do you think heratization a solution or a backstop or where are you on that? >> and we will move the debt privatization bill to get the treasury the ability to make interest payments and to make social security payments and in some particular fashion. but our goal here is to put our spending on a sustainable path. it isn't to default on our debt. the goal here is to cut spending and i have made clear that until

we get spending cuts and reforms that will put us on a path to a balanced budget over the next 10 years we are going to have problems. >> are you willing to have it turn out like 2011 again? will you let it get to that level of -- >> i spent two years focused on this issue in a big way and i think most of you understand my determination to get this government to deal honestly with their spending problem. i have watched leaders before i got here for 20 years kick this can down the road, kick it down the road, kick it down the road and i swore to myself i wasn't going to do it and i am not. >> on a bipartisan vote the senate today agreed to bring gun legislation to the floor. the vote was 68-31 with 60 republicans supporting the procedural step and two democrats voting against it.

>> now gun debate that took place in advance or legislation. orders are set up by the chairman patrick leahy texas republican senator john cornyn and connecticut senator richard blumenthal. senator blumenthal spoke about the victims of the sandy hook elementary schools students and their families. >> mr. president earlier this week i spoke about the need for the senate to consider legislation to help increase america's safety by reducing gun violence. i came on the floor of the senate and i urged my fellow senators to expand efforts to filibuster a proceeding to this bill. the senate to not -- should not

have to overcome a filibuster to respond to the call for action in response to gun violence they are experiencing. mr. president i have the privilege of being a long serving member of this body and i have watched debate on so many issues. if there is ever an issue all 100 of us should vote yes or no, it's here. i was encouraged by the comments of a number of senate republicans that they are prepared to debate this matter and will not support this wrongheaded filibuster. even "the wall street journal" editorialized the filibuster yesterday. the lead editorial entitled gop's gun control misfire. now i don't agree with much of that editorial but i would quote this. do conservatives want to prove their gun control?

the way to do it is to debate the merit and vote on the floor. senators are a smile number of republicans are seeking to prevent the senate from considering it. the bill has three parts. none of them second amendment rights. none of them call for gun confiscation or a government registry. in fact two of the three have always had bipartisan support and with regard to the third component the provisions closing loopholes in our current background check system senators manchin and toomey yesterday announced a bipartisan amendment with this component as well. and yesterday senator collins of maine and i were able to announce another step towards consensus.

we had previously been engaged in discussions with law enforcement and victims groups. more recently we have been engaged in discussions with the national rifle association. we have agreed on modifications to stop the illegal trafficking of firearms that addresses all of the sensitive concerns while doing as we have boys wanted to do, providing law enforcement officials with the tools they need to investigate and prosecute illegal gun trafficking and straw purchasing. now senator collins and i are both strong supporters and advocates of second amendment rights by americans. this seems absurd that some senators nonetheless persist in filibustering consideration of our bill. the american people expect us to stand up and face their

responsibilities. whether we like having to vote or not, we have an oath of office to uphold the constitution to uphold our lives and congress has to confront the serious role of straw purchasing and done gun trafficking upon criminals with firearms for illegal purposes. it's not enough to stand before the senate and say you are pro-law enforcement. it's a given everybody is pro-law enforcement and giving law enforcement the tools they need. to bypass and stop the illegal firearms act criminal statutes preventing the straw purchasing and trafficking of guns and

insist in these crimes. it's a commonsense response to help in the fight against gun violence to help law enforcement. that is why law enforcement so strongly supports that bill. yet, some are seeking to filibuster it. let them go to law enforcement groups and say they are trying to block them and take away the tools they need to keep everyone of us safe. congress should be confronting the serious flow of straw purchasing and gun trafficking in supplying criminals with firearms for illegal purposes, not ducking the issue. stand up and be counted. stand up and be counted. don't give speeches saying you are in favor of law enforcement and take away the tools that

enforcement needs. stand up and be counted. stand up and be counted. we can all agree that criminals and those adjudicated as mentally ill should not buy firearms. why should we not unplug the loopholes in the law that allows them to buy guns without background checks? stand up and be counted. it's a simple manner of common sense and if we agree that background check system is worthwhile should we not try to inform its content so i can be more effective? what responsible gun owner -- [inaudible] stand up and be counting. in a january hearing i pointed out that wayne lapierre from the nra testified in 1999 in favor of mandatory criminal background checks or as he put it every sale and every gun show. he wanted to emphasize and their eyes support and closing the

loophole in the background check system by saying in what is become an odd remark, no loopholes anywhere for anyone. of course it's common sense to close the gun show loophole. we should vote to do so again. this time we should get it enacted. and that is one of the ways of the bipartisan proposal of senators manchin and toomey to stop this ill-conceived filibustering and get to the bill. americans across this great country are looking to us for solutions and for action not filibustering or sloganeering. americans are saying stand up and be counted. i opened the 1 -- in january

asking senators on both sides of the aisle to join the discussion is part of a collectivcollectiv e efforts to find solutions to ensure that no family, no school, no community ever has to endure the kind of tragedy the families in newtown mill creek, tucson or columbine had to suffer. it was emphasized her of the committee process the 2nd amendment is secured is going to remain secure. that's part of my oath of office as a senator. in two recent cases the supreme court confirmed that the 2nd amendment like the other aspects of our bill of rights are fundamental individual right. americans have the right to self-defense and they have their

right to have a gun in their home to protect their families. no one is going to take away these rights for these guns. the 2nd amendment rights are the foundation of which are discussion rest. they are not at risk. but what is at risk we cannot close our eyes to what is a risk. lives are at risk where responsible people fail to set up the laws to keep the guns out of the hands of those who will use them to to commit mass murder. i asked my fellow senators to focus our discussion and debate on these proposed statutory laws intended to better protect our children and all americans. ours is a free society, and open society, a wonderful society. we should be coming together as elected representatives for all

the american people. considering a safer and more secure society. i would hope that all senators will join together in good faith to strengthen our law enforcement efforts against gun violence and to protect public safety. let's focus on our responsibilities to the american people. there are only 100 senators elected to represent more than 314 million americans. that is an awesome responsibility. let stand up to that responsibility. we are accountable to those people. we are not accountable to special interest groups on either the right or the left. we are accountable to 314 million americans. the special interest lobbies are

in either the left or right should not dictate what we do. we do not need a lobbies permission to pass laws to fight crime, improve public safety. that's our responsibility. i urge senators to be less concerned with special interest scorecards and more focused on fulfilling our oath to faithfully discharge the duties of our office as united states senators. i consider myself a responsible gun owner but i am also someone who cherishes all of their constitutional rights. as a senator, a senator who has sworn an oath to hold those rights. as a father and a grandfather, is a former prosecutor who has seen the results of an violence

first-hand. i had been working to build consensus of a round common sense solutions. i'm prepared to debate and vote on the measures before us to challenge other senators to do the same. do the same. stand up and be counted. stand up and be counted. the filibuster says you are not willing to take a stand. stand up and be counted. have the courage to stand up and be counted. and then let us work together to make america safer, all americans. mr. president i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. >> the clerk will call the roll. >> senator alexander.

>> mr. president. >> the senator from texas. >> mr. president i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. >> without objection. >> mr. president yesterday at the pleasure of meeting with some of the families who lost loved ones in the sandy hook shooting. as a father i can hardly begin to comprehend the enormous grief that ease individuals have suffered losing such a young child or a spouse or a mother in an act of what would appear to

be senseless violence. burying your child is something that no parent should have to do. the friends and families, the families and friends of the victims of sandy hook are owed the dignity and respect of a transparent, good faith effort to address gun violence. i do believe there is a common ground upon which republicans and democrats can come together. the issue of mental health of the gun owner is that common ground for me, along with enforcing current laws that are on the books. if there is one thread that connects them, the horrific

series of gun violence episodes in our country particularly in recent times it is the mental illness of a shooter. in every case the perpetrators mental illness should have been detect that and in some instances it was detected but not reported. and these individuals should never be allowed access to a gun. this is actually something we can and should do something about. we need to make sure that the mentally ill are getting the help they need, not guns. as i said, this is something that i believe all of us can agree on. in response to the tragedy at virginia tech in 2007 the united states senate and the congress unanimously passed a measure to

bolster mental health reporting requirements on background checks. some states like mine, texas, have received high marks for their compliance but many states have essentially been noncompliant and the department of justice has failed to adequately back up implementation of the law so essentially the law that we passed in the wake of the virginia tech shootings that require reporting of people that are judah kate at mentally ill in their respective states is not working the way it should. rather than just string along and ineffective program i think this is a wonderful opportunity for us to fix fix it and we shod fix fix it. i want to say just a word though about symbolism versus solutions. i am not interested in congress voting on a measure that would have no impact on the horrific

violence we have seen in recent months. i am not interested in a symbolic gesture which would offer the families of the sandy hook shooting the old real solutions that they seek. to a person they told me they are not political, they don't come with an agenda. they are not asking us to pass a specific piece of legislation. they just want to know that their loved one did not die in vain and that something good can come out of this terrible tragedy. so i think dealing with this mental health reporting issue is a common ground we can come together on. but we also need to make sure that we are not just going to pass additional buzz that will not be enforced. what possible solace could that be for these families for

congress just to pass additional laws that will never be enforced? take for example the national instant criminal background check system the nics system as is called which flags people who lyon, who lie on their background checks? the annual number of faces referred for prosecution fell sharply during the first two years of the president's, the current president's term of office. indeed there was a 58% drop in referrals and a 70% drop in prosecutions for people who lie, who lie on the background check. we can fix this. we can fix this. let's make sure that guns aren't getting into the hands of people who we all agree should not have them. we could be doing this right now with broad bipartisan support.

but let me just conclude with a couple of observations about where we find ourselves with the 11:00 vote on an underlying bill which remains controversial and which i think the majority leader and all of the snow has very little chance of going anywhere. we heard yesterday that our colleaguecolleague s from west virginia and ohio have come together on a bipartisan background check bill. i asked my staff as recently as on my way over here whether that had actually been released, the language so we can actually read it and find out what's in it and it has not. we have no commitment in front of the senate is the majority leader there will be a robust debate and amendment process because there are a lot of amendments that need to be

offered to whatever that so far unwritten bill says. we need to have a full, robust, transparent discussion of this issue in front of the american people. so i'm not going to vote to proceed to a bill that has not yet been written no matter how well-intentioned it may be. we need to make sure that what we do is address the cause of this violence and to come up not with symbolic gestures that will have no impact or to pass other laws that will not be enforced but to come together with real solutions. rather than put on a show and pat ourselves on the back and call it a day, let's do something good to make sure we

have done everything in our human capacity to prevent another sandy hook. this is what these families want. this is what they deserve and this is what the american people deserve. now this calls the united states senate to exercise its historic and central role in bringing all sides together to try to come up with solutions but if we can't do that here, we can't do that now, when will we ever? address this tragedy. the president has told some of these victims families that the side of the aisle doesn't really care about their loss. that is not through.

