loye we indicated that we had to verify the eligibility and i don't recall that the staffthe t followed up to ask us for the actuals documentation of thetuds college student eligibility to

work in the united states. >> is you on your own provide documentation for all subsequent employees, temhat is those ine n addition to the first three? >> after the -- no, sir. we did not provide the california drivers license and the social security numbers that we had. we could do that and i didn'twed think there was an issue about. that. >> i was just curious because j your basic addition is theyit aren't important as long as you provide theas documentation. and he did provide for the first day, but did not bu ydoc ut documentation for the other employees except, it sounds -- o i'd like to clear this up, comes on like a sporadic ad hoc recess. >> senator, i'm told that we did hear it i don't recall havinge u provided the actual copies of securiivers licenses and social security thatty cards, but theye avai available. there was no reason thnoter to

provide them. i don't believe the staff askede specifically for the documentation. we'd be delighted to provide it. >> i'm just surprised he didn'tn say hey were going to have it ready for you just off the top. >> senator, in fact the committee questions went to employees employed by 2006. because i was concerned that the staff had the impression that we were not being forthcoming, my we s flew out from california. we sat with your staff and we didn't limit it to 2006.006. we went back to the 20 years of0 employees that we hired after getting married in 1991 andrieda having a first child together in 1992. emily went through all of the we employees that we hired, withou regard today. and i must say that i think we were so completely forthcoming during think that meeting and rn willing to demonstrate that there was never a case in whiche

we fail to pay taxes to someoned employed in our household orourh verify the eligibility to work in the united states. >> already. the question .i have basically s dedication to commerce. it's clear you have deepdeep background in security issues.es from 2009 until 2010 come you provided homeland security where the borders are. 2006 to 2009, you remember thelf california ford education andtin apparently you are chairman and san diego county regional airport authority. that's not a lot of security, l but a lot of security waso involved for those jobs. j and from 05206 come you are secretary of education and from 98 until 2005 come you were superintendent of public i education. that, you were inhern

the southern of california.o i so first of all i commend you for your public service. it's pretty apparent that your service is two areas primarily. it's education and it's alsosh e prosecution/, the no border enfurity issues and not enforcement. education and law enforcement. i don't see anything here respect to commerce. and i'm quite concerned frankly that you don't have a lot ofdona experience or dedication to commerce. in fact, in your opening statement i didn't have very much they are with respect to commerce.ess. just tell us a little bit more about what you're doing. >> senator, respectfully, you part of service. yes, it's two thirds of my

career. one third in my enforcement andt wondered in education, but iut t spent 20 years as a corporate and commercial lawyer, deeply involved in trade and commercial matters. i represented in terms of intellectual property rights protection, was a part of my my caseload and i had more commercial cases by far than i did any other kind of case. my commitment to tradeand facilitation and the trade functions at cbp was demonstrated while i was the prosecutor, when i were to wo create and hope to have the congress passed the authorization for the century ct system, which is a trustedttr traveler program that's iantendo to segment the traffic along thi lines that i indicated in thepet opening statement for the purpose of actually existingdisu machines between local traffic,l traffic that could be expedited from traffic that needed to betd

inspect did. with regard to my work asas assistant secretary of secre international affairs at homeland security,of i've been s very much involved in looking at cbp's trade functions andnly the frankly i've understood not only the committee's concern, reflect it in your preparation andili a llling and posing of senate bili 1631, but also with the trade community concernstr about cbp's transparency, its commitment to increasing what it devotes to trade enforcement and trade promotion. all of this has been very much s matter of concern to me and inon which i'm committed. >> how would you knoyow whethern succeeded or not when you leave your job?eave your j how would you know whether you o succeeded on the trade side? >> i think there are a number of tricks that we can look at in

terms of seizures of counterfeit goods. looking at and mr. whiting's concern, the levying andern, collection of countervailingnteg duties and antidumping restrictions. i think there are a whole series of measures that will tell usurs whether or not we are getting the results in the trade arena that we need to have. >> what do you think the best measures are?res are, two >> inerms be two or three good measures?ioni >> in terms of trade promotions. >> and also stop being the bad a guy with all the stuff that comes in.d >> we also need to see thent of amount of time for example it takes to come into the unitedtah states, the inspection time, thm complaint by the trade that we are not moving trade tha the trs uickly as we can do you think e is one great concern that i'veed heard as i've gone to the trade. organization. the notion that we do not provide adequate notice to the

