it's not likely to be a large phenomena and indiana. i think it will be exercised by a meaningful but not an enormous number of our students. could be wrong but that's my guess. given the other choices that have been created and what i believe will be a much improved, much more credible and accountable public school system. but in the lives of those families and those children, whether it is one or two or three or 5% of all of our kids, it may mean everything. and it is certainly from the social justice aspect of the right thing to do to give the same range of possibilities to every family regardless of means. and in terms of a benefit of competition, which has been so sorely lacking in this monopoly of public education, as everyone

in the room, all the business people know much of life is at the margins, and even if you present the families to take this as i forecast i think you will still have very positive effects in spurring the rest of the system, the traditional, the charters, everyone to do a better job in delivering for our young people. let's see. a couple of things before we go to questions. this i thought might interest you. this is a little be that god in my bonnet a year or so ago. we offered a new choice to the young people of the state which is that, as many already deutsch and many more could, they choose to accelerate the state and to complete their graduation requirement in 11 years instead of 12, we will give them the money we are going to spend on

an otherwise fun filled cruise through senior year. [laughter] and i talked to a lot of them and i know. we will give them that money as long as they invested in the post sitting very education of some kind, needn't be for your college, could be community college, vocational training, something that will speed them and assist them into a future and help with the very expensive business of post secondary education. i got this idea wandering around our high school and discovering how common this already is and then going from their thinking about the money that we were spending on that and asking kids. we put this on a survey that's given every year to every high school senior and a free i think if greater. we ask them hypothetically if they had this choice with a ticket or be interested in 77%

as they would? so why don't know with the uptick will be but i hope that for some kids it will make a material difference. indiana is a state that always has had reserves and never raises taxes to do it through this recent unpleasantness for the aaa credits and we are going to be in the structural balance in the next two years as well as overall replenishing reserves in the previous session level. in the context of that we've added spending to the k-12 education, not a lot of a percentage and a half i guess and part of the will be used to complete the job we start this meeting full day kindergarten available to every 5-years-old. so, we believe in investment in education and have done as much as we thought we could consistent with our other duties but we beef leave reform has to go along with it. we all know this problem would have been solved a long time ago.

we discovered recently indiana is number one in america and a share of the state budget committed to k-12 education at 55 per cent and this is because we squeezed other things so aggressively and because we didn't let medicate historic we were recently exploded and eat the budget but it also is because along with public safety we've made public education our top priority for the resources that we did have. so i said the there days you don't feel like getting up and going to school and i felt that i would close this on a little sharing about what it's like to try to do these things. now, maybe you agree with the thrust of the changes we have been working on an indiana but maybe not. some don't agree at all, and i said in presenting these ideas in the most frequent of the state i said advocates of change

and education become accustomed to being misrepresented and then i recent again our commitment to public schools, our preference for teachers, determination to do better by them over time come all of these important affirmations come and then i showed up at the emperor. i would never have -- this is star wars, right? i was never a watcher of these pointroll that darth vader is in the back of a guy compared to me. [laughter] so i got the top billing here. there's a likeness that lacks a little. [laughter] this one at least has a little more wit. to complete and let me finish -- i brought to little ads we also thought it was important because

it's easy to be misrepresented. we thought it was important to communicate with the general and journalists, to just showed you two quick -- thank you, maestro. >> [inaudible] there's this always next year because you don't know if you will get it again. >> [inaudible] its never children who suffer most. >> i feel like it is a system that doesn't work in the best interest of the students. >> told the legislators to pass for their excellence and results, not seniority.

gamble on school lotteries. >> i'm hoping this year is going to be our lucky year. >> every parent hopes to give their child a better future and governor daniels education reforms give the appearance that opportunity. told the legislators to pass the bill that gives every child a chance. >> so, happy to answer questions i will just mention that we had a phenomena like students being given homework assignments, rice will be in letters. some teachers leaked to written question from the state

assessment test, which i wish i had brought so i could read it verbatim but it asked a student if you could move anywhere in the country, where would you go, if you could move and go to school and a different place, where and why? and i think it was meant to be more of the geography question, it was written by the contractors, two years ago by the contractors who prepare our standardized test. it was alleged that we had jimmied up this question to infiltrate into the minds of our students that they ought to have private school choice. so we had to throw that portion of the test and invalid 88 and the love of results and was a bad deal. but anyway, success ultimately was ours and we know that the real test for us is dead ahead and that is to implement effectively these tools in the

interest of your kids and the interest of the state's future, and this caught my eye somewhere. it's a great school but it wasn't my first choice. [laughter] we hope all four schools will be great then everyone will have their first choice. thank you, everyone. [applause] >> [inaudible] >> thank you for your work. hello, stephanie. >> i'm a fan of yours and dr. bennett's work. if you're talking to other education governors who want to make a dent and achieve breakthroughs policy wise, what is your advice in terms of strategy? >> you're asking somebody who has tried and failed a lot of times. so any advice i would have for others would largely be learning

from mistakes i guess. everything as it should be must be screened from the standpoint of the child. too much of education the date i have found is approached buy too many people from the standpoint of the system, or the adults in the system. and so each reform i think must be tested against the obvious but sometimes overlooked criteria of what is best for the child and likely to lead to the child's progress and then present it that way and always frame that way. it's very important, you cannot -- i suppose i made a little light of this, but you cannot often enough affirm your commitment to the public schools. as i said, 90% of indianan kids are in some public schools today

and even with the new option available, it will always be close to that. i believe that. i will be surprised if it's not. therefore there's a huge responsibility and we should share the commitment to make the schools better all the time. as it it's important to talk about school improvement, reform means different things to different people. but i don't have a magic answer. if i did i would have been here giving the stock years ago. >> governor daniels [inaudible] i had a question about your senior year scholarship program, and you know, i'm wondering if a vocational training is part of the program. the reason i ask that question is because germany seems to have made a success and sort of fabled where a lot of graduates are engineering grads from the vocational schools and i wonder if indiana has anything to learn in that context. >> i.t. we all do.

the answer is yes, very explicitly this for any postsecondary education i expect and hope a lot of it will be used for vocational training or at other than a four year school. our community college in indiana is growing and developing at lightening speed. more than doubled in the last few years and i think you will also probably the place at which the scholarships are applied. >> i work here at aei but my family is moving to fort wayne where i will be the [inaudible] i have a question for you and i hope you don't take it as hostile as it may sound because they appreciate a lot of what your work but what is the parent trigger in indiana? >> that is a fair question. [laughter] we got it. i believe we got it. i don't think it was a last-minute casualty and with

the question asked the bill is the opportunity for parents to petition, that's the way we approach it as 51% of the parents to be converted from a traditional to charter foreign and there was also part of our package. >> [inaudible] >> yeah, that one hasn't reached me at and if it's picked of incumbents as it made it less direct than we wanted, i will be disappointed by that but it's an independent principle and we argued for it. >> congratulations, governor, on your achievement. >> you mentioned this question of the teacher tenure, how long it takes to get and eliminating

it. >> we agreed and we did that. tenure in the new system will now be a function of the ratings of effective were highly effective, and back-to-back readings for a brand new teacher will give that teacher protection in the event of a layoff or shrinkage. the bill does provide to incumbent teachers a starting position but they can only keep it by running start in right away effective ratings and maintaining them. yes? >> from the national public radio, i don't want to be a party cooper but i do want to change the subject. >> let's have a parental -- [laughter]

referendum. >> 2012, without telling us what you're going to do, can you explain why it's not too late for someone to get in at this point is not a celebrity or a billionaire? [laughter] >> the man says when i consider my opportunity i am marveled at my strength. [laughter] >> i don't know the answer to that, that even people far more safe than myett of our political and educational are very surprised and of that on may 4th it's not already far too late but for whatever reason if not i consider that as the standpoint of the public blessing.

and unless you are a political professional running a bed-and-breakfast in new hampshire. [laughter] hopeful it's a darn good thing that will have a campaign measured in months and nomination can be measured in months and not years. i'm not sure what gave rise to eight and i said before could honestly the idea of my becoming one of the aspirants is to something i wasn't prepared to think about while we were working on this and a number of other things and i thought following the lines of your question that by april 29th the statutory and of the session which could have been extended we had a big dustup early in the walkout and so forth and it might have been necessary to extend the session and i would have done at if necessary to see

that the bills got voted on. i really thought that it might come too late somewhere along the line. if it had that would be that that for whatever reason it appears not to be officious off and i think it's a happy surprise. >> georgetown policy institute graduate. president obama and secretary duncan have been effective advocates at getting states to lift the cap on charter schools and also improve future quality, but they also increased the amount of money spent at the federal level, the stimulus bill, double size of the education and last august the build of the state's and it opposed a highly effective the altar bill in washington, d.c. but can you speak about a president in 2013 might to when

it comes to education reform of the federal level? >> we will start with something i already said. i really do want to salute and command and i've done it over and over the president, secretary duncan for a lot of leadership in this area and as the secretary lumpkin duncan came to indianapolis and he and i sat on the stage of a spectacularly promising charter school could from of the toughest parts of town and i took questions from the students and others and it was a great i thought great afternoon. they don't agree on everything. and i do stand that. we have an honest disagreement with regard to the department of education itself a lot more of it and we need. there is a federal rule. i probably have a much more modest view of that than some others and some other folks. i believe in the national

standards. i believe we have to all the -- we can all choose our best way to get their. a high school track team a coach may scissors kick but we ought to be jumping at the same bar, and never have national standards because republicans don't like national and democrats don't like standard. [laughter] but the department led the process and an fairness to them, they organized the process whereby the states came together or are coming together and i think that is a positive thing. so in terms of setting high aspirations, measurements, sharing of what works there is a rule, you're right there is an incredible explosion of spending. we don't need that. however i would say i did not object of least to some point

that one time attempt, so called race to the top program in which we were not successful competitors by the way but the idea one time to try to jar the system into motion, this enormous care it out there to try to get states to move towards some of these reforms i thought i wasn't that bad an idea but it's like the rest of the federal budget, it ballooned up so much the last two or three years a lot of it could be taken right down and without doing injury at all the education or education change. >> mclaurin from the weekly standard. i want to know if you can expand on your comments from my guess it was on monday talks and friends. use it in regard to osama bin laden capture that the struggle isn't over and won't be and i wonder if you can expand your

comments with regard to that and lo war in afghanistan and some of our timber to the qtr related policies. he said the struggle was not over and it won't be for long. >> i don't think it is that de sophos really. [laughter] i don't know how much deeper i can go. [laughter] as best i recall it was the subject on everybody's mind, and i simply affirmed what i think common sense tells you that this is a very significant achievement tremendously powerful from a system esen look standpoint i assume of some importance to, but with everyone else i think we accept its one really important moment and what will be a continuing conflict,

continuing responsibility of the government that will done, well handled and let's just hope it presages more successes. >> peter mcpherson. i think the voucher for the senior in high school is very exciting. everybody's known for a long time there was a pretty on productive year. [laughter] but then we have had these courses where students can go off to college and it's never really worked, start a voucher. i wonder what is the political dynamic for a sample with the community colleges supported? >> yes, i don't remember them being extremely active, but as the notice this idea i think they were.

another thing i confess i didn't realize i wouldn't have realized what for the constant traveling deutsch through the state and time i spent in schools i wouldn't have realized how many young people might get themselves in this position. another thing i didn't realize until the last year were to is how much evidence there is, scholarly and otherwise that it's just a very good idea to move people through more quickly, there's nothing magic about 18-year-olds or 17 king to college or magical someone 21, 22 getting through but in fact many people that i've read and listened to make a very strong case that at least for many young people the best thing they can do and they are fully ready for it, not everybody but for many is to move quickly and get into productive life. and this is consistent with this idea consistent with that i guess of the motive octave.