it is false. the president is wrong. all of us care about these families and all of us should care about violence in our communities and we should try to work together to find ways to address this not in a symbolic sort of way, but in a real way that offers a solution and maybe just a little bit of progress on this issue that would allow these families to say no my loved one did not die in vain. something good came out of this. we want to work together to find real solutions to this type of senseless incomprehensible violence that has taken too many lives. and i hope we will.

see mr. president thank you. we are on the verge of a historic vote that will determine whether we make america safer and that we do everything possible as senators and citizens to assure there are no more new town's. on the evening of december 14, when we left the firehouse at sandy hook there was a vigil at a church in newtown. presided over by father bob who is monsignor robert weiss, a very moving and powerful sermon and the church was filled. people stood at the windows to hear what was going on.

the governor spoken so they die, and i said that evening the world is watching newtown and in fact the world was watching newtown. as we knew from the horror of that afternoon when many of us arrived in the church and first at the firehouse to see families emerging and learning for the first time that their children, their babies, would not be coming home that evening. it was an experience that will stay with me forever. the sights and sounds of that afternoon filled with grief and pain will never leave me. the world was watching new town that day and that evening and had watched newtown in connecticut in the days and months since and then i have had the privilege to send -- spend

many hours, days weeks in these past months with the families. the world is watching the families and it has seen in them and in newtown a great community a quintessential new england town with strength and courage that was as unimaginable as the horror of that day, the strength and courage that represents what is good about america. and what is strong and courageous about our nation. the world has watched newtown and the families of newtown and it has watched connecticut and now the world is watching the united states senate. it is watching the senate to see whether democracy works. it sounds simple but it's drew. will democracy work to works to reflect the majority of the united states of america, the

majority of our people who say we need to do something about the guns? that is what the families said to me that day and in the days since and what people in connecticut and across the country have said to their senators. we must do something about gun violence. i remember talking to one of the families that evening and saying you know, when you are ready we ought to talk about what we can do to stop gun violence measures in the united states congress hinchey said to me, i am ready now. the united states senate must be ready now to act as. it must keep faith with those families and victims as the world watches with benjamin andrew wheeler, age six. his father david is here today

and he is here in spirit as we decide in the united states senate today whether we will move forward toward progress. anna grace marques green also age six. her mother is here today and she is with us in spirit. dylan hockley age six whose mother nicole is here. also here in spirit and jesse lewis, age six. his father neal heslin is here. mary sherlach, one of the six educators killed at sandy hook elementary whose husband bill is here. jesse, mary are here with us to

map. and we know that compromise and action are possible because two of our colleagues have formed a bipartisan compromise that will enable us to come closer. it is imperfect. it is less than what i would have preferred in achieving universal background checks. it is a starting point. it is a step in the right direction and it will help us achieve a larger bipartisan compromise because background checks are only one part of a comprehensive strategy that must include a ban on illegal trafficking, strengthening school safety as well as mental health initiatives and a ban on assault weapons and

high-capacity magazines that i will be privileged to spearhead that effort on high-capacity magazines hopefully next week after today's vote along with colleagues such as dianne feinstein and my colleague chris murphy. today let us decide is the world watches that there will be no more newtown's. that is what the families want. that is what america wants. let us resolve that we will make democracy work as we go beyond this first step and decide to proceed on a bill that also is imperfect but provides a starting point, provides a way forward so that we can make our communities safer. the families of newtown have

performed extraordinarily. not only has the world watched and then inspired by their strength and courage, but they have turned the tide. they have visited with our colleagues and they have impacted this process more profoundly and more directly than any other single group. they have shown that we can rate the stranglehold of special interest and nra that speaking truth to power still works. and to them we owe a special thanks. to them as a nation we owe a debt of gratitude for the lives that will be saved, for the futures that will be given, even

if their children and their loved ones will not enjoy that future. they have given futures to countless americans who will be saved from the scourge of gun violence said to them i say thank you. they are in this building and their children, their loved ones are with us today in spirit as we take this historic step. >> the senate voted to move forward with some legislation. 68-31 with 16 republicans voted for and two democrats voting against the procedure.

>> the director of national intelligence that today the federal budget cuts are a threat to national security. james clapper testified along with cia director john brennan and fbi director robert mueller about the global threats to the u.s.. some of the other topics covered at the house select intelligence committee on this syrian war and the use of drone strikes. >> the committee will come to order. we have several members caught

in other committees and will be along shortly. we will get her opening statements underway so we can get to our distinguished panel of statements and two questions. i want to welcome today our national intelligence director james clapper and cia director john brennan, tractor of defense intelligence agency mike flynn and robert mueller for the yearly open hearing before the house intelligence committee. a reminder we are in open session we should be careful not to discuss classified matters. we will have a closed session immediately following this session to address sensitive matters. i just want to congratulate mr. ruppersberger and their whole committee yesterday in the 18-2 vote on the cybersecurity information sharing bill. we thought it was a great start because of the changes made in

the bill to the endorsement of technet the largest high-tech association with the largest number of high-tech committees came in this morning so we are pleased with that and look forward to moving forward so that our intelligence services can share of bad stuff with the good guys. the focus of this hearing is to allow the american people to hear from those responsible for providing intelligence to protect the united states and for america to see first-hand the oversight conducted by their elected representatives. as always we live in dangerous times. a nuclear north korea continues its bellicose behavior threatening american highways in interest and the reason -- region distracting to support for our allies display stronger leadership in the region. in syria bashar al-assad responded to civil protest with murderous violence and after two years of chaos and 70,000 dead

the country is caught in a bloody civil war that plays out under the shadow of chemical weapons. the places the risk and without a change in course provides a safe haven for al qaeda to plan future attacks. at this time while controlling some of the world's most deadliest weapons. islamic radicals still seek to their quest to enact an evil vision of society opposed to the principles of our civilization. the experiencexperienc e of daily onslaught of russians and chinese cyberattacks iranian and north korean growing capability and attacks that steal americans technological innovation and ingenuity. our military and economic success as a nation are at risk. afghanistan we have spent 12 years fighting those who have fought his first and we face the ultimate test of our national will. do we have the conviction to cement our hard-fought gains and

achieve a lasting victory or will they walk away before the job is done? the challenges are many and we face many of them ended increasingly constrained fiscal environment. this sequester and impacts and risks to intelligence. we find disturbing reports the department defense wishes to impose its furlough policy on the intelligeintellige nce community. if it's true would be mindless and irresponsible given the level of threat and uncertainty around the world. i support director clappers steps to mitigate the effects of the sequester such as delaying contract awards for possible and cutting lowest priority spending and avoiding -- the enactment of the fiscal year 13 defense appropriations bill will be helpful and the cuts will be applied to current spending priorities. we assure that the i see can meet its core missions despite the sequester. still congress must avoid another sequester.

this must not become the new normal. before the people responsible for managing our intelligence community and getting policymakers information needed to do our jobs. the intelligence professionals can only do their jobs when policymakers do theirs first. we must set a clear policy objective to keep this country safe. when the threats are numerous and the constraints are many we have a duty to explain a coherent national security strategy. from both sides of that we see rising tide of isolationism whether we are discussing provoked fears about the use of drones or how to help the syrian crisis we hear that that people are weary of war. people are fearful of the more u.s. interventions in the world. people are skeptical of the plurality of american power. america has faced such worries before and we must lead america out of this challenging time and inspire renewed confidence in a

thoughtfully and gauged america to continue to be a force for good in the world. we must. >> clearly to both their friends and our enemies so no one doubts where we stand. we must need what we say when america announces a policy against the foreign regime america must act to perpetuate the outcome and not stand by and hope that the outcome arises organically. we must not simply watch the events unfold. to hope against are not in a peaceful and positive way and to ignore history is to avoid responsibility for the cost and consequences of inaction. after a decade of the war against islamist extremism americans may understandably worry about the cost of action but ignoring threats will not avoid those costs. inaction will always come due. we have never known americans to back down from a right to challenge. america's leaders and america can't turn our backs on those

looking for american leadership and continued to stand as the rock of freedom and prosperity to the world and now i turn to the ranking member for any remarks you wish to make kids be thanks mr. chairman and i want to thank you for your leadership. our cyberbill which is so important to the protection of our citizens and our companies are and your bipartisan approach to how you run the committee makes a differencdifferenc e and i know everyone is treated with respect and all people and members views are heard so i appreciate and thank you and congratulations on your leadership. first i would like technology leaders of our intelligence committee including general clapper cia director john brennan nca lieutenant general michael flynn and robert mueller. we have a lot of hearings and a lot of committees but the group in front of me right now today is one of the best leadership groups i have seen in this government and i want to thank you for your service and your leadership. it all starts at the top and you have to have the people to do the job and i appreciate your

service. every year during our worldwide threats hearing we look back at the previous year and take a look back toward the future. 2012 wasn't like 2011. 2011 was an initial high profile victories through successful raid on bin laden was the culmination of over a decade of painstaking intelligence work did although there may be no intelligence successes in 2012 make no mistake every day is an intelligeintellige nce success. the men and women in the intelligence community are working to get get the save 24 hours a day seven days a week to these federal employees work in dangerous locations around the world to defend their nation. there are no movies made of these daily successes in preventing the attacks that dominate headlines and inspire big-screen movies. they know their successes require anonymity and we know they work to serve. we know this and make deeply appreciate the work of your

quiet professions. the intelligence committee made a commitment to get our professionals the resources and capabilities and authority to protect ansys. the intelligence committee did so the against deadly challenges has recently been paired up with intelligence committee has raised a hand to the threats we face in 2013 and i believe they are right to make sure they have the total guidance and appropriate oversight to do so. as we head into 2013 there's a lot of unrest around the world. bic must continue to focus its analytical capabilities in the middle east as the region continues transformation. we must remain vigilant on a brand whose antagonism grows incapacity and so does its capacities to do harm to us and our allies. iran cannot be trusted and we cannot allow them to create a nuclear weapon. nuclear capability in iran threatens her safety as well as a safety is as real and the rest of the middle east. we must also continue to keep up with events in yemen were al qaeda and the arabian peninsula