trade of changes we intend toadc make in ourhan rulings andthes a revisions i think isnd another area in which we can get a verya good read as to whether or notit we've oimproved not only theheu substance and the reality of our commitment to trade, but also the perception of it, not onlyon k thin congress, butl the trade immunity. i think we can look at the extent to which we've devoted resources to good effect in the area in terms of the number of positions that are handled, the handle takes to addition, the time in which ite takes to handle the drawbacks filed by the trade.think i think they're a whole series of readily available measuresuro along those lines that we canng like to assess thec progress. >> what i'd like you to do is sm submit to this the committee, rtx of the most importantmpo metrics, though such you think areyo most important, that you

think will help us as a country to determine whether or not we'reer or making progress in t. area. >> i'd be pleased>> i to do thai >> then i'm going to review these with you, maybe six n months. anlike to give you the six mostt important metrics and then give any timetable.ring w during which we will review these metrics to see the which i we've made progress. now, i want to tell you this,ou you're going to be commissionerr for a certain period of time. we want to work together.o i mean, there's a two-way street here.u so ifh yaoveu a areas we need hw let us know if you want help. the main thing is get the job yo done. so write le thttaert letter to e i like to see that letter by the end of end of the week. and i'd like -- we may respondan and suggesting other metric or two that we also think makes noe sense.o thnk mak i would deeply appreciate that.

>> what% of world software do you think is pira ted? just a rough gas. >> senator, i wouldn't have suce ar guess. but the degree that is unacceptable and the trade community is conscious of thee problem in the same way that i could not give you a good answeg to how many films are pirated, how many copies of counterfeit textiles are coming into the ou country or handbags. i would hesitate. >> don't you think of commissioner you want to have an idea how much is pirated? >> i think we cannot get with the seizures have been an oroject, but i've learned inandr terms of the security feature and i see this in much the same

way, that being able to project what is not being captured or received is a hazardousdous calculation and would want to b in a much more position to betin >> dont yove you -- >> don't you think you ou ught o know the scariest?ps like shouldn't you have information at your fingertips like that?he what the scope of the problem is and how well customs is handling it.sir. >> yes, sir. >> is a lot of latitude in lt general entities. >> i agree that data is better>e and weve need to have data, butn any event, having a baselinedata data still is not a sure guides to good trees that are fine inrn the forest.ducated educated guesses -- -

>> you're an educator. >> educated guesses try to do the best you can would you be amazed if you learned that 43%or of world software is pirated?pi? >> i would find that asat unacceptable as figures far less thanunacc that. >> i know from my visits invisit educational contexts it is an enormous amount of pirated counterfeit goods on sale they are and not fill our sawyer.rea >> in china piracy with numberse of 94% for the year 2079% for fr the year 2009 surprise you? and that's what they are. russia, 94%.

russia 2009, 67%. they're about the same, 58%. the world is a little better. no, it's worth, 60% worse ande,w 37% in the year 2000 to 43% inn0 2009 of software pirated. do you feel -- do you feel weu f have the ability to deal with software? you sound to me like a nothingsu foci. not a software guy. >> actually, senator, having rked in undeed in california i understand the piracy of oftware software. i understand the critical nature of software, intellectualintello property rights, protection to our economy. i understand that deeply and i've been involved in it asply lawyer and also as a prosecutor where we've were to stop thetoso counterfeiting goods coming over

from mexico. so understandexico. this issue e importance of it very well,o si. >> i'm going to tell you, a lot of businessmen come into my owno faith and unconcerned at the degree of intensity with which they're very upset with pirated -- their products are pirated and stolen. >> i >> i'm fa miliar with those complaints and those concerns. >> but their pricing with intensity. i'm just telling you. okay, will do with the metrics. you also know there's another me border. >> i know that very well, sir. i've been to maine two weeksbee ago. i'ven been to senator cannot we. indicated, seattle. i've been to detroit, windsor. d i've been to the whole sector os

the new york state, vermont and, i would've gone to montana had a senior senator been there to greet me. m >> well, you could have gone anyway. >> well, i know montana from travel there, that i meant in an official capacity, sir.ill yoknw >> well, you know we have a long border. br, 545 miles and we only have three ports through which commercialcl vehicles can pass. it's a huge problem. the operational hours, some of f these of course have beendramatl dramatically reduced. so what are your plans to refocus and get commerce going across our borders? >> with respect to the northern border, as you know, we haveim implemented the pilot program to expand the hours of wild horse and we wanted to see whether orh

not, the fact that we providednd those extended service hours, whether or not the traffic wout require that we extended it. we are always willing to assessr that. i think our record has been good in that respect, that we are weak and that the analysis anda where there's a demonstrated need,d the response by the community to make those extended hours per minute. i think there's also in rural areas and ports of venture that we need to be willing to look ak flexible use of technology, but assures our security, but also permit people use the border arly regularly to register so thatto they can -- they can be givenn access at certain times of thet day when we're not there with people on the ground.