>> thank you this morning for the event. i didn't get to ask my question at that event. [laughter] islamic i just read earlier that you were going to lower the corporate tax. >> would you consider lowering its because the states in the black still and illinois is going bankrupt because the jack of their taxes and everyone's getting out of there. so. >> from the beginning of our service, our central objective has been not to balance budgets, not even to improve education at

the end point. all of these things are as we see them means toward an end and that is to make of our states the most promising place in the world for investment, and for people to start businesses and agribusiness and perhaps relocate business so working relentlessly six and a half years and i can bore you to death with maps and indian has come to the top of everyone's list of a very good place to do business. so yes, we were very interested in learning of the corporate rate when we could do this consistent with our fiscal situation. you should know in all calculation the indian business taxes are the third lowest in america the best we can tell. so we've done of before we got to this point, but our corporate rate deutsch isolation stuck out a little bit. and so, we were looking for a way to bring it down as all.

we got the lowest property taxes in america, we were interested in doing this. this is something i think has national parallels. we did this -- this was a revenue neutral as they say in this town endeavor. and we discovered it's amazing what you discover if you stand to the to spend enough time with people. a guy came up to me and said, a year ago, to this for a living. white is indiana for gifts from taxation and others on steve fornes? we're the only state in america that does this. every state mix their own bond free, their own local government free. how we do that? i'm happy to help people cut their taxes doing that. why do we do that? i got thinking white to be doing that?

to subsidize for californians and new yorkers. so we close the preference and that freed up enough money to drop the core rate for every business uses the corporate tax media. which is for a state and hope and opportunity. yes, ma'am. >> if you call on the perfidy beat the person for this from the microphone you answered your questions. [laughter] >> governor daniel, thank you for your remarks. as a fellow graduate at your high school -- >> really? did take you 12 years? [laughter] >> i'm afraid it did that one of them was not spent at north central. i would be curious to know, north central has one of the

best location will training programs in the career center, and given that for whatever reason post secondary education is probably not always going to be a possibility or perspective for a lot of people. i'm wondering if you have any policies or if your education platform that was recently successfully passed, has any provision for increased vocational training for high school students so that when they graduate your able to enter a productive work force? >> i think the answer is yes. the department of education is working on this and we have rationalized -- we had a strange arrangement we rationalized and brought vocational and into the department where it should always have been and so it can be better integrated with standard academic offerings, but it's a very important point. as hard as we are working to raise indiana's low percentage of adults with a post secondary

degree we do recognize four years of college isn't necessarily the right idea for everybody, and more productive and more intimate lives may be available for people as the master an important and scarce skills as opposed to simply pursuing liberal arts education as we have known. one more. how about the gentleman back there. >> what you think the role of the federal or state government is in r&d for education. many speakers at aei have spoken about how embarrassingly low the percentage of dollars invested in our moodie for education over the past. do you think the states have 90%, you're hoping 90% of indianan residents will go to indiana school if indiana will invest in r&d or do you think

the federal government should play a larger role? >> it's a good question. i did say i thought there was a smaller but an important and meaningful role for the federal government. i think i talked about sharing and learning about what works and i guess that is a form of r&d. so i can see that as being important. i will never stop learning about learning. i know why won't but i think even the experts found. i guess i would say that our shortcomings in education in indiana and other places i've looked at, just as they don't change to a shortage of dollars, not that dollars aren't valuable when they are available, i don't think they traced to a shortage of knowledge about what works. we've known certain things of leased that worked for a long time. we have known apparently for a long time, locker and i've

known, but teacher quality is as important as it is. we've known that charter schools work. we have known that more competition is helpful. and i am for continuing to research those things at every level, but i just speak for our 2.2% of america. we think we know enough to make big, big improvements our kids have long deserved and we are going to spend the next few years with the new tool box we created building the best school system in america, and our focus is going to be on making it happen. thank you very much. [applause] ..

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage john degoiia president from georgetown university and his royal highness, the prince of wales. [applause] [applause] and. >> >> your royal highness, a distinguished guests, ladies

and gentlemen,, welcome to georgetown university. we're deeply honored in to post his royal highness the prince of wales five days after the joyous occasion of his son's marriage. please allow me to extend my congratulations, your highness on this wonderful the event. [applause] [applause] today his royal highness will talk about national and global significance of sustainable agriculture from the most pressing issues from environmental sustainability, poverty to economic security and it is a great privilege to serve as a venue for the candidates to cadbury does try to address the challenges the sustainability. it is an honor to be a part of the conference on food

that has brought the leading thinkers to have their knowledge and perspective to this important topic. georgetown have the opportunity to post his royal highness in the fall of 2005 when he participated in a seminar on state and social responsibility but since then significant developments have been made in the field the sustainability of heightened focused today on the impact of globalization with responsible consumption of the world's shared resources. the prince of wales has been a visionary leader to address the issue over 30 years and one of the world's most innovative for sustainable agriculture and ecosystem resilience and green energy sources. the leadership could be seen from the revolutionary decision of the early 1980's to pursue only sustainable organic practices in the high growth gardens from the

duchy who farm to his stewardship of organizations committed to sustainability to the extent of publications including his most recent book the elements of his book harmony. his royal highness recently captured one of the primary issues driving today's dialogue on sustainable practices in a speech to deliver to the european parliament during the low carbon prosperity summit in february. he discuss a pressing need for a new framework to organize our approach to sustainability when he said we need to meet the challenge of decoupling economic growth from increased consumption in such a way both the wellbeing of the nature psychology and our own economic needs do not suffer.

if we do not think about creating such a framework to resolve that dilemma soon come with that i fear we are in for a rough ride. the emphasis on the interconnection between sustainability and economic growth and our future make this an inspirational approach the resonates deeply with our work here at georgetown. we understand our actions as consumers have a direct impact on the physical and economic sustainability of this university we develop initiatives to prioritize consumption in response. we have committed to cutting the carbon emissions by half in 2020 by adopting lead silver standards for construction and renovation and joined 30 other universities throughout the world to sign the sustainable campus charter which memorializes each of

our commitments to reporting annually while meeting sustainability polls. the road university candidates the questions and challenges posed by the urgent need to adopt more sustainable practices and with a more resilient ecosystem. not only must lead by example but also engage our students to learn with discovery that will help them to become agents of change capable of creating new frameworks for the future well-being and we must inspire our students to go on to provide the innovative solutions that allows all of us to live in harmony with our neighbors and our planet. your royal highness, we're honored to have joined us to speak with us about the challenges. welcome to georgetown. ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce teach golf -- teach of the

prince of wales. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen,, having such fond memories of my last visit to hear it is a great joy to be invited back to george down again to speak at this conference. it makes a change from making embarrassing speeches from my oldest son of wedding reception and things like that. [laughter] but i am afraid my one regret today is that i have missed the first panel discussion shared by eric who has done so much if i may say so to raise

awareness of the key issues in his important film and in his writings. i know that eric why the conference is so vital that the world is gradually waking up to the fact that creating a sustainable food systems will become paramount in the future because of the enormous challenges now facing food production. the oxford english dictionary defines sustainability as keeping something going continuously and the need to keep things going for future generations. in other words, , for all of you students and all of your family is whether here at georgetown or through the wonders of modern technology i am told elsewhere across the vast country, quite frankly the reason i have made the long journey to

washington and probably losing my voice now through jet lag. you may have noticed over the past 30 years i have been venturing into extremely dangerous territory by speaking about the future of food. i have the scars to prove it and questioning the prevailing world view is a risky business but i have done so for the sake of your generation and for the integrity of nature herself. it is your future that concerns me and that of your grand children and that is how far we should be looking ahead. by a do not want to be confronted by my

grandchildren asking why we didn't change when we knew what was going on. to answer that question their responsibility of the question is precisely why i have gone on challenging the assumptions of our day. a set off -- i would urge you to speak of how we produce our food is fit to four purpose in the challenging circumstances of the 21st century? we cannot ignore that question any longer. nearly 30 years ago i began by talking about the issue but i realize in the end i have to go further. i have to put my concern into action to demonstrate how else we might do things to secure food production for the future but also

crucially to take care of the earth that sustains the if we don't do that then nature will fail to be the unendurable sustaining force she has always been. only by safeguarding eight years resilience can we hope to have resulted of food production and security in the long term. this is the challenge. we maintain a supply of healthy food when there is mounting pressure with every element affecting the process we are pushing forces so far there struggling to cope with demand for waterhouse the

entire system is at the mercy of the fluctuating price of oil. when we talk about agriculture and food production talk about a complex and interrelated theme it is not possible to single out one objective like maximizing production. also ensuring the system which delivers that meets the society's needs. and eric has highlighted these and it should include the maintenance of public health, safeguarding of employment, protection of the environment and contributing to overall quality of life. >> we trust this conference will not shy away from the big questions and

how can we create a more sustainable approach while recognizing there is a wider social perimeter? an approach capable of feeding the world with a global population rapidly heading at 9 billion. could we have so many demands on land? and when bubbles of the planets diversity is under such a threat or in serious decline? these pressures mean there isn't much choice in the matter but we have to take some very brave steps we have to develop much more sustainable lowered durable forms of food production because the way we have done things up to now no longer are as viable as they once appeared to be.

the more i talk with people and their realize how the general picture remains of the state that we are in. so just to be absolutely clear, i feel i should show some evidence this is so. internationally food and security is the growing problem. food systems are well on the way to being in a crisis. yielding increase for stable food crops have dropped from 3% from the 1960's through 1% today and that is worrying because for the first time that rate is less than population growth and all of that has to be set to

and that has yields of suffering when crops are failing with ever increasing temperatures we all know the failure of the wheat harvest in russia and china stoking social discontent in many countries noticeably in the middle east. it is a situation if they become more polished tile as we suffer more natural disasters. set against these threats is the ever growing demand for food. the united nations organization estimates the demand will rise by 70 percent between now it is quite astonishing.