still plotting to kill americans and disrupt our way of life. in syria we must continue to know i'll be can about the horrendous situation and find ways to gain influence and soup porters in the post-assad syria. the fall of the assad regime will not end the crisis. common enemies that unite the opposition groups for one day fall and the glut of weapons to made for powerful situation. we must think ahead and avoid making mistakes in of the past never fall back in thinking military solutions alone will solve complex problems. africa is becoming a breeding ground for terrorists heard although we must take care to keep threats in perspective and not take action that could transform remote struggles against the west. our eyes must turn more towards asia and we need to build our capacity to understand the many languages and cultures there is long -- as well as the military. north korea's proving yet again its determination to stabilize the region with irresponsible

and dangerous actions. destabilizing a potentially north korea willingness to export proliferation cannot be underestimated. we also know there pattern of distracting attention. we need to find a way to break this cycle. china needs to be -- pakistan is going through another round of internal convolutions with implications in the region for the u.s.. china and russia continued efforts at economic espionage and they continue to modernize their military. china and russia went through transitions in 2012 as well. we must look for broad movements and anticipate the triggers of conflict. while ideology yields to the competition for natural resources be they food water or rare earth materials can lead to international conflict. the threats we face are grave. for examples cyber. what many many are calling aside from a cold war has now turned top pick countries like iran are attacking our economic infrastructure while china and

russia are stealing or trade secrets playable trading networks of our companies paid u.s. industries are spending millions to respond to the attacks rightfully looking to the government to do what it has done defend against attacks on foreign governments. the intelligence committees on the frontline defense and we must continue to do so. in the meantime we need to do our part as well. in 2012 outs past our cyber intelligence sharing protection act which would give the government the authority to share cyberthreats with industries that would allow call to government. yesterday the intelligence committee passed to fill barked at by a vote of 18-2. the markup adopted amendments to improve our bill to make it more effective than protective. these efforts with a combination of over a year work with industry and groups. this year it must become law. beyond cisco the legislative round to need to do everything

by investing in early education and science technology engineering and a half and stem education. we also need to find the right senate to go to public service out of school starting for example by increasing opportunities for government internships. our prosperity and national security depends on our schools. if they fall behind we fall behind. we realize this is a tremendous set of priorities and you have a german this burden. it's being made that much more challenging. they forget and when they talk about sequestration was designed to be bad. the cuts were designed to be so ill-advised that the mere possibility would force both sides to come together on a router budget deal. that is the threat that was reality. we are facing indiscriminate cuts. these cuts negatively impact our social advances and investments in the educational critical for economic growth. sequestration sacrifices or our

national security. the intelligence authorization act spells out with the intelligence community can do allowing congress to provide oversight. on the flipside under sequestration each of these programs gets the same across-the-board cut. as a matter with the pride of the program is or the timeliness of the overall cost is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. take the space program. indiscriminate cuts a space program by 9% of ford's decision to turn off the will perform satellite before it's useful age is complete. cutting into those costs means you cannot operate or maintain the platform. 9% reduction would lead to a 100% loss of capability. once you stop maintaining a satellite it turns off and you can turn it back on. i am getting close. if you one day want to get these capabilities back to test nuclear weapons after will

replace a satellite for the full cost through to borrow an old phrase where being penny-wise but pound-foolish. there is a way and they need to trim our budget intelligently with the intelligence authorization act of march to limit resources without affecting our mission. we look forward to hearing from you and hopefully our public will learn from what we are doing in this hearing. thank you. >> thank you mr. ruppersberger. mr. klepper the floor is yours. >> secretary ruppersberger and distinct members of the committee we are here to present the worldwide threat assessment. these remarks and our statements for the record one on classified into much more detail classified one reflects the collective judgments of the extraordinary men of the intelligence community and may i say on behalf of all of us and all the men and women we certainly

appreciate your strong and staunch support. it's our privilege and honor to serve in these positions to lead them and as i will discuss shortly our solemn duty to protect them. but as you know mr. chairman of serious reservations about conducting hearings on the worldwide threat especially the question and answer session. while i believe it's important to keep the public informed about the threats are nation faces a fleet i believe that can be done through unclassified statements in the record. as you also know we are ready to answer any and all of your questions in closed session but an open hearing on intelligence matters is something -- color stains in the record can be reviewed in advance for classification are answers to your questions cannot an arts and to avoid revealing classified information sometimes lead to misinterpretation or accusations that are being circumspect for improper reasons. it's a hazard we have encountered when publicly discussing sensitive details of

national security matters so when we asked to discuss certain matters in closed session it's not to evade but to protect intelligence sources and methods and to be sensitive to the often delicate relations we have with our allies and partners. they and our adversaries all carefully listen to and watch these hearings as well as i have learned the hard way. the topic and you have already brought it up and importantly so the topic is foremost on all of our minds this year's sequestration. i raise it in this hearing because effects of sequestration amplified the threats that i will discuss later. we haven't seen a whole lot of public discourse on the impact of these cuts on intelligence. compared with speaking speaking engagements with amedi on this issue have been fairly restrained. so now let me be blunt to you and for the american people. sequestration forces the intelligence community to reduce all intelligence activities and functions without regard to the

impact on our mission. in my considered judgment as the intelligence officer sequestration jeopardizes their nation safety security and this jeopardy will increase over time. the national intelligence program which provides the resources to spread across six cabinet departments in two independent agencies much of a carried in the dod budget. that portion congress directed the national intelligence program uses an more onerous set of rules to carry out that impose some larger defense department itself. we appreciate the committee supporting trendy fixes problem. these restrictive rules compound the damage and restrict their ability to manage reductions and a balanced international way. accordingly the sheer size of the sequestration cut about $4 billion or 7% will directly compel us to do less with less. some examples by way of illustration, we will reduce

human technical and counterintelligence operations resulting in fewer collection opportunities which increases the risk of surprise. it's includes for example possibly for allowing thousands of fbi employees. our site records will be impacted. critical analysis and tools will be cut back and reduce global coverage and may risk missing early signs of a threat. we will echo thousands of contractors who are integral part of the intelligence community. delay decommissioned over by but productive recognizance capabilities thus reducing coverage and that mr. ruppersbruppersb erger has alluded to. virtually all of the 39 major acquisitions across the intelligence community will be and appear we will have to and renegotiate contracts and put schedules to the right which in the long one but costs us more and will have to scale back cutting-edge research. since we are halfway through the fiscal year the mandate across-the-board cuts are really equivalent to 13% because we are

forced to take them for seven months. this condensed timeline magnifies the impact these cuts will have on the intelligence community. in response that starts with the premise that the mission comes first. therefore two highest priorities are one to protect her most valuable resource to our civilian workforce so he can focus on the threats we face and two to support overseas operations. a civilian workforce works 24/7 around the world and is crucial to perform their mission. her professionals that will provide the internet to help compensate for the other cuts that we will unavoidably incur. the i see leadership is uniformly and resolutely committed to minimize the number of furloughs is required not only because of the direct impact on our mission but because of the severe impact on the morale of the people. let me besides we are not arguing against taking our share of budget reductions. what i'm saying is we must

manage this budget crisis and sustainer vital missions but except to be clear and manage the inevitable risk we are incurring. therefore a plan to resubmit a reprogramming action to mitigate the egregious cuts to help us cut in a more rational and focused manner and i'm asking for your support and that of the other intelligence oversight for consideration. i must tell you i've seen this movie before. 20 2020 years ago a serb district of cia. we were then enjoying the peace by the end of the cold war. we reduce the intelligence community by about 23% and during the mid-to-late mid-to late 90s with close cia stations and produced electors cut analysts and allowed our architecture to actor -- atrophy and letter facilities the case. most damagingly be badly distorted the workforce. all of that of course was for

first in the wake of 9/11. thanks to the support of congress over the last decade we have rebuilt the intelligence community into a premier capability we have today but now if we are not careful risk another damaging spiral. the i see leadership will do all we can to prevent history from repeating the cycle. unlike board sequestration impacts like shorter hours in public parks or longer security lines in airports the degradation to intelligence will be insidious. it will be gradual and almost invisible until of course we have an intelligence failure. with that preface as a backdrop let me turn now to a review of global threat trends and challenges. in my almost 50 years in the intelligence i did not recall a period in we confronted a more diverse array of threats crises and challenges around the world. to me at least this makes sequestration even more

incongruous. this year's threat assessment illustrates how dramatic the world and our threat environment is changing. threats are more interconnected and viral. events which at first blush seem irrelevant can quickly set off transnational disruptions that affect u.s. national interest. war now includes a software variance. software variation. arms include cyberand financial weapons and attacks can be nonattributable. i would like to turn to a few of the issues we identified in our statements for the record. our statement this year leads with cyber of course and congratulations to the committee for passage of the bill. as more and more state announced date actors gain expertise is important to not be overstated. ..

party chairman -- still determined to attack western interests. the turn on the arab world has brought a spike in price for the rest of new governments in egypt, tunisia, along with ongoing unrest in syria and mali provide openings for opportunistic individuals and groups. extremists can take advantage of counterterrorism capabilities, for starters and stressors and most especially a high

proportion that is disproportionate high proportion of unemployed frustrated young males who deeply resent our culture. weapons of mass destruction developed in perl it duration is a persistent threat to u.s. interests. they continue to monitor the possible use of wmd around the world. north korea has argued demonstrated capabilities with the thread in the united states and east asia. in february conducted its first nuclear test about to restart its nuclear or at pyongyang and about this time despite what appears to be a road mobile enter cannot so elicit missile. they we pyongyang has taken steps towards the system although it remains untested. it also uses vehicles to put a satellite in orbit, thus demonstrating its long-range missile technology. these developments have been

accompanied with extremely belligerent aggressive public rhetoric towards the united states and south korea. we continue to carefully monitor developments in anticipation of north korea's next provocative step. iran continues to develop technical expertise in uranium enrichment come nuclear reactors, ballistic missiles if it decides to fill deliverable nuclear weapons. these advancements strengthen our assessment that tehran has the scientific industrial capacity produced nuclear weapons. the central issue is its political will to do so. such a decision will reside with the supreme leader and at this point they don't know if they'll decide to build nuclear weapons. the united states and allies have serious doubts does, particularly chemical and biological which are part of a large, complex and geographically dispersed program

advanced chemical weapons program has potential to inflict mass casualties. the beleaguered regime have begun its escalation of conventional means is not working appears only to use chemical weapons against its own people. all the worst nongovernmental groups or individuals could gain access to such materials. looking briefly at geographic threat around the world, some nations in the mideast and north africa make progress towards democratic rule, the most experienced violence and political backsliding. and iran, leaders exploit address to spread influence and undermine the united states and our allies. tehran also faces a risk and financial outlook in the fall of the assad regime is area with a huge strategic port area. in iraq and tensions rise shia and sunni as well as the kurds. to this point, al qaeda in iraq is not mustered the strength to