>> okay. i'm especially concerned aboutct intellectual property violations, frankly because it'e rising. and medicine, for example, threatens the health of our consumers.co the authorization bill that we hopensume to pass will be cust authority and resource to see our infringing goods. but what additional authority would you like to have to do your job? >> we appreciate the concern. i want to first see how far we e can in the enforcement efforts that we've initiated here there've been two major developments that i want to to apply and then be in a position to talk about what additional rds we may need. se two those two efforts are the intellectual property

enfoement enforcement center at i immigration and customs of forc. that has established. we participate in it in the investigations that ice is doing in intellectual property violations or suspect that violations. but the partnership that i thin. we need to assess how far we are hampered by lack of authority and one other obstacle is there the may be. d the second obstacle is thee up opening up of the seatac amongrl the commercial targeting and analysis center that really represent the first time inich which we are trying to use the sophisticated data bases and targeting roles, that we have proven so valuable and the security context.this and to do this in the tradeo lok contacts, to look at the same notion of risk management, riskd segmentation and security in thy area of trade enforcement as ine

f do in terms of protect them te ogainstr terrorism andrasnati transnational crime. >> what are you doing about consumers -- concerns about the safety ofcerns imported toys as children's products? nd it is, senator.senaor, a and two weeks ago, two and halfo weeks ago i met with chairmanit ynez tenenbaum with those safett council. weenter we were into a memorandum of understanding, in which members of the cpsc are actually co-located at the seatac, the commercial targeting and analysis center. i had a call this week with ynez tenenbaum who we've agreed that we will convene a group of agencies, for which customs andc border protection server as the executive agent, so that we can start to take an entire board

unified whole u.s. government nt approach to issues not only a consumer product safety, but also intellectual property enforcement.nforceme >> what aboutnt additional cost that importers have to bear o because of showing compliance with u.s. trade laws? does not put an additionalthem? burden on them? >> there's no question that every every time we impose areqi regulatory requirement thats there's a cost involved. and i've heard the complaint that the chairman just articulated in my meetings with trade organizations, which i begun the first week on the job. co-wac,k i was with the the commercial operations for very and basicallyab senator, what we're talking about here is a reciprocal s obligation. the reciprocal obligation is that if we impose requirement that results in additional cost of business, that we provide thv benefit of the bargain to the

business. >> how do you do that? >> we do that bystanders andvemf expedited movement of goods, pr processes, paperwork as well asn the movement in the amount ofvin time in aviation contacts in the movement of trucks across the land border.nd bo this has got to be a win-win situation in which business and government promotes americante e economic competitiveness and economic austerity. >> well, the legislation that was held provide such benefits. that is so that those who are doing a good job get some bne benefit of this whole processfi here.roces >> i understand there are important un dimensions and thee bill to do that. >> what safeguards we put in place to ensureu that cbc is making significant decisions? >> i think a commitment to

transparency openness and notices of the hallmarks fromole the keystone for that approach. when i met with thet co-wachis committee this past tuesday i made that commitment pa to them. i believe it was well received. we had a five-hour, for ourfoure meeting in which the subcommittees that have been established i've reported onpord ireir work.the i understand the importance of consultation. i un i understand the importance of rebuilding the trust and confidence of the tradetra community as well as members of congress and the notion that wee cannot vote security and prosperous trade together. we may not sacrifice one to get the other.spee >> this committee does not like to be blindsided here at so ifud something is coming up in you think congress should know abouo it, i would like a telephone call in advance. >> yes, sir. t

>> i don't want to read about someing some game pretty important inom the newspaper. i want to hear from you. >> i'm about ready to wrap up your left you something you wano to say.omethinto say. >> senator, i appreciate the opportunity. i want to express again my concern at the impression that may haveim been conveyed to your staff in the course of the vetting process. senator, for 20 years now i've been engaged in public service as you noted as a u.s. attorneyt as a member of the department oo justice, as a school superintendent, californiaa secretary of the chairman of the authority and more recently in t dhs is the assistant secretary r of special border representative. poseach of those

itions, myns my reputation for truthfulness indeed is believed to be theliee fault o f what i prize most. i've been confirmed by fourour legislative bodies, five legislative bodies in four government.govs of i take my reputation for the truthfulness and candor as the core. the first lesson that mythe fisl children learned is that your word is your bond. and i want overtime, senator, to have the opportunity to earn that trust and confidence on the substantive matters, but also ts undervalues that you articulated in quoting teddy roosevelt atdy the outset of this hearing. >> i appreciate that and i appreciate answering your questions posed by this committee. but i still remain concerned. since 1853, customs servicetrolg outside responsible only for