they just have to feed a staggering 219,002 miles every day. that is $0.450 i started talking. what is more with incomes rising in places like china and india, there also be more people wealthy enough to consume more. and the demand for meat and dairy products will go further and all of that extra livestock competes for feed with the energy sector that does massively expand the demand for biofuels. here in the united states for out of every 10 bushels of corn turnout fuelling motor vehicles. this is the context we find ourselves and sets against the backdrop of a system

heavily dependent upon fossil fuels and other forms of capital. most forms of the industrialized arboriculture on natural gas and non renewable resources one steady i read estimates a person today on on a typical western diet is consuming nearly u.s. gallon of diesel every day. over the past decade it has gone up four fold to see how the future could become if we could we innersoles on dependency. not even counting the impact of higher fuel prices or the

other cost all of which is passed on to the consumer. it is a vicious circle. then add the supply of land into the equation. weird to read grow all of the extra plants? when the expansion is such a pressure. here in the united states 1 acre is lost to development every minute of every day which means since 1980 to that area the size of indiana has been built over that is small fry compared to india where somehow and not enough to house 300 million people for the next 30 years. but on top of this is flood erosion.

again, soil is washed away 10 times faster than the earth can replenish it happening 40 times faster than china and india. 22,000 square miles of arable land turning into a desert every year and it appears one-quarter of the world's farmland, a 2 billion acres, it is degraded. it seems likely we have to grow plants in more difficult terrain but the only sustainable way to do that is by increasing the long term fertility of the soil because achieving increase production and using imported non renewable sources is not sustainable. there are many other pressures the way we produce our food but moving onto one

more which is a possible solution because it is important and it is the magical substance we have taken for granted for so long. water. in a country like the united states, one fifth of all of your grain production is dependent upon irrigation. every pound of beef produced it takes 2,000 gallons of water. that is a lot of water. there is plenty of evidence though world cannot keep up with demand. the offer on the great plains his depleting by one point* 3 trillion gallons faster than rain can replenish and when you consider all the watcher in the world only 5% is fresh and one-quarter of fact actually sits near siberia

and there is not all lot left. of the remaining 4% three quarters and is used with agriculture but 30% of that water is wasted. if you set that against future predictions it is even worse. estimating the world's farmers would need 45% more water than today. but yet to because of irrigation many largest rivers no longer reach the sea for part of the year including the colorado and the rio grande. forgive me for labor in the parts but the impact 1/7 of the world's population are hungry and another billion

suffer from hidden hunger without the essential vitamins and nutrients from their diet. on the reverse side of the coin the other tragic fact over 1 billion people are now considered overweight or obese. it is increasingly in st. picture. and one way half of the rose five the celts -- the wrong side of the food accretion. -- ecovation. in a global ecosystem, that is to say under stress, our unbridled demand for energy land and water plants pressure on the food system. i'm not alone to think the current model is not durable for the long term. it is not keeping everything going continuously and

therefore not sustainable. what is a sustainable food production system? we should we very clear otherwise we will end up with a same system that we have now but for me, it has to be a form of agriculture that does not succeed -- exceed the carrying capacity of the local ecosystem that recognizes that this will is the planet's most vital renewable resource. topsoil is the cornerstone anax as a buffer against drought and the carbon zinc and the primary source of the health of all animals, plants, people. if we degrade it then natures capital will lose the resilience and it will not be very long believe you

may be for our human economic capital and systems also begin to lose their resilience. so let's try to look for a moment at to what is not a genuine sustainable form of agriculture. long term. by that i mean generations yet unborn. with my own view, it is surely not dependent upon the use of chemical pesticides and fungicides are insecticides or artificial fertilizers. you would have thought it is unlikely to create vast cultures to treat the animals like machines by using industrial railing system is. nor would you expect to drink the earth dried or deplete the soil and create

out of sight and out of mind dumps in the oceans and also would not lead to the destruction of cultures for the removal of many remaining small farms around the world. nor would it destroyed by the diversity at the same time as cultural and social diversity. on the contrary, a genuine a sustainable farming maintains resilience of the entire ecosystem by encouraging the soil with the water supply and in the wild life. the birds and insects and these sustainable farming recognizes the importance trees of protecting and enhancing systems and

mitigating rather than adding to climate change. to do this it must be a mixed approach where animal waste is recycled and organic waste is composted. one where antibodies is on the use to treat illnesses, not deployed with prophylactic to prevent them and as nature intended. you may think this is the idealized definition that isn't possible in the real world but if you consider this the gold standard, food production to become more sustainable, you have to reduce the use of those substances setter dangerous and harmful done only to human health but those of the natural systems such as the negotiations and forests

and wetlands that provide with the services is essential to life on the planet but which at the moment we take for granted. at the same time, it has to minimize the use of non renewable extra zero implants they do not come from renewable sources but which ultimately comes down to coming back to nature and recognizing there are necessary limits to what the earth can do. equally it includes the need above the price of protection that falcon leads me to what i would like you to consider. having myself tried to farm

26 years and a good wishes not as long as others that are here. i certainly no of plenty of current evidence of the approach that mirrors the racket was engineers can produce a surprisingly high yields of a wide range of vegetables of beef and milk period we're told ceaselessly that sustainable or organic agriculture cannot feed the world. i find it is hard to understand especially when you consider the findings of the impact of play her research science knowledge and technology for development. conducted in 2008 by the u.n., i am very pleased by the way to see the co-chair of the report will be taking

part in the international panel discussion toward the end of the conference it is drawn evidence and concluded small-scale family based farming systems among the most productive systems this is a very explicit statement. with this exhaustive report seems to have vanished it is the heart of the problem it seems to me. why an industrialize system deeply dependent on fossil fuels is promoted as a viable is condemned and

unfit for purpose. the reasons why in the anomalies that exist behind the scenes. but to look at the slack in the system under the current unsustainable system even where we throwaway approximately 40% of the food we have bought. food is much cheaper than it was with the unexpected consequences is perhaps we do not billion as we wants did this could be avoided with better food education. first lady mrs. obama has achieved a lately by launching her let's move campaign which is a wonderful initiative if i may say so manufacturers getting a healthy weight commitment and pledging to

cut 1.5 trillion calories per year from their products. all promising to sell products with less sugar and trans fats and reduce prices on fresh fruits and vegetables and the big drive to improve healthy eating in schools and the exxon fatah verging doctors to write the prescriptions for exorcise producer marvelous ideas that will make a major difference. approximately 40% of food is lost between farm and market. could that be remedied by better farm storage and we should remember that many if not most farmers are achieving a fraction of the yield of a mate -- they

might get from water management. however what we need to consider is how conventional techniques can achieve as they do and how we measure that success and here i come to the aspect of food production that troubles me most. the well-known food commentator recently has the combined market for local and organic food in the united states and europe has only reached around two or 3% of total sales. he says the reason is simple. it is the difficulty of making sustainable farming more profitable for producers and sustainable foods more affordable for consumers. there is so much concerned

about this my "state of the union" that the president mentioned earlier carried out a study why sustainable food production systems struggle to make a profit and how it is that the food cost less. the answer to a last question may seem obvious but it is a less apparent reason. there were five case studies and discovered two things. that the system of farm subsidies is geared in situated it is overwhelmingly those types of agricultural techniques that are responsible for the many problems i just outlined. second, the cost of that damage is not factored into the price of food production. consider for example, when pesticides get into the

water. it has to be cleaned up at to enormous cost to the water bill. or take the emissions from the manufacture of -- mfg. from a nitrogen fertilizer is not the cost at source into the equation. to a situation that farmers are left better using intensive methods and consumers who prefer to buy sustained food cannot do so because of the price. many producers and consumers who want to do the right thing but as things stand that is being penalized so this raises a difficult question. has the time arrived when a long hard look is that the way public subsidies are geared?

should there be calibration of that be considered so it has healthier techniques? could they benefit of public finance were redirected so the subsidies were linked specifically to farming practices that are more sustainable, less polluting and a wide benefit to the public interest rather than what environmental experts call per first incentives good to that have food production. the points is to a situation of a healthier food is rewarded and becomes more affordable and the earth's capital is not so ruined nobody wants food prices to go up but if that is the case of the present low price in developed countries

that is the solution and only made possible with the cost of cleaning up pollution are dealing with human health problems and could correcting these anomalies results and a more beneficial arena that is a more honest form of accounting that makes it more accountable more particularly if they were read directed to benefit production. it is worth considering and that we seek to produce the healthiest food possible from the healthiest and firemen possible. for the long term and to ensure it is affordable for ordinary consumers. there are already a

precedence especially literary where the governmengovernmen t's estimate of the growth of the renewable energy market by the provision of market mechanisms that feed in the tariffs. also energy production be applied to food? is it worth considering? it could have a very powerful transformative defect on the market forces a family produced food with benefits all around. united nations environment program with the greening of agriculture would increase economic value by 11% and eight overstretched stocks is the case in point* where it is estimated that the transition to the fisheries management could generate a

profit of $5 million every year as from 70 million after receiving 20 million in subsidies is also worth bearing in mind these sorts of policies that carry more diversity with landscape and community and product often generates sorts of other positive results with tourism for the industry. it all depends on a deepening the understanding of altering the relationship between food energy water and economic security. and increasing policies for those who base of farming system on these principles. simply because if we do not consider the whole picture and take steps, not only will we suffer from rising food prices but also see the

overall resilience of our economy and in some instance our social systems that are becoming dangerously unstable. if we do take important steps we have to question whether it is responsible in the long term to have most food come from highly processed centralized system and raw materials are sourced from thousands of miles from where relive then processed in factories then transported great distances before being sold. a lot and in light of those events after the floods and pakistan last year and in australia, it is very easy to imagine that with concentrated with large scale ways they could quickly escalate into a

global food crisis. so how we achieve food security for commodity food prices will inevitably rise. could one way to be the emphasis on the production and distribution to create the buffer that we need to face the and predictable world markets and growth market prices. and remember the point* i made earlier. food production is part of a wider landscape. you have to recognize social and economic stability is based on value and supporting local committees. and therefore it has a pivotal role. imagine if there was a global food shortage that

became much harder to import food into today's quantities. where to the country's turn? these are not more resilient in a system with those of our produced locally if there are shocks to the system there is no panic and not only that cannot we much more productive by a strengthening small far production could be a major force to preserve the traditional knowledge. so be wise and given the rather difficult situation we appear to be in bed if we look at the way subsidies work, we include policies that focus on strength and environmental diversity. this is at the root of building resilient economy is that have the adaptive capacity to do with the