overwhelm forces and is producing and exporting oil at its highest levels in two decades. islamic areas have been beneficiaries of the up and then upon the parties in egypt, tunisia and morocco will solidify and to this year. after more than two years of conflict in syria, the erosion of the capabilities accelerates in its territorial losses, military manpower and logistic shortages. the up edition is slowly but surely gaining the upper hand. transcendence days are numbered. we don't know the exact number. the deteriorating conditions have led to increases in casualties now estimated at some 70,000. deaths. once an economic dislocation of the two approximately 3.6 million theory and been displaced in the 1.3 million refugees who have fled the area, which intensifies pressure on

jordan, turkey, lebanon and iraq. egyptian elections scheduled for this month will now be pushed to the fall. the longer proposed pond, more public dissatisfaction of violence in the streets. sub-saharan africa monitoring unresolved discord between sudan and the sudan come extremists attacked, governance in northern mali and complex in the great lakes region. france being able to determine undermine terrorist networks in the region and the pentagon asserts that international support mission from a future u.n. peacekeeping operations. west african countries to play thousands of troops to stabilize northern mali. chad is the nation's biggest contributor working closely with the french to combat terrorist groups in the north. but tunisia, the taliban led insurgency is diminished, but

still resilient and capable of challenging u.s. and international goals. the coalition drawdown will have an impact on afghanistan's economy, which is likely to decline after 2014. the government has not instituted much-needed policy tax reform in the country faces no prospects for sustainable economic growth. on a more positive note, the armed forces continue operations in the federally mr. tribal areas were fought, safe haven for al qaeda in the town in pakistan is scheduled assembly elections for may 11. in china last month, and she in pain became president and bolsters maritime law in force and to support its claims in the south and east china seas. russia will continue to resist putting more international pressure on syria or iran. he will continue to display great sensitivity about this will defend.

closer to home come despite trends for democracy and economic development, latin american and caribbean contend with institutions, slow recovery disasters in drug-related violence trafficking. venezuela was recently named acting president and their election is slated for three days from now with a comfortable lead in the polls and expected to win and will probably continue in chavez tradition. given the magnitude and complexity of our global responsibilities insightful, persistent comprehensive intelligence has never been more important or urgent and i had trouble reconciling this imperative is a frustration. with akamai thank you for attention and we stand ready to address questions. >> thank you, director clapper. i appreciate your comments on closed versus open. i'm disappointed he took a few minutes to talk about it here

after our conversation, each of the organizations before us today is the statutorily created entity on behalf of the american people and most of the work we do in this committee is very sent given highly classified. if were going to maintain public trust, it is very important that they have the opportunity to have a public interaction with the agencies of which they support, not only with their hearts, but with their wallets. as the executive branch consumer of intelligence for their policy decisions, so is the united states congress. i hope to look at this as an opportunity to showcase the agencies and challenge findings, but it's a good opportunity to have a public dialogue about secretive business to protect the united states of america. always a balance, but i will know for the record you were

dragged kicking and screaming to the committee today. >> that's accurate. >> mr. king. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me congratulate director brett annan has cia. it is claimed to pertain to north korea. director clapper and director brennan. can you tell us what she do believe the object desired the north korea government generally, the role of kim jung un at what role we would like it to play. >> let me start and others can jump in. i find subject of any later, his primary objective is to consolidate, affirmative power and much of the rhetoric -- all of the belligerent rhetoric of

late is designed for both an internal and external audience. the first and foremost, to show he is firmly in control and north korea. i was just going to say, i don't think really he has midshipmen and game other than to somehow elicit recognition from the world and specifically, must import to the united states of north korea's arrival as a nuclear power and that entitles him to negotiation and accommodation in% of the 48. you asked about china. i think probably if anyone highs real leverage over the north

koreas, it is china. china is under new leadership in the indications we have are that a china is itself rather first treated with the behavior and belligerent rhetoric of kim jong un. >> i agree with direct or clapper. >> kim jong un has been not empower all that long. we're watching this closely to see whether or not what he said is consistent with patterns of birth korean behavior. this is where the intelligence community needs to maintain a clear focus on what is going on in the region they are. again, looking at china and the issue of north korea, china has an interest in stability and as foreign funds than anybody else over pyongyang. >> i would add this historical

note. a couple historical notes. i was around in 1968 during the pueblo seizure. i was at pacific command headquarters 1976 during the tree cutting and event and the joint security area, which resulted in the murders of two american soldiers. i can recall in those two cases where i thought it to tenseness it will come to genuine tenseness was greater than today. but we have today is a lot of rhetoric, and a lot of belligerent rhetoric. some historical context might be helpful. >> do you believe south korea and japan are secure or do you believe the u.s. will stand by them? at a secure and possession? >> i believe they do. i believe we've had expressions along those lines that the three

allies are united in their concern about the potential threat posed by north korea and i think the u.s. air act dialogue and coordination created as good as i've ever seen. >> and the remaining time, how do you view the position and south korea? will she be more likely to retaliate quakes spinnaker going to position the stress polity, to attempt to engage with north korea. obviously her calculus may be changing. i don't know, but i think it is because of her behavior. she was looking for other opportunities beyond the industrial center, which of course the korean cutting off their nose to spite their face

so close down. that generates about $100 million in revenue for korea, which they don't really need. so i think she now is in the mode of being weary and cautious and certainly the public opinion polls in south korea support that and. >> thank you very much. >> mr. pastore. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning to pay them all. your bride tracking is screaming to a closed hearing. i tell you after been here a few years, i haven't been able to find the difference between a closed hearing in open because by the time we go out and as cnn is reporting that. sometimes i wonder what the value is of some of these closed hearings. i agree with your assessment

before 9/11. how to resolve the situation as seen the intelligence community where there have been -- assets have been deteriorated at the same time the agencies and departments responsible for gathering and analyzing and coming up with and also had come into standing on their own they weren't sharing information and we had problems. i believe in 2004, your agency, mr. clapper, was created to bring in the information gathering to assure the intelligence community would cooperate and do a better job. in the beginning it is hard because we had defense people in the military very reluctant to give up some power in yet other

agencies reluctant to give up asset and i didn't see it a very great cooperation. eight years later and i have it able to follow -- first time i've been in this committee. what is your assessment today of how your agency has been able to overcome some of the problems we had before 9/11 and now with sequestration, causing some deterioration, how you think the agency will be able to ensure we do not collect pre-9/11 days of intelligence gathering? >> sera, thank you for the question. you're quite right in the historical evolution of position tablets that i now occupy. i found it way the ir tpa tourism prevention act and it's

been my goal, my objective if i had to pick one word for what i've been trying to do in this position is to promote integration across the community. i think we've made a lot of strides that way and immigration as both horizontally if they can use the metaphor across the so-called stovepipes of the agencies as well as vertically. is this another new dimension. vertically in terms of federal, state, local private sector sharing and integration as well. so try to push that. i think the judgment like that is how successful the thin and others will have to make a call. i personally think we've made great strides.

one of the advantages to having this position is the current situation wherein the funding and budget challenges were facing. i think it is the strength for the intelligence community to have a single person on staff who said it can look across objectively and that the corporate process on checked it be said for where to take it and where to invest. fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view the last two or three years we've had a lot of part is that bad. i might have to ask others to comment on their views on the position. john and bob. >> i would say general clapper has done a superb job in doing exactly what he said the man is

supporting each of the agencies and enabling us to work more closely together than we had in the past. it's a completely different way than it was in the wake of september 11. i will tell you to a large extent the work is attributable to the person who feels that seat and general clapper has done a terrific job bringing us together horizontally and vertically, domestically. thank you, mr. chairman. >> i just first of all, from cia's good had to give you one 10th second tom might, where approximately 17,000 men and women and our work for 741 countries, 262 locations around the world. one of the collective efforts we have is derived from director clappers vision statement for intelligence community and a

steep and essentially said to be a nation made more secure by fully integrated intelligence community. i tell you from the last 10 years have i seen any name, with tactical unit in the military that have been fully integrated by officers, intelligence professionals in the cia, at the eye. we've worked closely in the maturing of how we share information not only with each other, but also how we speeded up the processes of how we share with coalition partners out there, not on the battlefield we been on, but other areas director hydrated. from my days, we've really moved in the right direction and it ain't there still more to do, but i'm very beat about the direction we've taken.

>> all of a sudden it information sharing has never been tighter. as general flynn said, we need to be caught so improving intelligence community and there's room for improvement as we go forward. the match enough of the different elements defense, cia, fbi, department of homeland security is much better than before 9/11. they been able to address vulnerabilities because of the stovepipes that existed and with director clappers guidance and direction, we will enhance the affair. >> mr. chairman, i yield back. thank you for the time. >> thank you, mr. chairman. to the panel, thank you for your service to our country and the men and women who work for you, i'm an incredible of the patriotism, professionalism,

proficient being selfishness under which they spared. at the opportunity to travel to remote places and american people have no idea the sacrifices made. we need to think them each and every day and is for your leadership were able to deal that so we'll pass that on. i want to focus on syria a little bit. there's been discussion episodic falls, people think it is when assad falls. what is your assessment of the possible is not likely to have further fighting between rebel groups and what that may mean. >> sera, thank you very much for your tribute and we do appreciate the men and women, particularly those of us these appreciate when you visit and take interest in what they do. we all appreciate that very

much. i think that most likely scenario we see is even after assad calls, smart fraction of station if i can use that word, both geographically and on a sectarian basis. for some period of time, were not sure, but a year coming year and a half would be continued interest oral competition inviting, which would be very localized. there are literally hundreds of these militia group fighting on a local basis in the north and east of the country. they are gaining more control of the area, but i think an intelligence perspective, that's what we see as just even after he falls, but tearing area in

the northwest, which would be our weight and of course there is a kurd president in the north and about 65% of the population of syria is about 22.5 million people are sunni, so we expect sunni areas as well. >> there's a lot of speculation as to how assad is funding this and what is reserve levels are and where he goes from here. what do you the current level of military and financial support provided i.d. every man's, hezbollah, rations. this is the only way he can survive, is the name? >> we don't have detailed insight into the back we have he is trying his finance is. of course he has his own private

reserves. very business interested within syria to help support in. the ukrainians have got their own stresses as the sanctions and all that. they are attempting to provide advisory and material support to take that form more than cash for this theory had. we do see sign of the deteriorating interest texture. the economy is deteriorating as you would expect that directly affects 20% of the population. if it is internally displaced or those that have fled. this is starting to show signs of strain within the machine military and reducing sign of either delayed or short pay to their army, which of course heightens the desertion rate.