controlling our borders. bhe agency retains to secure th borders unlawful and i believe your failure to complete and to maintain eye and i goes to the heart of your duties as of customs and heart of the agencies to securee our borders, to incredibly enforce the law, you must first. follow the law unless you've been appointed as commissioneria coming your term will expire atx the end oft next session. have in the meantime coming ofhe important duties to fulfill.wel i hope you fulfill them. i look forward to working with you what the metrics we're going to work with and see the progress we can undertake >> tnkn now and the end of next year. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you. meeting is adjourned. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> defending the united states against cyberattacks, saturday homeland security deputy undersecretary phillip redding or on the departments work with the pentagon and white house and the role of private networks and cybersecurity

>> remarks now from commerce secretary jerry locke on the internet and privacy laws.

he spoke last week during the week conference at the international trade center here in washington. this last about an hour and 20 minutes. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> ladies and gentlemen, as you all can tell, these things run their ordinary course and were chock full in the morning and then we have some laggard after lunch. but i think if you look at the agenda, you'll see the afternoon promises to be just as sensitive, just as engaging and to take that off, we have some opening remarks from our general counsel, cam kerry. just a couple thoughts before cam comes up.

after commerce we kicked off an internet policy task force. the executive sponsorship for that really comes from cam and from my boss, travis sullivan, the director of strategy in the secretary's office. it's been a pleasure to get to know cam. to put it in context, i think you saw this morning the type of leadership we have both within the commerce department with this you with michelle o'neill guiding one panel and larry strictly guiding another and the support we have from the rest of the administration. one of my pleasures of being at the commerce department and looking across the landscape is i get to see other aspects of it as well. most people don't know it, but the commerce department is very sprawling in its composition and in its mandate. to the south, we have the patent trademark office and we've actually got an incredible

leader down there and did capos. we have her headquarters here across the street and up in north keeps berkeley have missed the witches let it another extraordinary executive, pat gallagher. and so, somebody who is that a senior staff level, it's really a pleasure of mine to be able to work with a very, very strong, sweet of executives going from the pto through commerce department headquarters and out to this. and when it does try executives is cam kerry, are counsel. cam has spent years in private part is, many years as senior partner at the law firm of mintz levin. if people in this town now, it is a very strong telecommunications and e-commerce product is. cam was, until he became general counsel, the lead of that group in the boston office, not surprisingly. buddies transported himself down here to work for administration

and he provides great leadership, great wisdom and e-commerce issues for us. and he's just an overall great guy to work with. tanks. [applause] >> well, mark, thank you and good afternoon. i think this is though that on the program as afternoon remarks. i thought we might sell more seats and bring in some of those lunchtime laggards if we build this as afternoon delight. [laughter] but i didn't win that fight. and they see what secretary locke was talking about this morning. i feel like an empire at a tennis match in this broom. [laughter] this morning, secretary locke highlighted some of the astonishing statistics about the growth of e-commerce and our

reliance on e-commerce and on the internet. and among other statistics noted that online transactions today are estimated to total $10 trillion annually and expected to pass 24 million at the year 2020. but these remarkable statistics actually unders they impact of the internet and of the digital economy in this era. and they don't measure the massive amounts of data that are moved across the internet, mind by academics and by corporations for research, taking advantage of the vast increases in computing power.

they don't measure the efficiencefficienc y gains for businesses that use b2 b. techniques for inventory management. they don't measure the welfare gains for consumers, from increased choice and competition globally. as the previous panel discussed, in the discussion of innovative uses of personal information, increasingly data is being used to personalize online experiences, to make product recommendations and to connect people with many different kinds of communities across the globe. nor do these statistics measure the full impact of the internet on our society today. it's not only a vehicle for

internet economic transactions. it that the by which we communicate today. it flattens organization, it decentralizes politics and it changes the way that we communicate with family, with friends and with colleagues. i've watched this unfold as a communications lawyer, going back to the days of the computer inquiry and as a consumer back to the days of a textbased internet account. and when it came to the department of the commerce, ainu and came they are with a sense that we have a special responsibility of stewardship for the internet and for

e-commerce. i recall that in 1997, the department of commerce was a leader in establishing the global framework for e-commerce. and it's with that roll in mind that we have launched the internet task force and launched this privacy inquiry and other inquiries to follow. and in doing that, i've had in mind the role of one of my predecessors at the department of commerce, andy pincus. and he was a leader in formulating some of the best thinking around a range of internet issues. and along with our morning panelists, larry irving, when he was the assistant secretary at ntia, and he knew that if we were going to build the internet