increasingly severe shortages that affect us all. i am a historian, not an economist. what i am hinting at is that it is surely time to grasp the fundamental aspect of our entire economic model. responding to problems we have with a business as usual approach to the way that we measure gdp offers only short-term relief. it does not promise a long-term cure. why? because we cannot possibly maintain the approach in the long term if we continue as we're doing. capitalism ultimately depends on capital but our capital depends on and the health of natures capital

for the rely kidder not. the two are inseparable. there are alternative ways with reduced technology it would go a very long way to resolve the problems we face. if they're under 10 to for those supporting them they could strengthen the resilience of a record culture and energy systems to ensure ambiance of supply that is capable of the standing the seven fluctuations of the international markets which are bound to come our way as the price of oil goes up and the impact of our accelerated disruption of the entire system becomes greater. in essence, what i am suggesting is we need to include in the bottom line the true cost of food production. the true financial cost and

the true cost to the earth. it is what you would call accounting for sustainability a name i gave to a project six years ago to encourage businesses to expand the accounting process so incorporates the interconnected impact of financial, environmental, so cial elements with the long-term performance. what if accounting for sustainability was applied? this is the suggestion in an important study by the wind the economics of ecosystems assess the multitrillion-dollar importance of the world's economy and concluded the present system needs to be upgraded rapidly so they include the health of natural capital thereby

accurately reflect how the services are affected and performing what alone paid four. incidentally to create a genuine market for such services in the same with a common market is created could make a substantial contribution to reduce into the developing world. this is important if we hope to redress the market fell your from future generations, we have to see there is a direct relationship between the resilience of the planet's ecosystems and from the national economy. ladies and gentlemen,, i hope we've have begun to see my point* that the other universities are still with us that we have to do more to say to avert the catastrophes of tomorrow. we can only do that by a

brief remained the way we approach the economic problems that confront us. we have to put in a chair back at the heart of the creation. appeared to make agricultural and marine systems resilient in to the long term then read develop policies that every sector to bring their true cost of the environment to increase natural capital to support the ecosystem approach and we have to nurture and support the communities of small family farmers. i trust these thoughts will help to fire your debates and focus your thoughts for the rest of the conference. who knows? perhaps at the end of this may might be able to herald a new washington consensus like the previous version that had economic thinking around the world it could be a consensus that a knowledge is the need for markets and

the role of the private sector which also embraces the urgent need for a at -- and approach that recognizes the real opportunities and trade-offs needed to build a food system that enhances and insurers from social and economic and our mental capital. it could be at the heart of this consensus acting as true eighth transformational change. but addressing the challenges of making our food system more sustainable and secure because agriculture not agra industrials' the key to the improvement of public health, expansion several employment and not dazed the education and enhancement of quality of life. critically, such a new washington consensus whites

embrace the willingness of all aspects of society public private sectors to work together to build an economic model to build upon the diversity which should to great characteristics his should be vital and would never be needed more i am tremendously shocked by initiatives in the united states should up the heat feel hopeful when such huge corporations like wal-mart decide to stock shelves with sustainable organic approaches and everyone has to work together and we have to recognize the principle of lot like andy when he said we may utilize the guess of nature just as we

choose but the debt is equal to the credits it is the reluctance to look at the interrelated nature that elias at the heart of this predicament to determine the nature of food. how do read deal with that to determine our survival? let me end by reminding you of the words of one of your own founding fathers and visionaries. george washington who entreated your forbearers to raise the standard to which the honest could repair the rest is in the hands of god. and indeed as so often as in the past, in the hands of your great country, the

united states of america. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] >> your royal highness on behalf of all of us here all for today's conference, i

wish to express our appreciation to you for the inspiration of your words and example and the gratitude for your presence here today. please turn me to express our appreciation to his royal highness the prince of wales. [applause] [applause] [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please state in your seats while the stage party leaves the floor. thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

at. >> the committee is meeting today to hear testimony of the mass transit system in order to identify where progress has been made since the terrorist attack september 112001 and where shortfalls remain. we shall examine issue as assessing the threat the mass transit systems face between the federal

government and the individual entities if the impact of the security program and the extent of coordination between federal stay local partners. i will now recognize myself for the opening statement. this is a vital issue and i will thank you for being here especially those who has gone into a terrible few weeks and has done a tremendous job in a horrendous situation and i will thank you for your service. also but n.y.p.d. commissioner who does a terrific job in new york and also his late father was a united states congressmen. thank you for being here today. thank you to all witnesses. you are literally on the firing lines playing a critical role in the nation people from chicago said

francisco and so much depends on mass transit we have millions of riders every day but the reality is mass transit is probably the most difficult part of their transportation system to secure as it is the most vulnerable. been to london and madrid and the terrible damage done there by al qaeda you realize how much easier it is for them to attack mass transit and how horrific the tragedy is when it occurs. my point* today above all is what do think the level of security is and what more has to be done and what level of information sharing but also to get the debate going. we have to make cuts. no doubt and the government spending has to be brought under control and not $1 is wasted. on the other hand, we cannot

be achieving false economies by cutting in areas that could lead to loss of human life which could encourage our enemy and especially now in the wake of the bin laden death, we have to assume that al qaeda or the affiliate's on the arabian peninsula or others are radicalized terrorists hear it at home like the self starters for the loan wolves will want to launch an attack. . .

far outweigh the dollar amount of in the short term cuts that may be made so basically that's where i'm coming from today. we know how real these threats are. we saw when he was trained in afghanistan, came back to the united states, he grew up in new york, and he was going to carry on and liquid explosive attack. in virginia when we had an attack on the d.c. transit system and again, we saw madrid, london, we now of this has a high priority of al qaeda, and in fact again, you had radicals in this country, the fact there will be an overseas attack what al qaeda has done before.

if no one is more on the firing lines to david bose responsible for the security of the mass transit system. so i want to thank you for all the efforts you've made and continue to make and i assure you this committee and both sides of the ogle will work with you. the ranking member and on, whatever differences we may have on other issues when it comes to security and mass transit security, we for the most part speak with one voice. so with that i think you for being here today and look forward to the hearing, and i now recognize the ranking member, the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and i would like to ask unanimous consent mr. green, a former member of this committee, be allowed to sit in for the hearing. >> i was going to object but i can't for my good friend mr. green. [laughter] >> thank you and for holding today's hearing on the surface transportation security. 34 million people use the

nation's rail and mass transit system each day. despite this reality and over my objections earlier this year the continuing resolution for fy 2011 which was passed by the house was decreased discretionary spending for securing those modes of transportation. $4 million below last year's level. 23% below the president's budget request. under the budget cutting regime, the transportation security program will be reduced by $50 million, only about 1 dollar for each rider these funds purchase a great deal. transit agencies use this money to hire law enforcement officers, acquire bomb sniffing dogs and install corrine devices. they also use this money to finance capital projects that keep the writers safe such as

hard and the tunnels, and installing surveillance systems and establishing perimeter security controls. this 50 million-dollar cut will have an obvious and immediate impact on the security of transit riders. unfortunately, mr. chairman, this cut is not the only problem facing the transportation security grant program. in 2009, the gao found that tsa failed to incorporate vulnerability information in the program. although the department agreed with of the gao recommendations, it hasn't found a way to comply. i hope today if that compliance exists in this information i would like for the committee to be providing that information. in 2010 the department of inspector general found that fema failed to develop a process to collect and analyze program

performance measures for tsup grants. without performance measures it is impossible to determine the effectiveness of the program and whether the grant programs are achieving risk reduction. if performance measures exist, i would like for fema to provide them to the committee today. taken together these reports set forth the need for program reform that bring about a risk-based and accountable system. finally, mr. chairman, i look forward to joining with you to restore funding through this critical area. i take your word that we need to do it and i look forward to doing it. especially in the wake of the osama bin laden killing. we've had an obligation to protect mass-transit riders, the 34 million people who rely on it every day. with that, mr. chair, of the yield back.

>> i thank the gentleman and remind the members of the committee statements may be submitted for the record and now i would like to begin the testimony of the witnesses today. our first witness is john pistole of the social security administration. i first worked with mr. pistole when we did a magnificent job on counterterrorism, dedicated to help public servants and certainly he's been no stranger to being on the receiving end of attacks from various sources over the last six months trying to do his job goes under the heading no good deed goes unpunished, with director pistole is an adult standing american and i'm proud to have him you today. as close to five minutes as you can get. >> thank you for those comments, ranking member thompson, distinguished members of the committee. it's good to be here this morning to discuss the efforts of the tsa partnership with fema

and/or state, local and industry leaders to ensure the best possible mass transit rail security. our efforts to combat terrorism go beyond any one individual which is why we remain focused on dhaka critical mission protecting the traveling public and the transportation system. tsa will continue to evaluate and implement the screening measures based on related intelligence. we ask the traveling public to remain vigilant and report immediately any suspicious activity. today, i'm here to focus with my fellow witnesses on mass transit systems and passenger railroads which include some ways, bus transit systems, commuter ferries, amtrak commuter railroads among others. the systems are a critical part of the transportation network

tsa works in partnership to protect. they also in force and remain a target mr. chairman as you noted having been at numerous plots in the u.s. on successful unfortunately as well as those successful attacks you noted overseas and others. a critical component tsa effort for the mass transit passenger rail was our partnership. the partnership we have with the industry and local headquarters. the dhs transit secured a grant program is currently the primary vehicle providing funding security enhancements to the little chance of agencies supporting state and local government initiatives to improve security to the work closely with fema to fund projects that effectively mitigate risk at the highest risk systems. in 2010 the dhs provided 273.4 million to the transit and passenger rail bringing it to total of $1.6 billion since 2006. the grant funding tsa force mass transit and passenger rail systems by deploying visible and

emotional response teams or viper teams to augment local security efforts. if the currently 25 dedicated labor teams in operation in addition to other assets that perform like operations and in fiscal 2012 budget request funding for 12 additional teams. they work colin a separate -- alongside and inspection, security screening and law enforcement for the in the unpredictable deployment throughout the transportation sector with one goal in mind, to be toward the potential terrorist acts. tsa conducts nearly 8,000 operations in the western and i would be glad to give more detail later on. we also perform baseline collaborative risk assessment for the mass transit passenger rail. they are conducted with an emphasis on the 100 largest mass transit passenger rail systems in terms of volume which had 80% of all users and public transportation. among the assessments is for the

security enhancement or base, a program designed to enhance 17 security management action items that form the foundation of the affected security program. through the base program tsa reviews the proposals, jointly develops bios from transportation or fta and sector partners from the passenger rail. these children for mass what judgment we should take in partnership. over 115 passenger rail agencies participated in the space program. we also work with other federal partners and others in terms of other assessments and ways we can help inform not only our use of funds that their use of funds also. so in closing, ranking member thompson, want to thank you for your support and of the committee and i look forward to answering your questions. thank you. >> our next witness is craig fugate who was the former