>> they seem like they are using an awful lot of farms in the site, so they're being supplied by the russians? >> there was a lot of arms to start with. they had a huge hardware, whether its vessels, vehicles, tanks, aircraft, helicopters and all kinds of small arms. the place was awash in weapons to start with, many of which have fallen into the hands of the opposition. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, director. >> thank you so much, mr. chairman. i thank you all for participating in this open hearing. it is so nsh great benefit to the american people. i have a question for you, director brett men, about drones.

in your confirmation hearing, he suggested the united states publicly disclosed an american drone strikes kill civilians. he suggested perhaps the operation should have some point the speech transferred from intelligence to the military. i am wondering if you've taken any steps or if you plan to immediately take actions to increase transparency about drone strikes to make a move of that program. he also stated your belief that the idea of establishing a special court to review target was worthy of discussion. i wondered if any discussions have begun on this issue. >> congresswoman, when it was in my confirmation hearing is the same white house officials and ask us questions about the policy the administration was

pursuing. right now i'm director of the cia, so my comments at that time reflective of my position at the white house as well as my comment about the u.s. government's counterterrorism program overall. so i've pay rate now that i am at the helm of the cia to look area policy guidance as directed by the administration and will continue to focus our efforts on making sure the terrorists are not able to carry out murderous attacks against our citizens would it be overseas or >> i wonder if you could comment on this. on tuesday, mcclatchy newspapers publish an article stating a significant number of them mutuals killed and drone strikes in pakistan were not leaders of al qaeda or affiliated groups. the article states hundreds of suspected low-level militants were killed in strikes.

i wonder if you could address concerns that we don't always know who we are targeting and claims the scope of the attack -- and claims the scopes of these attacks is much whiter than have been suggested. >> there's a lot of things in the press that are inaccurate and misrepresented it as a fax and i'm not going to talk about any specific activities or operations in any part of the world. again, if my response will be as director of cia, we'll do everything we can to take these individuals off the battlefield they are trying to kill american citizens. >> let me ask you this. is there anyway you can define and english between targeted strikes and signature strikes by drones? >> i would refer to comments made a number of u.s. government

officials publicly and speeches, including what is it that the white house. i will not engage in any discussion here. >> okay. let me ask more questions here. let me ask you also, as you know the senate intelligence committee report on former cia detention and interrogation practices is under review within the destination and the agency comment were originally due back to the committee february 15, though the reply is now delayed indefinitely. on march 7 and the mayor times, former cia senior analyst said if any person can take the time, it would be you, director brennan and the institution of benefit from the eventual

declassification and release of the study. what is the current dataset the review of the report and if you could discuss the important the leader of the cia at its release. >> clearly it's an important report issued by the city on intelligence. i have spoken with both the chairman of the committee, telling them i am in the process of the reviewing of that document will be getting back them shortly. this is a 6000 page document as one of the pages behind it in terms of what was reviewed and so is my obligation to make sure my response back to them is going to be thorough and as accurate as possible and will convey my views about what that report portrays about cia's past

practices and what we find fanatics. scanner running the program is solace from that report and also identified thanks anything to committee report may not have accurately represent. >> thank you. job type. >> thank you thank you very much. mr. westmoreland. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. brennan, director, you were in the white house and this white house seems to have a strategy that they want to negotiate peace in this area and just let assad step down. do you think that's a good policy or plan for syria? >> congressman, i'm an intelligence officer in the white house can i policymaker and recognize the intelligence officer to regret policymakers

with the best intelligence possible to permit the possibility of u.s. national security interests and that's my intention going to be. i won't comment whether a career disagree. >> okay, let me ask you this. what is your opinion of assad stepping down in the fact that he's just going to step down? >> i think as director clapper mentioning his opening statement, there is pressure and plan on having. he's getting support from a number were about site entities and that pressure is going to continue. we have a policy position about it's time for assad to go. the bloodshed taking place continues at the implications for the region as a whole are profound and the sooner we can

bring some type of security to the country, i believe that's in our interest in the interest of the regional state and i'm concerned about the fracturing of the country allowing certain groups to gain strength because they have agendas inside of syria and potentially outside that are contrary to national security interests. >> i guess i'm asking the question wrong. lachance percentagewise do you think assad would step down? >> i think i've director clapper aside from his days are numbered. it's a question when that is going to be sufficient on hand at e3 is going to voluntarily step down or he will meet his fate as a result of the pressure applied inside the country. >> his own perspective is that he believes he's got the upper

hand in his winning any solace is that he was born in syria and is going to die there. he appears to be to the extent able the notes due in a psychological analysis, very committed to seeing this through and does not seem to be interested at this point and bleeding or voluntarily stepping down. >> thank you. also in syria, it seems like -- and i don't know. there's so many mentioning your testimony, so many different factions of the rebels over there. what do you think the chances are of the moderate rebels being able to protect any interest they would have in the new government if assad does believe wars throughout no over the

well-financed trade is [laughter] interests over there that does have a qaeda element. >> the al qaeda extension for an erratic is relatively small numbers compared to the total opposition. they have a presence in 13 of the 14 provinces. they organized in cells where they can to perform municipal services to include in some cases the imposition of sharia law. that said, there are increasing indications that the moderate islamists are getting wise to this and are not comfortable with it and there are

indications of divisiveness among the opposition groups. how that will play out, hard to say. that is something we are watching carefully. >> thank you. i yelled back, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome. congratulations, director brennan in your new post. one for director brennan and one for director clapper. i'd be interested in your thoughts and either dimension. what do we think the iranians are concluding from the fact that gadhafi had no nuclear weapons and is dead and buried, that north korea does, that kim jong il is young, reckless, inexperienced, but nonetheless in control of this country.

what you think the iranians are concluding from this and how do we make sure the iranians don't draw the wrong conclusion? is there anything we can do vis-à-vis north korea to make sure they don't draw the wrong conclusion? director clapper, you may have seen nouri al-maliki wrote an op-ed for among other things he said iraq oppose those any arms transfers to either side area. do you buy a? or do you believe the leaky and the active government is allowing slaves arms over iraqi territory to supply the assad machine? >> all-star. herein is a much different type of country than libya and north korea. that said, he ran like the rest of the community russia pinchas

espresso is going on inside the international community came together against the gadhafi government. also north korea says that the international community has done the sanctions and other pressure of the north korean government since it's not without responsibilities as as a sovereign state. iran has its own aspirations. it sees the the the the extension of the persian empire and is pursuing its programs, including nuclear friends and a matter inconsistent with obligations as well and therefore i think there has been an effort on the part of the international community and this government to let the iranian government knows there are certain things we will not count. although they are watching what happened in libya and what's going on in the korea companies a unique set of circumstances that apply that they understand full well the implications of continuing down the path right

now. >> your second question on the leaky "washington post." i did see it and i think if you'll bear with me, i'd rather answer that were wholesomely in a closed session. >> cert way. let me ask a different question, turning to pakistan, afghanistan what is the motivation of the haqqani network and how do you assess their trajectory? at a growing in power and influence? have a good weekend? what you think makes them fight? >> let me start unalaska others to join in. the haqqani network is probably the most violent group of the television. there is debate as to what extent they pay full allegiance or not to mullah omar.

generally they do. they are quite anti-western and have the reputation of the most violent kinds of attacks against isaf and particularly the united states. of late, they've lost a couple of their key leaders and so, that is they think restrained somewhat their historical aggressiveness. but their motivation 19 is uncompromised. >> as director clapper said, they have a long history of autonomy in the area that goes along the border between afghanistan and pakistan. they've adamantly opposed any foreign intervention in that region and also talking about government as those afghan government. in addition now because of the

isaf coalition troops, they are fighting a long with the taliban and in are among the most lethal and most alanna groups in the area there. one thing were lucky not acetal abandonments forward, the haqqani going to stay with them or some separationists are his political agenda. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. nuñez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i remain concerned about the trust from the about about ray. what is there? what has been done within a? where cinema or is being done with it? maybe some of this we can get into a closed session, but i like for you to give an assessment from your native that fall under you. how would you create the intelligence community's job with the stylus in terms of combing through them and doing it for a job if you could kind

of give a basic assessment grade of what's been done so far. >> at a at least a b+ or a. to start with, in the immediate aftermath of the raid, we established a seven night 20 for joint task force composed of nine components of the intelligence community to as soon as we see the media from the raid to triage it was clearly a community effort and to go through as quickly as we could to determine any immediate threat or threat plotting to the executive agent for the documents is the cia. they continue to look at the material as well as centcom organization and then commander,

general petraeus, which is now the director of intelligence day to operation going through a detailed database. of the documents and academic research and read out any further finding from these documents that might care on a drive. i recently met with along with the deputy of the mc tc national counterterrorism center with the combating terrorism center at the united states military academy at west point about what we could do to move ahead on declassifying these captured documents since there was a tranche of about 17 documents totaling 300 pages released immediately to this organization

i do think there is a good call, a good reason for us to declassify to the extent we can and we don't in any way justified current u.s. intelligence operations or sources are not that it should make this available more widely for academic research. >> a day to make myself available. that may answer some of my questions. if you could walk me through it, exactly what it is and what you guys have been doing. >> they were at least 400 intelligence reports issued in the initial aftermath, immediately after the raid. i don't know what the number is since then. >> i think you know what i'm getting at. there's been some rumors in the press is to reset the has used

document instead of connect the dots that al qaeda is continuing to flourish around the globe are the greater al qaeda network to disconnect the dots. i want to put that to bed because i have great confidence you in the agencies and it is our job is to present the oversight committee to make sure we put these rumors to rest in the public. >> i have heard that, but i certainly can arrange a briefing on how these documents have been damaged from the time they were acquired. >> i appreciate that. >> the director mentioned the effort by central command. one of the things i can assure everybody is the secondary exploitation, the second phase of what we are doing to take this exploited information is being shared around certainly

military channels for any lessons learned, anything you can take away from that. not only centra command, but africa command, european command and other military organizations around the world. i don't have the number of the top of my head, but i know there's been hundreds of additional report subsequently published that is allowed us to understand what we have been facing for some time. i would add as director brennan said, we are learning organization and we have so take the kind of information to learn and continue to adapt. >> mr. chairman, if i may, i'll submit a question for the record for anthrax and biological weapons or perhaps someone can get back to me on at a later date. i yield back. >> thank you.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. i also want to thank you, gentlemen for your service to a nation associate pairings here today at the hearing. you know, but this committee considered yesterday was a cyberof the been a really want to direct my first question to you regarding cyberattacks and whether you think what we could do to make sure those attacks are ordered. >> our world in the intelligence community is to provide intelligence across the board and i will save both the fbi and department of defense, specifically dod and for that matter, all of us have a rule to play in providing that information to policymakers,