to its potential, the united states government needed to write touch in the process. so, it's an honor to pick up that manner of leadership. and as one simple message that i want to leave you with today and that is backed in this field, the department of commerce is back. we are back to lead. to model that we want to carry forward as we update the framework for the global digital economy in the 21st century. and we're back because our continued economic recovery in tomorrow's prosperity depend on

a tax factor that's able to innovate and expand into new technologies and applications. we're back because the internet and e-commerce depend on trust to flourish. we're back because the government has an important but delicate role to play in preserving trust and enabling this digital fabric across the society to flourish. trust and privacy are central to the mission of this effort, central to the mission of the department of commerce. earlier this year, secretary locke established within the department, a departmentwide internal facing privacy counsel, which i chair. and one of our first acts was to

adopt a privacy mission statement for the department of commerce. it says that the department of commerce is committed to safeguarding personal privacy. individual trust in the privacy and security of personally identifiable information is a foundation of trust in government and commerce in the 21st century. as an employer, as they collect data on millions of individuals and companies, the developer of information management and are in a federal advisor on the information management policy, the department strives to be a leader in best practices and privacy policy. to further these goals, the department assigned a high priority to privacy considerations and all systems programs and policies.

to lead on the external privacy pacing issues, we are committed to ensuring that we serve as a leader and an example for the u.s. government best privacy crack -- part is facing forward. millions of americans trust the department of commerce with protected information. corporations trust us with trade secret. applicants were many great programs trust us with their dreams and what their plans for the future. with this privacy symposium today, we are stepping up our outward facing work. our objective in these forums is clear. we want to ensure that we preserve and we protect everyone's access to an open

global internet, where innovation and privacy can flourish side-by-side. as we begin the public conversation, i want to tell you about in asp and institute conference that larry strickland and i attended last summer in colorado. our assignment there was to look at four different scenarios for the development of broadband. and we were joined by figures p, nonprofit knowledge and free press and academics from across the country. we were divided into four groups. each group analyzed a different scenario. and all four groups

independently, people who are not shy about disagreeing with one another highlighted one driver or one risk in, and for the continued development of the digital society. and every one of them framed it in exactly the same terms, trust, trust. so for me, this striking convergence and fences validates a guiding principle for our work as we embark on this new framework. it's working for trust. the government has a vital role, a vital role to play in bringing together many stakeholders like you today, to ensure a foundation of trust that can be a driver for a secure and a sustainable digital economy.

and as evidenced by today's symposium, we are proud to be and to serve as a leader within the executive branch and the continuing interagency conversation on these issues. we look forward to working with our colleagues at the ftc, at osd p. state department and across the government. i want to recognize some of those colleagues who are here today or who have been here today. the department of commerce and the federal trade commission have had a tiff partnership on privacy issues for many years. it's a relationship that we look forward to continuing for many more. we are fortunate to have here

jessica rich, the ftc is deputy or a consumer protection. she's going to appear on the next panel and i want to extend a special thanks both to the ftc and to jessica. we have worked closely with the ftc on many issues, global trade issues and privacy issues, as many of you know. the u.s. european union safe harbor network, the asia-pacific economic cooperation, e-commerce group, the oecd working party on information party, the trilateral committee on transporter data flows. so as general counsel, i look forward to the job of bringing the insight that you offer today, that you offer in

response to our notice of inquiry, to the ftc, to the fcc and across the government. i also want to recognize, with their participation today, ambassador sjoberg beard who will be your later this afternoon, deputy assistant secretary and u.s. coordinator for international committee patients and information policy. also, andrew mclaughlin, the deputy chief technology officer for internet policy at osd p. i thank them for their leadership and for their support on these important issues. and we are truly fortunate that the department of commerce to have with us the kind of recognized experts and quality thinkers and leaders in marc

berejka and in danny weitzner. so i want to thank mark, not just for his kind words of introduction, but more importantly for his leadership, his vision within the office of secretary. and i want to thank danny, not just for his work on this symposium, but for his brilliant work as a real day to day leader of the department of commerce effort in this arena. and while there are too many here to acknowledge individually, i do want to take knowledge that many staff from ntia, ita, from nest, across the

department of commerce on this issue and in direct correlation with the symposium. so will you please stand up and be recognized? [applause] but finally, i want to thank all of you. your participation in this symposium here today starts a new phobias in our conversation. if you haven't done so yet, please submit comments on our request for comments. we need you to share your thoughts, to give us your insights as we grapple with many difficult issues discussed today and outlined in the privacy notice inquiry.