verdict of the emergency management and has performed in his current position since may of 2009, and as we all know the natural disasters struck in the last several weeks mr. fugate has been there directing operations with a certain great distinction and i am pleased to recognize for five minutes. >> good morning chairman. i serve as the minister for fema and full disclosure and one of the 4 million people that ride mass transit. most days i want to work but when it is inclement weather or a rise to go shopping oftentimes my wife and i use amtrak to go back, someone of the customers with full disclosure of a benefit from a secure mass transit system. on behalf of sick and trim the public, and my department from tsa, administrator john pistole,

we work with the local and providers of mass transit throughout this country and we look at this is a team effort. our job fema is to support the dhs overall efforts and security of the nation in a broad array of grant programs and today the focus is on the transportation security grant programs. this is a partnership where tsa is the subject matter experts and we provided the grant administration to the program's working with our state and local partners and its managed as the ranking member thompson pointed out inspector general offices founder but we did not have procedures in place, we did not have formal agreements with tsa to administer the program and i'm proud to announce administrator pistole and i signed a memorandum of understanding to outline the roles and responsibilities as a team so that it's clear when we are working with our state and local partners how we are conducting our business, these

transportation funds may be used for capital projects as was pointed out the physical hardening and other enhancements but also operational policies, one of which may be familiar with and that is "if you see something, say something" campaign to incorporate and lose the writers of the transit systems to report suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies. we also provide additional training exercises and drills, and a visible funding source or sources for a visible law enforcement on the ground such as canine and police controls. as administrator pistole pointed out our goal is deterrence. we want to be prepared, we want not you just have to respond to these defense but we want to detour the threat that terrorists attacking our mass transit systems. again, the programs as administrator pistole planted doubt provide funding but we continue to see the need for the programs and continue to work with our grant programs, and our

applicants. and i think one of the things, mr. chairman, you expressed concerns about is in drawing down these funds, why do we still see some as outstanding versus those that are coming down or being drawn down - it comes back to the work we are doing. that is when we do capital projects as the state administrator in building facilities that construction and process he's working with state and local governments will oftentimes take more time. it's a jewel on process we are reimbursing the work that is being done. those operational tend to be drawn down faster because they are spent for personnel, training, exercises, the balances i realize are concerned that they are an investment in capitalization of the hardening of the facilities that oftentimes take more time than the operational projects and it may be shopping as they are still there, that they may not be needed. that's not the case. we believe in and as our state

and local partners are doing these projects as their output in funds ct that reimbursement they are doing as intended by congress to harden and fire and mass transit against threats. that concludes my statement. >> the next commissioner is daddario, nypd. commissioner daddario had a long record in the department as a prosecutor, having jury trials and appeals and most recently prior to joining the nypd was the department of justice attache in moscow and if i may say looking at people from other parts of the country if i did not pronounce your name first atremble at the thought how it will be pronounced by some of the people of the parts of the country. commissioner daddario, you're recognized for five minutes. >> good bunning, mr. chairman,

congressman tom sunni and members of the committee. thank you for the attorney to represent the new york police department of the subject of mass transit security. each year more than 1,000,000,000.5 use the city rail transit system or so play. it is an old system along and around which the citigroup. the life the city depends on it. the metropolitan authority takes care of the subway system's, but the nypd as a job of people who ride the trains safe. tourism has made the job harder. under the police commissioner's leadership over the past ten years the nypd found a way to use crimes citywide to levels few believed possible. but the possibility of a terror attack in the subway has required the nypd to commit enormous resources to safeguard the public. more than 2500 police officers are assigned to the transit bureau most of whom received specialized training to

recognize and respond to a plot. in addition, practically another one officers or dedicated to the department's counterterrorism measure. the nypd has acquired advanced equipment to detect explosives and radiation force and it's begun connecting cameras in the subway system for the departments remain a wearing a system which intergrades public and private sector security cameras, license plate readers, radiation detectors and other data. the nypd also conducts daily, liable visibly including random bed checks consisting of emergency servicers you need heavy weapons and tactical gear, canine officers can be detected from the nypd intelligence division. all of this is necessary. post-9/11, hundreds of the acts of terrorism have been directed at transit systems around the world including london, moscow,

madrid and most recently minsk. others have been directed at the path and subway systems, but the transit system i think has been kept safe to to the commissioner kelly's intelligent role of the police force to its projection. the nypd could not have accomplished much without the support of congress and the department of homeland security especially through the transit security grant program. chance of security programs have the main awareness system which will be interpol to the protection of the transit at the new world trade center now it is rapidly taking shape. they've also supported the central training for officers working on the subway system. it helped cover the cost of the deployment. community grants express a commitment on the part of the federal government to protect only the trains and rails and stations the rise above them but also the people who ride the trains. the dhs is always recognized new york city is the top of the target list for al qaeda and

affiliate's and the nypd strategy that combines technology and operational programs to protect the entire transit system. finding the support operations makes this strategy possible. however, current legislation plans to the implementing recommendation of the 9/11 act which stood a cap on operational funds of 10% in 2011. however, understand that in mind 11 act contemplated in the accompanying increases in funding of more than 70% between 2008 and 2011 kicked you. that increase has not been realized and funding decreased by more than 30% this 2008. accepting the fiscal year 2011i will have an appropriation left hundred 50 million transferred to security grants but less than 25 million burba iain available nationally for the programs put the employees that is a 10% cap

was imposed. in contrast, 51 millions of the kit and last year. clearly funding for capital improvements to enhance security makes good sense the the right balance between capital and operations is important. this system is the fifth largest in the world by writer shipping and the largest in the western hemisphere, the nypd is responsible for working in a strategy. that strategy demands the extensive commitment of police officers on the platform and i run the station entrance is coming into the record year of office sustained operational functioning. thank you for inviting me to today's hearing and i will do anything i can to answer questions you have. >> prior to joining the cta mr. rodriguez served as the commissioner of the chicago to part of aviation and as a long and distinguished career in the

various levels of the chicago government. with that i'm pleased to recognize you for five minutes. >> thank you for a edge, chairman, ranking member thompson, a representative from my committee and members of the committee think you for your opportunity to participate on the chicago transport. ncta provides 1.7 million trips each day on one network including the el oral david surface that has come come to symbolize. the second largest agency in the region this chicago transit authority continually examines ways to measure for the 60 security of the customers and employees to focus on three key areas, infrastructure improvement, working through communications coordination operational security. torch of this year they were achieved high schools to the scores and a program for transit. the baseline system for the security enhancement known as

base was developed for the comprehensive review of programs and focuses on 17 categories identified by the transit community is fundamental for a sound transit security program. the input of management and accountability, security emergency response training drills and exercises, public awareness, protective measures with fred loveless, personal security and information sharing security. the system received high scores across all the characters which very few transit systems achieved. since 2006 drains have been solely responsible for allowing ncta to make significant upgrades for the security and surveillance mentor get the necessary personnel and premiums for individuals able to handle this situation as may pose a threat to the system. it's a high-resolution digital security camera dhs funding is used to a quick defeat could

equip multiple cameras in each station. the network camera allows the cta, chicago police department and office of management to get a clearer picture of an emergency situation and respond accordingly. we also plan on rich perfidy in the car fleets with security cameras. these are new cars in order the will come yclept but it is to be retrofitted to the middle of the buses in the field for 1700 of them have been equipped with cameras since 2003. in recent years the transportation security at fenestration provide resources and visible intermodal protection response from the team's arnaz with your commonly known. they provide a random announced highly visible supplemental security presence. ncta also received calls from the explosive detention kaine 19. they are the dhs as part of the

chicago police department transportation section. they are paired with handlers to detect explosives and or used to respond to replete suspicious items. they are trained to find and provide test explosive devices and used by trains, buses, platforms and stations. the funding has allowed the cta to leverage technology to enhance security but the human element is still critical. training for employees and the writers to be as part of a security presence is always an important part of our efforts. we've launched a nationwide ct security awareness program called transit watch which encourages passengers and employees to support anything dangerous. the see something say something campion a similar to the transit watch and provides information and instructions on the transit passengers and employees so they know what to do and who to contact. the campaign was borrowed in 2002 and encourages the writers to report any suspicious activity the observed. in addition the cta participated and continues to proceed in

training a number of scenarios using an number of programs. we would increase the system checks, tighten access and train the operations, facilities and make employees to picket lines suspicious activity packages or substances. cta participate in trials involving the chicago police department, for your department, office of emergency management communications and other agencies regarding bomb threats and has had situations. for everything i've mentioned of the funding has been the resources that has made the measures possible. without those, none of those efforts could continue. the state of illinois, chicago or the cta has the resources to prevent these efforts. unfortunately congress as mengin was forced to tighten its fiscal built into the theme of the grants to a 1.6 cut for its fiscal year 11 budget for talk from three and a million to 50 million. in to soldier 2010 the ta was to

install cameras and 400 cars. the cta planned to use fy 11 funding to complete the remainder of the legacy cars in 2013. the 16% cut will likely force them to finish installing these imparting cameras in 2014 or 2015 at the earliest. before i close i would be remiss if i didn't say how heightened state of alert the agencies like the pistole. they monitor terrorism threats and put on the votes locally, nationally and internationally. when circumstances want them to take steps to ensure they remain vigilant. six include coordinating with local partners, reissuing security bulletins to remind employees what to look for and what steps to take should the in counter suspicions are criminals activity during their duties and reminding customers a vigilance and awareness of the surroundings is an important part of the safety efforts and encouraging them to report any unusual or suspicious activity to 911 or to see to it personal. transit systems across the

country inherently open violence designed to move people quickly to their destinations. at the cta determined to make the system is safe and user friendly as possible and continue to providing the transportation consistent with safety. thank you again mr. opportunity to testify as the others on the panel will make myself available for any questions you have. [laughter] >> the deputy of the transit was a point about six weeks ago and i congratulate you on that. it comes after 29 years of service and i want to thank you for your service and i am pleased to recognize you for as close to five minutes as you can be. thank you for a much. >> good morning, german king, ranking member thompson and members of the committee. my name is stan hartwig of the police operations of the san francisco bay area for the police department known as part. on behalf of the board of

directors, the 3500 employees, 350,000 daily riders i appreciate the opportunity to be given the chance to testify before you today. bart's role as a transportation network is of by both what happens on a normal day and by what happens atypical. a normal day for bart beans providing on-time service for the bay area residents, 105 miles across, 44 stations in four counties in 26 cities. most often come as a law enforcement agency, we provide a safe and secure the environment for those in the system. the most recent typical day we experienced was november 3rd, 2010, when bart's system carried customers to the san francisco giants world championship victory parade the large crowds traveling for the special events such as the giant celebration which is a target rich environment for terrorist

attacks and to minimize the risk and the consequence of the attack the transit systems face daily. the attack in madrid spain on march 11th, 2004, the attacks on london, july 70 and 21st, 2005, and the attack on mumbai india november 26, 2008 to the streets with alarming clarity the vulnerability of the public transit facilities. the united states to part of homeland security says the nation's most trent systems which are considered to be part of america's critical infrastructure at a high risk of being targeted by terrorists from the mass casualty of facts. soon after september 11, bart's administration aggressively focused upon i've got to find targets to the acts of terrorism in this system. after completing the assessment with three government agencies and one private security firm early on, identified a need to complete an estimated two to