operators, et cetera. i also completely agree in making the underlying tenanted really passed yesterday, which recognizes the importance of partnership between the government. we certainly collectively cannot do it all to me to need the help and assistance and cooperation of the civil sector. so i guess that knowledge say to this are your question. >> if each of you could talk a little bit about the greatest cyberthreats from your perspectives. is that foreign government? is a terrorist? as the criminals? where is the biggest threat? >> let me start and others can contribute. anytime you're assessing threat, there's two dimensions. one is that capability and the

other is in 10. interns that have the ability to wreak damage to the country, we are more concerned with the potential of the nationstate and we've called this out in the pub that before. russia and china are the most capable from a nationstate to at the capability to attack. this is separate from the espionage and as we all know has, quite voluminous way, particularly by the chinese. other threats from other countries who don't have that capability, but might have a more malevolent intent are also concerned to us, which we do watch. and then it tails off to hackers, criminals, organized

crime, which probably represent a lesser capability, but a more aggressive intent. bob, do you want to comment? >> picking up on where general clapper started, the greatest threat comes to nation states. i would have to rant it's in the public realm as well and we've seen expansion of the use of tools such as service attacks. but there's other tools that they've been developed as opposed to tying up data for delaying the trent mission of data, wipe out dated. >> you think the government is organized appropriately to address these threats? >> we are reaching a point, but we are to a certain extent in

the same situation we were in terms of vendors and name we have to work closely together to address that. and the fbi, dhs to name the principles, each have a role to play and in the past, when was the counterterrorism threat, the substantial partner had to be state or local law force that the morale of snipers or private sector and the necessity of assuring very swiftly became a nation exchanged between the private sector and each of our agents tease and vice versa i might add he is not one of the most difficult things is that it's so diverse. not just the different types of actors that nationstates to organized criminals and those growing up, the denial of service we've been facing with the websites of banks are

brought down. there is also much more concerning that as far as being able to get nonlawyer into systems for data deletion purposes. concerns about different types of fishing expeditions, laguna industrial control and am trying to bring down those systems, which could have critical impact on this country. in addition, we have the ip are threats going on a daily basis, identity theft. so many different things when he needs to be whole of government approach. >> who takes that responsibility on these attacks, i hear integrated response? >> it depends on what is the aspect of the lead. when you look at the cyberthreat, vulnerabilities and said the intelligence community

is doing what we can to get intelligent time it took provided to those agencies in the responsibility for addressing the vulnerabilities that exist in the networks out there and make sure we take the steps necessary. department of defense, all of us working together depending what aliment a nice i authorities in the government will allow us to engage with the private sector is what director clapper and director mueller emphasizing. >> my quick answer is nationstates for sure. you know, one of the other things and i think this legislation was pushed out yesterday is going to go a long way, but one of the things i'm very concerned about and one of the things we do support his acquisition programs within the defense department and the theft of our base is if it's something

that keeps me up at night, i want to ensure as we provide the best intelligence we can on the types of weapons systems that are defense department needs, we want to outmatch our threat, are at her series of matches we can and that is one of the areas i definitely remake of turnabout. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> ms. conaway. >> thank you for being here this morning. we hear publicly statement that al qaeda is on the run we broke their back or about to be defeated and yet we see affiliates can can you too appear to flourish. he got the issue yesterday with al qaeda and iraq dropping the poor secret they are affiliated with a q. i am enjambment across

that part of the world. can we in fact have a strategic seat on al qaeda and what would that look like if that were the case? >> thanks for the question. i would just say this is an ideology we face and i think we've been very clear about defining that ideology. i believe that this loosely affiliated organization, set a franchise, the way we describe in the past and as we look forward, we are facing now outside of the afghanistan pakistan theater of operations and other areas director clapper highlighted, we have to be concerned about the interdependence, the interconnectedness of these

affiliate or looser groups out there. we describe them as hq wannabes as an axiom oil and how they receive things like fun game or how they get involved or become interested in the trading activities we now are occurring in places across north africa horrendous to heal area of africa. we have to be concerned how these organizations to work together and how well-connected they are. we pay very close attention to that and i think that our insights today are far better than they were just a few years ago and her ability to have been in fact has been described. today is actually pretty good, but we need to stay on top of that, especially ensuring we truly understand this ideology we face.

>> general gave his points -- can you give your idea on the strength of area and would that be the predominate pesticide group quite >> i can go into detailed in the closed session on the numbers in relation to the rest of the opposition if that's what you mean. the numbers themselves are not in ticketed a very real influence. >> just one i would offer working very closely within the intelligence community and how we define to use a military term and how we define the order of battle. what's the organization, plural, the make of this variety of

coalition organizations? what do they look like in their composition, those things. ..

they have been responsive. the investigations are ongoing and are being pressed forward. so this is a law enforcement effort as opposed to efforts against al qaeda. so this is more law enforcement approach? >> i wouldn't say any approaches are law enforcement we're a component of it. but other agencies, who work together to make certain that the individuals-brought to justice. in each of these case we do not preclude any possible outcome. we happened to have the capables, whether it be forensics or putting together investigations, to be able to put the investigations together for whatever purpose they're used ultimately, whether it be prosecution or some other use. >> the department of defense is also tracking these -- the

suspects, the perpetrators, and we can go into -- in closed session more detail. >> that's a high-level assessment, acknowledgement to the american people, we have not lost sight of this issue. thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. thompson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for being here today. i'm sorry i was late. and i'm told you talked about the question i want to ask, or at least you haven't talked about it the way i'd like you to talk about it. that's north korea. can you give us some idea why there's so much disparity among those in the intelligence community as to what is going on over there and what sort of cape capabilities they have? you hear from one individual and it's a near crisis.

and the next individual will be uncertainty. is there any common thought on what is happening? >> well, i think there may be individuals out there that have their opinions, and it's a big organization, and a lot of people. i think institutionally, organizationally, there's pretty fair agreement. i also have to say that north korea is now, and always has been, one of the, if not the toughest intelligence targets. as john brennan pointed out earlier, of course, we don't have a big track record on the new leader. there's not much history there he didn't have the grooming period, which oy ran about two or three years, unlike his father, who had about ten or 15 years of grooming prior to his ascension to the senior

leadership rope. as far as what is happening, as we were discussing earlier, the main objective here for kim jong-un is to solidify his leadership and position, and a lot of what he is doing is both for domestic consumption as well as external consumption. i think even he realized the extremist condition that north korea is in with its economy, and in fact, we're seeing indications that some portions of the kpa, the korean people's army as it's called -- that's do every year -- are being taken to military duties in order to taken to their agricultural duties. they're harvest last year was 6% less than the previous year, and a lot of the donor aid will not

be forthcoming because of thing belligerent activities. but i think we have a reasonably good insight into what is going on. not to say it's perfect. we do not have good detail on the inner sanctum, and what is his objective, and i'm not sure he has one other than to improve his position. >> what capability do they have on attacking where americans live or work? >> well, they have obviously done three nuclear underground tests. they had displayed, although never tested, what they claim to be an intercontinental ballistic

missile. they displayed it in parades. deployed launchers, the vehicles, but not the missiles themselves. so, that's an area we watch very, very carefully, as to what their real capability is. and i think i'd like to stop there and we can go go into more detail in closed session. >> i'd like to do that. no further questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it is an honor to meet with the intelligence community all over the world and we thank them for their work. my questions are regarding iran and obtaining a nuclear weapon. i'd like to ask questions about that. before i do that i'd like to ask a question of director brennan. when the white house conducted their armed don't strikes in

north africa, particularly in eastern libya, prior to the attack on our mission in benghazi on 9/11 last year, third the statement department warn of the drone strikes before they were made? >> armed drone strikes in libya? i'm unknowing of such, and i would defer to the white house to address your question. >> were there any armed drone strikes in northern africa made by the white house? >> white house doesn't have a dren capability, responsibility, of what. >> did they have any directive toward having armed drone strikes in north africa? >> again, i don't know what it is that you're referring to but again, i defer to the white house on what happen at that tame. >> the ua vs flying over libya were military and were unarmed.

>> so were there any armed drone strikes made in north africa prior to 9/11? >> in libya? >> i'm asking in north director. i'm asking director brennan, any drone attacks by the night north africa prior to 9/11. >> we usually don't talk about specific actions. i don't know what you could be referencing. >> i'm wondering if the state department or the military was aware or the cia was aware, and if we aren't going to talk about that, we're not going to talk about that, but that's a question i'd like to know. going back to iran, what is our red line regarding regarding thn nuclear attempts program? i would ask director brennan, what is our red line. >> their trying to make sure the policymakers are informed about

the developments inside iran and their nuclear related pursuits. >> but regarding the nuclear weapon program and our intelligence capability, again, we have a wonderful intelligence community, but we weren't aware of the bombing in 1993 at the world trade center tower. we weren't aware before 9/11 occurred in 2001. we weren't aware of arab spring developments. and we weren't aware of the attack on the mission in again -- benghazi. how do we have confidence we will know that iran can develop a nuclear weapon. the president said last month it would take approximately a year for iran to develop a nuclear weapon. last week we know the current negotiations have gone without any breakthrough or any development, and so i'm very concerned about our intelligence

capability of knowing, with a high teague -- high degree of certainty, when iran has either made the decision to develop nuclear weapons or has obtained nuclear weapons. >> i think this is subject much better talked about in closed session. >> i would look forward to that and i appreciate that. could you comment on what is happening with -- we talk a lot about our uranium development, and what is the status of iran's heavy water reactor? >> again, this is a subject for closed session, i think. >> i look forward to that. i yield back, mr. chairman. >> thank you. very much.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being here this morning. you talked about circumstances. i read last week the last m-1 tank left europe in march. makes me feel like a dinosaur. there's no doubt the threat has academically change and i want to -- dramatically changed and i want to talk about the changes from a drawdown in afghanistan completed by next year. can any of you speak to the challenges that presents to intelligence collection as a result of our drawdown in afghanistan in 2014? >> well, as the other components of our presence there the military and the diplomatic and that in turn affects the footprint we'll have residual in afghanistan. and that has not been fully decided yesterday. some will depend on the details of the negotiations, the bsa negotiations going on between our government and the afghan

government. it's our intent, though, to maintain, sustain sufficient intelligence presence there so we can certainly monitor any terrorist activity that would potentially pose a threat to the homeland. >> i'm interested in how we're going to accomplish that with that much smaller footprint, how to make sure that can be achieved. >> we can talk about that in closed session in general, though, obviously, it's not going to be as robust as it is today simply because we won't have the presence in as many locales then. however, this comes out -- however it's negotiated, as we do now. >> i appreciate that. changing subjects. so we spent lot of time talking about cyber attacks and cyberthreats. can you speak to we now have