$50 million in security projects. recognizing the most critical asset but immediately invested capital funds to begin the process. friday july 8th, 2005, representatives from tsa nabhan bart's door offering partnership the support of the week of the tragic attack on the systems thus beginning our partnership that continues to this day. beginning in 2003 and continuing through 2005, urban areas security initiative scholars helped fund this project to for their hard and the critical infrastructure within the system >> in 2006 through 2010 is allowed for the expansion of the security products to address and identify security means of the vulnerable critical asset. today we continue to use the transit security program as well as other local, state and federal funds to strategically eliminate and identify the abilities from the previously mentioned assessment.

the engineering challenges to protect the effect of a terrorist attack have been greater than originally imagined. understanding the required expertise needed, we have and continue to rely upon the the problem of homeland security and the transportation security for supporting direction. without their unwavering commitment to bart specifically, and through our allied transportation systems, our ability to achieve success would be extremely limited. the complexity of security project succeed our local resources and it is the support from the dhs and the tsa that enables us to move forward. with passengers grinning from the beginning it was clear the post 9/11 measures developed right afterwards would not work in the subway systems across america. bart is of rapid transit and if we move we cease to serve our

customers on the region. although it's a fairly new system the infrastructure was designed to accommodate the equipment required to screen large numbers of passengers and technology cannot process large numbers quicker enough for the mass transit of violence. further proof of the projects and programs. finally support for the capitol projects of infrastructure there are canines, operational funding for the corridor and on identification. fiber teams with the police officers for that critical assets at the special events. the transit agencies across the country at the same date and time focusing on high visibility within the trends of properties. i would implore you today to slow the need it more than ever.

we failed in the past to pay close attention to the threat we consider to be foreign. we now know that it's existed with. as we approached the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we cannot allow complacency to undermine our efforts to keep america's secure. jeneane king, remember thompson and members of the committee on behalf of the police chief and the transit district for inviting me to testify. i am also willing to answer any questions. >> thank you very much, chief hartwig. i want to thank all the witnesses. the first question will be to commissioner daddario to read in all the years i've known ray kelly the only time i saw him showed concern is the night before zazi was apprehended because the nypd nude the plot would become operational, that within to ten to 24 hours there would be explosions on the subway system. if you're putting the context of

what that plan would have achieved if it were carried on if zazi and the federalist co-conspirators would have been able to carry out the plan the impact it would have had on the subway system. >> mr. chairman, the attacks on the subway system are designed not to cause the systems infrastructure to collapse. they are designed to terrorize the public so as to cause people to have grave concerns about boarding the train, going to work, go in to visit friends and going about their lives and that type of terror if applied is any kind of consistent way could, would in fact substantially diminish the economic life of a city, the vitality of the city and to a city of new york, if you do that in the subway system

you are essentially choking the city, choking the air out of the city, and you potentially could -- and this is i think the part of the whole reason why you tack the transit system is you hope that it will bring the life of the city to basically kill with. this impose a kind fluffier over the population so that all of the activities we need to indy 500 chinley daily basis to keep the city's strong, vital, alive would be substantially diminished and the was the major concern of a zazi. something like that hasn't happened in new york, we want to make sure that it doesn't happen, that everyone feels they can board the trains to move about freely and i heard mr. fugate say how he uses the subway, goes on amtrak, he does so, he depends on that and he

wants to be able to do that without feeling he's going to be blown up or have someone come in and shoot him to death. i think every member of this committee understands how important mass-transit is, public transportation to the economic life of the united states in the major city. not just its economic with its cultural life, both its life and it's moving about is not just a matter of finances and economics. it's the question of how people live and with the terrorist attacks are designed to do is attack our way of life, to attack not just subways but all kinds of the activities in the public sphere so as to, you know, bring order a regular life people depend on. so we feel the investments of

this committee supported over the years is extraordinarily important and we depend in large part on federal funding to help us achieve the security we want and we know we have the continued support of the committee and given the budgetary constraint for the type of mission we are engaged and, mr. fugate, mr. pistole and every one of the table and engaged in day-to-day. >> directors pistole, you touched on it in your testimony can you amplify on the viper system how successful you think it's been, how accepted it is and do you see the need to expand it and explain what this of the members understand what consists of. >> the presence behind the teams are to provide that in undetectable deterrent to those who may want to call for the 7/7 bombers in london, the five

backpacks and to consider its and how many other people may have been involved, the idea is if we can present a visible presence on believe the canine we know from the debriefings of people who have cooperated that the three main deterrents are the uniform prisons police officer and the first two are absolutely the best. it's good if you don't have a suicide bomb but as i know of the 725 of london since it's one of them looked at before going to the london underground so the idea is to be a deterrent and the measure of success is difficult to quantify to say do we deutsch or a terrorist attack today that the whole point is to attempt committee toured and push off to another date which gives the intelligence community, the law enforcement

community identity to refuse terrorists. >> the ranking member is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. fugate coming you referenced mou that's been signed between fema and tsa. could you make that mou available to the committee? >> yes, sir. >> is your testimony that that it covers those items that previously had been identified as weaknesses in the system? >> yes, sir and as you pointed dhaka in addition the performance measures are being implemented in may 2012 grant cycle has recommended, so i think that we would be more than happy to provide back to you and your staff and the committee as a whole the actions we've taken to address the general accounting office findings. >> thank you.

unconvinced that's an important aspect. to the operators of the transit systems, and we'll start with new york first of that all right. if these funds run available, to provide security enhancements, what your kafta? >> if they were not made available we would have to find money -- we would have to try to step money away from other activities we've engaged in that protect the public. >> [inaudible] >> if the money wasn't available we would have to find money from other sources come from state and local tax revenue to support our counterterrorism activities.

some of what we do wouldn't be possible. the awareness we've created which is a fiber-optic ring have around the city where we have computers which get her of information which on the other had the resources and real time simply wouldn't be possible without federal money for dixie. some of our deep lehman's where we put in the, officers on the platforms would be very difficult with federal money. i think it would compromise the level of security we have quite frankly. >> thank you. mr. rodriguez? >> the chicago transit authority the only means we would have for the additional funds separate from the homeland security funds would be operational funds to generate half of our own revenue from our customers, from advertising to concessions.

the ever have to really comes in as of supplies from the sales tax and the real-estate transfer taxes both of which unfortunately have the economic condition of the country have been challenged the past two years. so if the question you're posing as where we would find the money the answer is operational funds. i would have to review service and what's already been done. unfortunately the chicago transit authority could you are a last year had to reduce 18% of our bus our service is so cut service 20% of justice city of chicago but the others we serve as well and about 9% of the hours that we provide service on the railroad as well. we had to downsize our organization by 10%, as we've taken a significant hit in terms of the capacity and the terms we are able to provide to read any further reduction in funds in homeland security what impact that separate and apart $50 million put into cta and the chicago police department spend annually on safety security related expenses that are not

reimbursed by the department homeland security. so separate from that is the greater need as well. >> without the ability to continue the partnership we have developed and there will kid from federal sources, i feel a we would cease to exist to provide the level of security we currently have. the restrictions based upon the state and local funding resources in the state of california are extremely diminished. i would agree with mr. rodriguez we would refer to an operational contribution which would further impact the services we supply at bart. the value of these partnerships and the value of the funds to complete the secure the project if they did not exist, we would work with what we have but we would try to achieve more with less. we wouldn't achieve this your

access levels we currently do. >> mr. chairman, the point i think you made it is given some of this religious we are facing grinnell, i think it's inconceivable we want to as members of congress on this committee vote to cut any transit security dollars. some members of this committee already voted earlier in the year to do that and i would just say any further cuts based on the testimony from new york, chicago, yet the the area with the who detrimental so i would like him to make sure the record reflect the testimony from people who do it every day who administer the program for us to get personal, canine, the other enhancements that have gone into securing the facilities would be

to jeopardize if any further cuts were made. i yield back. >> i will just add to that i know in new york real >> are these vipers organization groups deployed solely based on risk or is there another criteria? >> congressman rogers, it is primarily based on risk. we are trying to make sure we are in those locations and at the times which is the greatest

risk. there may be other criteria simply based on some ad hoc requirements and almost based on risk, yes. >> that's all i've got, mr. chairman. >> i recognize the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis for five minutes. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and i want to thank you for calling this hearing and thank all the witnesses for coming. mr. rodriguez, i know that your tenure is about to expire as president of the chicago transit authority, and i want to take this opportunity to commend you for your tremendous public service to not only the citizens of chicago, but certainly to the nation because chicago and as we know is the transportation hub and the center of transportation for the nation, so the outstanding work you have done is the commissioner of aviation as well as the head of the

chicago transit authority speaks volumes for what you have done for the city as well as the country. so thank you very much for that service. you testified that the chicago transit authority had received high larks in all categories of security inspection, and my question is one, how did you manage to obtain that reached from homeland security, and what is it that we need to do to make sure that chicago's transit authority can continue in a vain that you have let. >> thank you very much for the kind words,, chris mann. there are two things i can say to respond. number one is having obtained

the high grade on a almost look at my colleague mr. pistole who is the one who gave us of the award having received high marks but the reality is we have a great team and a great person for a simple, the chief of ct security for the entire organization i give her full credit for having obtained the award we've received. but more importantly for the second question is what is you can do to continue to help us continue what we are doing and it's a fun - u. the bottom line is it is a funding issue separate and apart from what we currently receive. out of pocket an additional $50 million per year put ourselves in combination with the chicago department. on the transit related services. so, any thought of reducing we already receive would be extremely detrimental to the system. and again, and keeping in mind our name is somewhat of a misnomer. although we are known as the chicago, so it would be

detrimental to the economy's untie your region. we had somehow continued to reduce service to keep a low security initiatives we have in place so it's additional funding, sir. >> i want to echo the sentiments expressed by the ranking member and by the chairman that it appears to me that funding is absolutely essential and that is funding from the federal government level. i don't see any way that state and local governments can provide what is needed. so, i, again, i commend you for it or outstanding service i have no further questions and i would yield back the balance of my time. >> i thank the gentleman and would ask the record to show restraint when you sit chicago is the leading transit system in the country. join me in thank mr. rodriguez for service.

if i could recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania from the united states attorney. >> thank you mr. chairman. i can't compete with new york or other metropolitan areas, but i do understand what these gentlemen have to deal with on a daily basis. and appreciate what you do. aside from the critical aspect here could each of you take about a minute because i have less than five minutes and describe your relationship with other agencies, federal, state and local and how it is going. and i'm not asking you to be critical call but to state the facts and see how we are exchanging information cooperating from the top two bottom. mr. pistole, please. >> for tsa come since i started last july, one of the first things i learned is that tsa can't be all things, all people,

all pleases all times when it comes to mitigation recognizing we can never fully eliminate the risk but we can do a lot of things in terms of mitigating risk but the best way we do this through our partnerships and that is whether through grant funding, training, i think entities, agencies that treen perform together. we also get to the issue of it isn't a question of if but when there will be attacked in the homeland so how do we prepare for that attack and how can we respond to it. information sharing is a key part of that and i will try to keep my answer brief. >> yes, sir. as the grand ministry work with a lot of partners, but i have to for your benefit, for the chairman's benefit, i cannot express how glad i am that john pistole took the position as the administrator of tsa. i think we have a stronger relationship obviously when we are working with our locals. it's important the dhs speaks one place since the of experts to and i think john has been a

strong partner and improving the relationship. i cannot give him enough credit. he was instrumental helping us get with tsa and fema to make sure we are working with them. >> [inaudible] >> we have an excellent relationship with tsa and fema and we also have a close relationship with federal law enforcement intelligence communities, we have over 120 detections and other officers in new york. we also have officers here at alex one and other federal agencies, law enforcement. we have good relationships with lee m. ta transportation authority and the court's authority, amtrak on the record, the new jersey transit hosts various meetings that coordinate the transit safety security

issues. when we also have good relationships with local law enforcement officers in the region for various programs where we have outreach and relationships including joint training operations with other law enforcement officers. i would say overall we have excellent relationships both federal, state and local. >> the reason we work very well with of the joint terrorism task force on the fbi site we work very closely on fema with the emergency management agency as well. with the city of chicago i think has done well the past number of years is the office of emergency management communications it is the hub for federal agencies and state agencies and city agencies to communicate about any type of disaster preparedness for the city of chicago and its region. one of the things to that the fighting has improved our communication the past few years is the ability to separate our

cameras, so the chicago transit authority with police networks all have access to our cameras and if you look at the transit system as it spreads out in the central business district and through the region would have one of the best fiberoptic regions and everyone loves to use our system, and we welcome the use of our system and cameras to read so thousands of cameras if you have improved the ability to communicate effectively. >> congressman, twice yearly sponsored by fema, tsa, the social security executives and the top 50 of the largest transportation agencies made the expertise and the knowledge that it's invaluable. that said bart will celebrate september 11th, this coming september 11th. the gentleman at this table and from this audience provide

support specifically we are basically in the embryo stage of the transportation business. i make many phone calls. i don't have a lot of answers but i know people would point me in the right direction. the context through the transportation security opportunities are invaluable without the support of the agencies represented. we would struggle. >> thank you, gentlemen. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman and recognize the gentle lady from texas ms. jackson lee for five minutes. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and for this hearing. i think the more frequently we address our responsibilities and oversight and security, the more effective and important our committee becomes in light of recent incidents that show how great america is and i couldn't

be in homeland security committee without expressing my appreciation to all of the national security teams including the united states military and president of the united states for the historic effort that resulted in osama bin laden. it doesn't diminish the responsibility of the steel to the general responsibility of your job in chicago, and i believe san francisco, and then the administrators here in washington, we now have the responsibility to -- the ever ready for the potential of collateral damage. so this hearing is enormously important for the grants. focus on the infrastructure of transportation and how we are continuing our protection. >> let me also acknowledge my concern and are my colleague and

chairman of the committee by serve as ranking member and his community impacted the brenau the we are forever vigilant on being able to help the people that suffered with the massive 22. >> mr. fugate, i would appreciate your returning my calls on the issues i just expressed, and i would look forward to getting a meeting schedule and i also would like as a messiah and update on the response to the lawyers in texas. so here's to what i can get with my staff. i would appreciate it. what i to 12 thank for my appreciation on the immediate work of pistole that i received is this tragedy moved forward. let me just ask you quickly what is the rule of fema in the transportation security grant, just quickly because i want to speak to mr. pistole, please.

as the mekouar rule is to administer the grant programs to provide the oversight and monitoring of the performance so the prince, the subject matter experts peace with the transportation security administration. >> and you've done that well and the next points will be a reflection how fema handled it. let me focus on something i am particularly concerned about. you are quoted. the inspectors are the jack of all trades. and if you believe that they are specialists enough to do will call them experts. the inspectors experts. so what is their educational background and years of experience in terms of people you would hire because i think this is terri much part of the

grant, and what kind of training is provided for the surface inspectors, what is the duration of the training and how often is this type of training occurring. .. whether it is cargo, whether it is aviation whatever it may be, they have the ability to assist on that.

those who go on to specialize in training then continue and whether it is one, two, three schools that will you over the course of their career. in terms of their baseline qualifications, the class of 23 that i just met with ranged across the board. most came from the industry themselves so that a good understanding and work experience wherever so they understand how things should be done and if things are not working right, what could be done to address it and remediate those problems. i can obviously have the florida and start by the wealth of the road to the i need claim that and how much training do you think they need to become

experts in and if there is a experience in training and is there. and writing is one of the. is the link you provide me with his death in that are your closest advisers and diversity of years and is, five minutes

one of the qualifications for this is to take the subway into work and when i worked as u.s. attorney in philadelphia so i appreciate the tremendous challenges all of you are facing. we have discussed a little of the issue today about funding and certainly always a battle and i also appreciate some of the important oversight responsibilities because there is nothing worse than sending money down the line that is and will spend, but there is a real issue with money that is still out there and reporting to a gao report mr. fugate discusses that in only 3% of the funding from

2005 to 2007 and the study found its way down the line and my understanding is that as of last year, or early this year we are still looking at only 13% of the funding which has already been put in place that is available is in the line is being spent. where's the problem? what can we do to fix it so money that has already been appropriated that is sitting there is well used? >> i think there are several pieces of this and i think it is challenging. i served and whenever we got into a capital project when we were going to do construction when not only had the grant itself and we had to alternate local regulations to work to bits in construction and is this work is reimbursing grant some of these projects take multiple years to fund and complete. but we also recognize there something we can do about the lack of drawdown and that is to bring visibility to the remaining balances that states

have that they are clear to bring and seek reimbursement for. oftentimes as we go through from local to state reimbursement processes and getting those funds drawn down, by showing those outstanding balances to many of the senior leadership it has started to move those dollars more rapidly. they are making those requests more timely and again i think this is part of our challenge, recognizing that unlike operational costs such as canine units and other things that you seek your reimbursement and that calendar year. these construction projects have taken longer but we think one of the key steps is to show the remaining balances and that is causing a lot of the senior leadership to recognize the urgency of getting those dollar. this is what we asked that they obligate the dollars but to actually draw them down as they complete the work rapidly so we can show that those funds have been received by the state and locals. >> are we seeing these things at least being focused on as

construction-based projects now supposed to operational? >> the operational we see those come in much quicker but again as these work up through the system we are looking or bottlenecks or oftentimes in reimbursement process the support as we get the sand that we actually show -- the terminology sometimes drives me nuts but the term obligated means we spent the money against that rant, but if you haven't drawn those dollars down, it still shows not standing balance so we are trying to move past just merely obligating it isn't addressing the issue. we actually need to have those dollars that have been spent being drawn down to reduce those outstanding balances. >> but we have to give them and to project that is doing something presence enhanced hammer security or other things. the essence is to get these protections on the line. let reask the question of the mr. pistole and you can participate in the answers will. to the extent we are making these, how can we look to assure that what funding is put is tied

to older ability assessments so these dollars that they get are being spent and the way the professionals believe are going to have the greatest impact on preventing somebody else from carrying out an act of terrorism in our transportation system? >> we work with both the intelligence community, lots richmond community and industry to identify what we collectively see as the most vulnerable point in the system so for example whether it is between new jersey and new york that something had so we look at that and stay say of relief and use basically and

that's both him and lability and have and we apply the money in tort native fashion? >> just one closing comment. in the aftermath of the very wonderful events that happened just the other day, i know we are also right aware of the potential for repercussions and one of the first places that the outlook are in the transit systems and i want to express my appreciation to those of you who are on the frontlines and i know you are already beginning to work in the elaborate of -- and to try to string and the utilization and resources we have dedicated to keep them safer at this sensitive time so good luck to you. >> thank you. >> the gentlelady from new york is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you very much mr. chairman and thank you to

our ranking member of the meeting our panelists for bringing the expertise to bear on this very important hearing this morning. might leshin is really to those of you who operates transit systems. as a started been stated by a number of my colleagues, in the wake of the demise of osama bin laden, we must all prepare ourselves for possible retaliatory events, and i want to use this opportunity to implore all americans to be made vigilant and to remember if they see something, to say something. terrorist events around the world have shown that mass transit systems like other modes of transportation are oftentimes targets of attack. new york city has one of the largest subway systems in the world, as well as one of the most complex and it bus transportation networks. millions of people ride the systems every day.