others engaged in those activities? have we seen diminish independent old-school, human espionage, trying to recruit folks to give our information to the bad guys? has that decrease as cyberespionage has increased? >> that's something if we could discuss in closed sense. i will make the point that obviously substantial incries in cyberespionage across the board, and that's been remarked upon and indicated in a number of ways. >> thank you. last question. we talk about north korea. can you give me the intelligence community's view of what's going on in the north korean population? what do we know how the people are reacting? we talked about the army and what it's doing. what intelligence do we have about the impact of american policy and food aid and what

might that creating pressure on the regime? >> well, the control that is exerted over over the north korean population is amazing, orwellian. so there's a lot of capacity, i think, to endure hardship in north korea. there is a hero cult approach in north korea, always has been, with kim jong-un, kim jong-il, and kim ongoing-sun before him. for me permanently, the state of conditions in north korea, a number of north koreans find a way to vote with their feet, who leave north korea. when i served there 20-plus years ago as the director of

intelligence for force korea for two years, and we might see one or two defectors a year. that was a big deal. now it is a pretty steady stream of defectors, and that in a regime that has tremendous control over its people's activities, movements. that is -- i think that's a tremendous indicateyear of the real state of affairs in north korea. >> thank you, director clapper. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> just have to follow up on the question. director, could you talk about the counterintelligence threat? our nation states conducting human intelligence operations targeted against u.s. businesses and the u.s. government here in the united states. >> absolutely. there's nary a week goes by we're not find something indication of espionage in one form or another from the

principal nation states well known to all and that's still a substantial problem, and we have substantial percentage of our national security resources allocated to counterintelligence, in specific, more personal counterintelligence not the cyber counterintelligence. >> there are as many spies in the united states targeting the united states, would in effect exceed the size of that footprint during the colored -- cold war. >> that particular analysis i have not seen. the other aspect i would add, though, is that the traditional presence is, while substantial, is far more effective because it can be combined with the cyberinitiatives as well, to maximize and leverage their

capabilities in ways it has not before. >> can you talk briefly -- the fbi has been very successful on economic espionage cases in the past. you have stopped some huge thefts, or at least interceding. can you give us a flavor of some of those cases? >> well, we had one out of hawai'i in which the successful prosecution of individuals stole substantial vehicle credits relating to development of our defense -- capabilities. sentenced to substantial number of years. a case recently in chicago, they get publicity, they get publicity incident by incident, and what we should do is doing a better job of giving the commitee a fuller picture of the activity we have had, particularly over the last two years. >> think it's important for the public to understand there is an

aggressive posture against human intelligence, economic espionage being conducted in the united states you. mentioned the case in chicago there was a case in indianapolis. a case in new jersey. it's fairly aggressive and robust, and the numbers have gone up and the number of catches, if you will. >> absolutely. and i tell you one other aspect that is not necessarily as a result of september 11th but the relationship between ours and others in the intelligence community has grown substantial. we work very closely with the agency and others, and so the threat, when it leaves our shores, is picked up byes no the community as opposed to just dropping off the radar screen. so we're far more effective than in the past, but that threat is out there and is substantial. >> great, thank you. dr. brennan, i think i was confused by your remarks. did you say that iran believes it's in a different police --

different place than north korea or others? i think i misno talking about the nuclear posture. >> i think clearly north korea has already tested nuclear devices, detonated them. iran is in pursuit of that nuclear weapons capability. so, they see themselves at a different point than the north koreans, but clearly they have amibitions in the middle east region that go back millenia and they're trying to build pop their past, so they're looking at what is going on in north korea putin. thes in a different place than the north koreans. >> what too you make of their putting in more sophisticated centrifuges in their public announcement? what are they trying to tell the international community when they do that? >> i think it just demonstrate they have not been dissuadessed from continuing on this path and

more sophisticated centrifuge capabilities they're applying to their nuclear program is an indication of their determination and also the seriousness of the situation. >> what would be your assessment of the dash? that time between weaponnization and being -- or dead nation and weaponnization of a nuclear twice? the president said a year. just curious if the intelligence community has a different assessment. we have heard several different assess amounts, from our allied partners and our open intel commence community. >> think the president's statements are clearly anchored in intelligence analysis provided to him. so those assessments we have made comport with the president's statements on that. >> the assessments we see doesn't necessarily comport with that. so maybe in a classified settling we can explore that. >> be happy to.

>> that would be good to clear that up. >> so you sense they haven't been dissuadessed. do you see any mistakes we made in a north korean march to detonation we could avoid in iran? there is something we can do capability-wise? >> mr. chairman, i would revert to my intelligence position, which is that i need to make sure the president and policymaker on this committee and others have the best intelligence possible about what the iranians are doing and that's where intelligence is to important to make sure the right decisionses are made so we don't get past a point we would like not to go. >> if you disagree with the assessment on capabilities availability and not used or used, and that dash time frame you would have no problem telling the white house the differences. would you not? >> absolutely not. and whether or not it's a dash to a weapon or a dash to

material sufficient for a device so maybe we can clear this up in closed session. >> i look forward to that. >> a u.s. army chaplain is credited with saving soldiers was awarded a posthumous medal of honor, and later, chuck hagel testifies about the budget proposal for the pentagon.

>> president obama posthumously awarded korean war army chaplain emil kapaun a medal of honor.

father kapaun was captured and died in a prison camp. some over his fellow p.o.w.s attend the ceremony. >> from whom we come to whom we belong. this day revives in us memories of the faithful servant and a loyal patriot with memories of blessing forever, and his ministry especially the complexity of frontline combat, chap lane emil kapaun served freedom's cause, giving up himself unselfishly for the welfare of those whom he called his boys. we are humble bed by the strength and honor of a chaplain who often appeared from nowhere in combat operations and remained only long enough to perform his duties before moving on, praying for souls as battles raged.

we bestow hour highest award on him. no one can drag us downward with unconquering harts which no tribulation can wear out to his upright heart. this we ask and pray in your holy name, amen. >> amen. >> good afternoon, everybody. please have a seat. on behalf of michelle and myself, welcome to the white house. thank you, chaplain. this year, we mark the 60th 60th anniversary of the end of the korean war. the time when thousands of our prisoners of war finally came home, after years of starvation and hardship and in some case torture. and among to the homecomings,

one stood out. a group of our p.o.w.s emerged carrying a large wooden crucifix, nearly four feet tall. they had spent months on it. secretly collecting firewood, carving it, the cross and the body. using radio wire for a crown of thornes. it was a tribute to their friend, their chaplain, they're fellow prisoner, who had touched their souls and saved their lives. father emil kapaun. this is an amazing story. father kapaun has been called a shepherd in combat boots. his fellow soldiers who felt his grace and his mercy, called him a saint. a blessing from god. today we bestow another title on him. recipient of our nation's

highest military declaration, the medal of honor. after more than six decades of working to make this medal a reality, i know one of father kapaun's comrades spoke for a lot of folks here when he said, it's about time. father, as they called him, was just 35 years old when he died in that hellish prison camp. his parents and his only sibling, his brother, are no longer with us. but we are extremely proud to welcome members of the kapaun family, his nephews, his niece, their children, two of whom currently serve in this country's national guard. and we're very proud of them. we're also joined by members of the kansas congressional delegation, leaders from across our armed forces and representatives from the catholic church, which

recognizes father kapaun as a servant of god and we are humbled to be joined by men who served alongside him. veterans and former p.o.w.s from the korean war. thank youment. [applause] [applause] >> now, obviously i never met father kapaun but i have a sense of the man he was, because in his story i see reflections of my own grandparent and their values, the people who helped to raise me. emil and my grandfather were both born in kansas, raised in small towns outside of wichita.

part of the greatest generation, surviving the depression, joining the army, serving in world war ii, and the embodied those heartland values of honesty, hard work, decency, and humility, quiet heroes determined to do their part. so father kapaun this meant becoming an army chaplain. serving god and country. after the communist invasion of south korea he was among the first american troops that hit the beaches and pushed their ware north through hard mountains and bitter cold. in his understated midwestern way he wrote home saying, this outdoor life is quite a thing. and i prefer to live in a house once in a while. but he had hope. saying, it looks like the war will end soon.

that's when chinese forces entered the war with massive surprise attack. perhaps 20,000 soldiers pouring down on a few thousand americans. in the chaos, dodging bullets and explosions, father cappan race between foxholes, past the front lines, and into no man's land, dragging the wounded to safe. when his commanders ordered an evacuation, he chose to stay, gathering the injured, tending to their wounds. when the enemy broke through and the combat was hand-to-hand, he carried off, comforting the injured and the dying, offering some measure of peace as they left this earth. when enemy forces bore down, it seemed like the end, that these wounded americans, more than a dozen of them, would be gunned done. but father kapaun spotted a wounded chinese officer.

he pleaded with this chinese officer, and convinced him to call out to his fellow chinese. the shooting stopped. and they negotiated a safe surrender, saving those american lives. then, as father kapaun was being led away, he saw another american, wounded, unable to walk, laying in a ditch, defenseless, and an enemy soldier was standing over him, rifle aimed at his head, ready to shoot. and father kapaun marched over and pushed the enemy soldier aside. and then, as the soldier watched, stunned, father kapaun carried that wounded american away. this is the valor we honor today. an american soldier who didn't fire a gun. but who wielded the mightiest weapon of all. the love for his brothers so pure he was willing to die so

that they might live. and yet the incredible story of father kapaun does not end there. he carried that injured american four miles. as the capper toes forced them on a death march. father kapaun got tired he helped the soldier jump on one. he when other soldiers wanted to quit, knowing that stragglers would be shot, he begged them to keep walking. in the camps that winter, deep in the valleys, men could freeze to death in their sleep. father kapaun offered them his own clothes. they starved on tiny remarkses of millet and corn and birth seed. he somehow snuck pass the guards forged in nearby fields and returned with rice and potatoes. in desperation, some men hoarded food. he convinced them to share.

their bodies were ravaged by dysentery. he ground metal into pots and build clean water. they lived in filth. he washed their clothes and cleansed their wounds. the guards ridiculed his devotion to his saviour and the almighty. they took his clothes and made him stand in the freezing cold for hours. yet he never lost his faith. if anything it only grew stronger. at night he slipped into huts to sleet prisoner -- to lead prisoners in prayer. saying the rosary, administering the sacraments, offering three simple words, god bless you. one of them later saved that with his very presence he could, just for a moment, turn a mud hut into a cathedral. that spring he went further. he held an easter service.