a plot to attack the new york city subway system has been thwarted in september of 2009 and the metropolitan transportation authority has worked hard to keep passengers safe as i know our other transit systems have our my question is, how would these cuts and transit security and the transit security grant program potentially hurt your progress, training, workers, equipment upgrades in preparing the system i personally believe that we must at least support a maintenance of effort in terms of bus thing but it is they think we should consider a line item hunting from our federal budget that would keep our nation's mass transit system in a forward leaning posture. so i want to ask that if you and then, if you could in the remaining time also address with your agencies are doing to

exercise it back gration plans? the public does not hear enough about that, it and i know that having witnessed what took place on 9/11, there is always mass hysteria. so i would like to try to tackle both those questions. thank you mr. chairman. >> congresswoman, certainly if there is a reduction in funding, it will compromise some extent the security of the transit system. there will have to be reductions in training, some of the deployments we use, and quite frankly it would be impossible to compensate the loss of federal money from local revenues. i just think that is just common sense that will tell you that. with respect to evacuation plans, the police department has a back mission plans for each bureau. we also have i believe the

office of emergency management has a process -- is working right now with federal dhs money on a catastrophic study which involves evacuation as well. the police department will begin working with oem on that as well so, for the police department, the new york city police department perspective, we think we have sound evacuation plans in place. >> yes, maam. to answer that question, the city chicago as a mentioned earlier the office of emergency management communications is basically the centerpiece of connecting any types of it back rations both on our subway system senate is the city itself so they pull together the chicago police department is chicago fire department and federal agencies as well and we have done exercises basically affect waiting downtown areas completely in case of an emergency and that is something the mayor done very aggressive

way in his tenure there. the cta and our network has been used basic we moving everyone out of that is the case so in terms of those types of evacuations, those continue and they are funded by the department of homeland security so that would be a huge blow to us. separate and apart from that, i would very much welcome a steady stream of ongoing funds because the reality is again, taking the cameras as a topic as we have been discussing is issues we have the continuing thermal cameras in our subway system and our entire network. we would have to delay the project and it as much is not just a one-time installation. technology changes and we have to continue maintaining these. we have cameras on her system that are analog that her 5-year-old elegy with a high-definition type of technology available now. can install one camera in the place of bible bledsoe is continuing -- technology continues to advance we have to contain to make that investment.

analytics which requires much less human monitoring so as to knowledge advances it is a steady stream of funds. a line item as you see with a very much welcomed here. >> congresswoman, again on the funding issue, the boots on the ground uniforms, the frontline employees, the people involved receive training about terrorism awareness and wreck ignition. we will serve them forever. that is a given. but we will fail to have the ability to enhance layers of security that have a serious cost within our infrastructure. technology, my property has a unique location, the second longest underwater tube in the world. the design process alone is a huge challenge. out of that and what we look at,

1989 the earthquake we represent the earthquake country in northern california. our evacuation plans are directly tied to the office of emergency services and it is kind of a unique system when you look at a transportation agency. does to first get people out of a transportation location and control that chaos. we have witnessed it. we have been very lucky. the lessons learned from those opportunities are to enhance those evacuation plans. we train on a regular basis, most recently three weeks ago with our local first responders with the northern california specifically the city of oakland not just police and firefighters, medical, emergency services. those drills go on on a regular basis. i think there will prepare. the training system is well process as well. weeded those funds to continue to provide layers of security. >> your time is expired. the gentleman from illinois,

mr. walsh's back nice for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman and ranking member and all the yes it came to testify. mr. pistole a quick question. tsa has more than doubled the size of its inspectors and surface transportation security inspection program in the last few years. explain how tsa assesses how this increased number of inspectors is actually improving security and where they are most needed? >> thank you congressman. there are number of areas and some i will highlight. the most significant one is in our certified cargo screening programs talese inspectors to go in and actually inspect over 1160 companies that do screening of cargo, that the leader of cargo planes are as we know most go on passenger planes so as opposed to tsa trying to do that all themselves we work with private industry to assure that cargo is being properly screened especially given that cargo plots plot we saw last october.

that allows us to trust, but we need to verify, and so we have to inspect each of those to ensure that they are doing it to our standards and i will note that we have found several instances where some of that screening was being falsified. so their ongoing investigations both civil and criminal as to individuals who have certified screenings when it was not being properly done. that is the key area. there other areas but that is one the biggest areas as we continue to promote the free flow of goods in congress and people of the best possible security. >> great, thanks. terry guess operating the transit system a quick question about training. what sorts of training do your workers receive when it comes to security matters and do we distinguish between ticket agents and mechanics and the various types of training they received when it comes to security issues? issues? a peek at each touch upon that?

>> the police department provides security through its police officers so our training is primarily invited to police officers. and they received a low rate -- a whole range of training including how to utilize equipment like bomb detection equipment to detect terrorist activities, how to respond in the case of someone with a gun or a bomb. training a lot of that type in much of that training is provided with transportation security grant monies. >> mr. rogers? >> similar to what is just been said is we look to the chicago police department of chicago fire department in those agencies to respond when there is a issue or matter can. it comes to our customers and their actual employees we have campaigns as the one that has been mentioned to see something and say something for our

customers but our employees on hand our customer assistance and maintenance as you mentioned a variety of different job descriptions throughout the authority received a basic training on how it is to basically remain vigilant. we put notices out to our employees systemwide, all 10,000 of them basically notifying them that they have to remain alert and ensure we are assisting our customers. so the campaign process is what we used to really notify everyone throughout the system but we also do individualized training depending on the individuals on the job description. >> and to the point where if a ticket agent sees a suspicious looking package, is he or she trained in procedures? >> absolutely. again we have what is called callback control center operation center. everything flows through that center there. through that organization -- we have individuals the police department chicago fire department who sit and visit

there as well so that medication gets spread out brunell threw that up out there but individuals are notified they are to immediately contract the control center and we meet with the experts to address and send in what other needs to -- we oftentimes have things that occur. or individuals that are basically sometimes tourists who come in and love to take tons of pictures of our system. we are not big dance of individuals taking pictures of our system, so they are trained to identify the tourist from the non-tourist. >> mr. hartwig? >> recognizing information from the tsa specific way. in 2007, we took advantage of the funding source from tsa they that trained our front-line employees, our station agent, our system service workers, those people then checked with their patients on a daily basis. that the police department wreck nice if we want true information the best people to receive are from those people the work in a

system on a daily basis. operations from a training sense of operations from a police sense, often dynamically oppose each other. the relationship that we now have with our operations department is to partnership and rely upon those employees. the distinction between a suspicious package and it might donalds bag or in newspapers there is a big difference and our agents know, have learned what that is. it is an ongoing yearly certification program and they goes to the police department who provides updates, again a source provided by tsa. >> thank you all. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you mr. walsh. i recognize the gentleman from massachusetts for five minutes, mr. king. >> thank you mr. chair and first i would like to balance the willingness of mr. pistole to help in the airport security issues surrounding the perimeter and tarmac issues and i would like to publicly acknowledge that. my question is more general and they think would he directed at

mr. pistole and that is there has been discussion this morning about the increased threats relating to the events of the last few days and the killing of osama bin laden, but it was just a few weeks ago that the secretary of homeland security told us that it no time in smart 11, prior to the more immediate events, at no time since 9/11 has this country been in greater danger and i wanted to ask you, that includes as well the increased threats. does that also include threats to mass transit particularly my concern is in light of going on in the rest of the world with increased targets being bus, rail and other factors? i wanted you to just address from your perspective en masse transit, is that consistent as well, or is it greater even in terms of the secretary's remarks of the greater threat we are

facing right now x. e. thank you congressman. i think we are in one of those periods of time where there are so many variables that we are all trying to ensure we are vigilant as to those things that have not come up on the intelligence community or law enforcement communities radar whether it is a lone wolf as was mentioned earlier or somebody who may be either an fired by what has happened in this past week to take action on their ow. of course there were no specific threats to mass or rail transit now in the u.s.. we are very mindful about what is happened around the world particularly since the madrid bombing back in 04. so that is -- we see those vulnerabilities and see what is in moscow on the subway there and we see of course other places already mentioned. so i think it is a relative

assessment as to are we more vulnerable now or less? the bottom line is we are concerned today just as we have were yesterday and will be tomorrow best terrorists are trying to kill us in any means and recognizing transportation is one of the key vulnerabilities that without qaeda, core al qaeda and bin laden's -- or the arabian peninsula as we have seen with the cargo plot and the underwear plot coming out of aqap. we know the those are key modes that they are trying to affect not only our livelihood and as administrator he gave mentioned about the terrorist index, but to our economy. we saw $4200 cargo plots, and yet the aliens that could impact the global supply chain. those are all things we are

focused on. >> quickly i think this relates to funding as well, but we have been told that there is greater concern about domestic base threats and it would seem to me that mass transit targets would be easier for lack of a better word for domestic base threats than others, so with that is it radar threat in and that has been consistently told that there is concern for domestic-based terrorism. is it the feeling of yours that you are a higher level as a result of domestic base threats than perhaps other types of threats? >> absolutely congressman. complicated. we are not just looking those coming from overseas who may be more or easier to identify hopefully, but with over 300 million people here based on my experience in the fbi and all the investigations we had on people who are homegrown or facilitators, enablers, providing materials or, again of course this is going back to

what we have seen with timothy mcveigh in the on the finney and the clinic comics in the south or the unibomber. when we have people wanted raced here that it causes harm and killed hundreds of people, that is of equal concern. >> i yield that the rest of my time. >> thank you gentleman and the gentlelady from california ms. richardson is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you to all the witnesses are spending time with us today. mr. fugate last december the inspector general released a report of the use of recovery funds by fema for tsg p.. in fact i was a little bit late because i was in a transformation -- transportation meeting discussing transportation dollars. one indicating operational and capital investments and the other outlying the amount of jobs that were created directly correlating with the fund allocations. some of the mass transit agencies are received funds did not reflect any job creation

numbers while others that receive less were able to create jobs. can you please explain how fema collects metrics which allocates and can be measured to effectively mitigate threats and in the case of our offense stimulate the economy by creating jobs? >> thank you for the question. this goes back to even further originally findings from general accounting office and the inspector general. we did not have strong performance metrics as types many of our grant programs. in the case of the security grant program we are implementing that for 2011 so we are still having to go back on recovery funds and try to get the information and show those connections and book at what was created. i think you have pointed out that it was not equal as we saw others. they did create a lot of jobs and others want the capital improvements that we are not showing job so we will work to collect that information for you but we are working to build those tools into the 2011 grant

cycle so we are able to co-opt information and show the kind ability. >> thank you and mr. pistole on january 26, 2009 he spoke with tsa headquarters in state if we want to put some focus on surface transportation rail and transit and the like. turn your attention to the following area and my follow question is what actions they be taken since that speech to focus resources within tsa for programs to support mass transit security? i know you have been talking about it today but specific way in reference to your speech what did you do differently? >> i'm sorry, you said the speech was in a mind? >> yes, january 26, 2009. >> i started in july 2010 so it may been a different context or something so i'm not quite sure what that statement was part of but that being said, what i've been focused on since i became an administrator last july is insuring that we leverage a giga partnerships given the funding that we have based on tsg p. and

other opportunities we have for training, for canine's whether it is through -- or a number of different programs i could go into, different intelligence sharing mediums and mechanisms that we have used but the key is as the partnership between industry state and local law enforcement obviously and mr. fugate in fema, how to best leverage those limited, frankly limited funds that the happen the most informed fashion that again reduces or mitigates risk without trying to eliminate risk? >> a little whispered in my ear tells it was 2010, so january, 26 of 2010. if you could follow-up and use the notes from your own speech. administrator fugate and mr. pistole my question. the chance security information information -- has proposed changes to the security grant program which may have