i just met with the kapaun family. they showed me something extraordinary. the actual stole, the purple vestment that father ca -- kapaun wore when he celebrated mass in the prison encampment. as the sun rows 'that easter sunday he put ton the purple stole and led prisoners to the ruins of an old church in the camp, and he read from a prayer missal they had kept hidden. he held up a small crucifix he made from stick is and as the guard watched, father kapaun and all those mention men of different faith, perhaps some men of no faith, sang the lord's prayer and america the beautiful. they sang so loud that other prisoners across the camp not only heard them, they joined in, too. filling that valley with strong and with prayer. that faith that they might be

delivered from evil, that they could make it home, was perhaps the greatest gift to those men. that even amidst such partship and despair there could be hope. amid their misery in the temple, they could see those truths that are eternal. but even in such hell there could be a touch of the divine. looking back one of them said that, that is what kept a lot of us alive. yesterday for father kapaun the horrific conditions took their toll. thin, frail, he began to limp. the blood clot in his leg. then came dysentery, then pneumonia. that's when the guard, to finally rid. the of the priest and the hope he inspired, they came for him, and over the protests and tears of the men who loved them, the guard sent him to a death house.

a hell hole with no food or water to be left to die. and yet even then his faith held firm. i'm going to where i've always wanted to go, he told his brothers, and when i get up there i'll say a prayer for all of you. and then as he was taken away, he did something remarkable. he blessed the guards. forgive them, he said, for they no not what they do. two days later in that house of death, father kapaun breath his last breath. his body was taken away. his grave unmarked, his remains unrecovered to this day. the war and the awful captivity would drag on for another two years. but these men held on. steeled by the memory and moral example of the man they called

father, and on their first day of freedom, in his honor, they carried that beautiful wooden crucifix with them. some of these men are here today. including herb miller, a soldier that father kapaun saved in the ditch and then carried. many are now in their 80s but make no mistake, they're among the strongest men that america has ever produced, and i would ask all of our korean p.o.w.s to stand if they're able and accept the gratitude of a grateful nation. [applause] [applause]

[applause] i'm told that in their darkest hours in the camp, in that valley, these men turned to psalm. as we prepare for the presentation of the medal of honor, to father kapaun's nephew, i want to leave you with the words of the psalm which sustained these men all those years ago. even though i walk in the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil, for you are with me. your rod and your staff, they comfort me. you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

you anoint my head with oil. my cup overflows. surely, your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever. ray, would you please join me on stage for the reading of the citation. >> the president of the united states of america hard by act of congress march 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of congress the medal of honor to chap lane emil j. kapaun, united states army, for the conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of dutiy. chaplain emil distinguished himself by act office gallantry above and beyond the call of

duty while serving with the third battalion, eighth cavalry ridge gent, first cavalry division, during combat operations against an armed emin the from november 1 to 2nd, 1950. on november 1 in as chinese communist forces viciously attacked friendly element, chaplain kapaun calmly walked throw withering enemy fire in order to provide comfort medical aid to his comrades and rescue friendly wounded from no man's land. though the americans successfully reed the assault they found themselves surrounded by the enemy. facing anile his, the men were ordered to evacuate. however, chaplain kapaun, fully aworry of his certain cap tire, elected to stay behind with the wounded. after the enemy succeeded in breaking through the defense in the early morning hours of november 2nd, chaplain kapaun continually made rounds as hand to hand combat ensued. as chinese commune forces approached the american position, chaplain kapaun noticed an injured chinese

officer amongst the wounded and convinced him to negotiate the safe surrender of the american forces. shortly after his capture, chaplain kapaun, with complete disregard for his personal safety and unwaiverrerring resolve, bravely pushed aside an enemy soldier preeing to execute sergeant first class her rather miller. not only did chaplain kapauns gallantry save the life of sergeant miller but also his unparalleled courage and leadership inspired all those present, including those who might have otherwise fled in panic to remain and fight the enemy until captured. chaplain kapaun's extraordinary heroism and selflessness are in keeping with the highest tradition office military service and reflect great credit upon hitches, the third battalion, eighth cavalry regiment, he thirst calfly division, and the united states army.

[applause] >> and let us pray together. lord, god, let us go forthinto the world in peace and dedication to your service. let us follow chaplain kapaun's example and hold fast to that which is good, render to no person evil for evil, strengthen

the faint-hearted. may we support the weary encourage the tired and honor all peoples. let us love and serve, and may god's blessing be upon us, pray with us today and always, as we ask and pray in you're holy name, amen. >> amen. >> well, i can't imagine a better example for all of us, whether in uniform or not in uniform, a better example to follow. father kapaun's life, i think, is a testimony to the human spirit, the power of faith, and reminds us of the good that we can do each and every day regardless of the most difficult of circumstances. we can always be an instrument of his will. so i hope all of you have enjoyed this ceremony. i certainly have been extremely touched by it. to the kapaun family, god bless you to all off veterans, we're so-so proud of you.

and my understanding is that the white house has pretty decent food, so i hope all of you enjoy the reception. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] s [inaudible conversations] >> a couple of live events tomorrow

in a few moments we'll hear from defense secretary chuck hagel talking about the white house's budget request for the pentagon, and jack liu was also on capitol hill. secretary lew was asked about the rate of increase in the associate security program in the president's plan. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary. mr. secretary, you said something in your opening statement that i -- that jared me, and then i went and wanted to confirm that you actually used this language, because it seemed internally inconsistent with some of the other themes. so, during the opening statement you generally laid out a theme of, look, i'm jack lew, i have this experience and this background, on a bipartisan basis, and i've been successful

in other tasks in the past. in bringing groups together. and that's a good attribute and an attribute we all admire and aspire to. now -- >> thank you. >> -- bipartisan language is in contrast with this statement. you said, it is important to note that this framework, the house -- the white house framework, does not represent the starting point for negotiations. so, here's the challenge. it's very declarative. it sounds as if theirs been some revelation you had that we haven't participated in, and you're making a declarative statement, this is a preconditioned for negotiations? >> that's not what i said. >> well you did said -- >> i said it's not a starting point, novelty precondition. >> what too you mean by -- >> sir, i'm happy to -- >> it is important to note this framework does not a represent the starting point for negotiations. >> i think the last two and a half years have represented a lot of movement from the starting point.

i certainly have the wear and tear to show for and it i think others do as well. we're not at the beginning of the process. this budget reflects where the president was after two years of negotiations and in december we were perhaps one or two turns of the wheel away from an agreement. it didn't come together. but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying. what i was saying, and what i believe very strong lyric it would be counterproductive to treat this as the beginning of the conversation as if the last two and a half years had not happened and to separate the parts would be uncounsel strucktive. we're doing a hard thing. >> at the end of the year the president was making the argument around consensus and protecting middle class taxpayers from tax hikes and he said since we both agree on that, let's take them off the table and -- you remember that argue; very compelling argument, very successful argument.

what is different about argument with the notion of that if there is consensus on proposed changes of associate security, why not move forward on there in the same spirit, with the same approach and the same goal? >> i think they're very different policies. >> whoa? >> there was a broad bipartisan agreement that middle class taxpayers should not pay higher taxes. we're not saying we want to raise this issue. we're saying we're prepared to do something very hard and in a package with additional revenues to solve our deficit problem, we would do it. at it very different. we all wanted to prevent taxes from going up on middle class workers. i'm not going to sit here and say i want to do the changed cp and i i don't think the members of this committee would. we may feel we need to as part of to the balanced plan but i sat through two years of meet little where i heard one after another lead are on your say saying it has to be part of the

budget agreement. the president kept it in because he would like to reach a bipartisan agreement but it has to be connect teed solving the problem, including more revenue. >> now, defense secretary chuck hagel and joint chiefs of staff chairman general martin dempsey testify about president obama's 2014 budget request, that

includes $527 billion in discretionary building which is a 1% increase from 2013. congressman buck mckeon from california chairs the committee hearing. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> meeting come to order. good morning, ladies and gentlemen. the house armed services committee meets to receive testimony on the fiscal year 2014 budget requests for the department of defense. i want to welcome secretary haig toll his first appearance with us. we're happy to have you here, mr. secretary. general demps dempsey, thank you for both here, and secretary hale, we appreciate all you and the great work you do for our nation. our job is to weigh inputs from senior military leaders so we may fulfill our constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense two months ago general dempsey told the committee the military could not absorb any further cuts without jeopardizing the mission we ask

of them. today i hope to hear how the president's budget, which asks for another $120 billion out of defense, will impact our military posture and readiness. specifically i'd like to hear which missions we must now abandon, reduce, or cancel to comply with the president's budget because i don't see the world getting safe if. in fact, as recent eventness north korea, iran, syria, africa, attest, in fact even as our forces draw down in afghanistan we're negotiating an agreement to main an enduring presence in that nation, which i strongly support. i'm also curious why, after three rounds of cuts to our armedded forces in as many years our troops are again being asked to pay the bill for out of control spending in washington. carl vinson, says the country does not need a navy of one strength when she is prosperous and the navy of another size when there's an economic

depression itch believe that sentiment applies to all of our armedded forces. it was truth during the great depression and is true today during the great recession. with that in mind the budget we received asks us to take another $120 billion from the military and offers no solutions to repair the damage being done by sequestration this year. this is not simply a 2017 problem. i hope to hear how we can resolve the stark differences between the president's budget request and the president's national security strategy. margaret thatcher, who we lost this week, said during her time as prime minister, the defense budget is one of the very few elements of public expenditure that can truly be described as essential. our charge is to provide that essential security to the american people, and by doing so, assure our allies.

i look forward to our witnesses' insights as we move forward through this hearing. mr. smith. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for this hearing and thank you for your great leadership on the question of our budget and national security. it's a challenging time and think you have done an excellent job of bricking attention to those challenges challenges ands doing to our defense budget and our ability to provide national security. i appreciate the hearings and your leadership, and certainly thank our witnesses today. secretary hagel, william to your first hearing. we appreciate you taking the job. not an easy time to do it. general dempsey has been here many times before. undersecretary hale has to figure out the money. you have a fascinating job the last couple of years. because also is obvious we have many national security challenges. certainly we have been out of iraq for a couple of years now. we're drawing down in afghanistan. but afghanistan remains the challenges of the afghanistan

afghanistan/area remain. al qaeda is still out there, and yemen and sew mallarch growing in mali. it's not like we have reached the point where you can think about anything approaching a peace dividend where our national security challenges are lessened in the last couple of years. they have changed in some weighed but are still great and still require a very thoughtful and comprehensive response to protect the national security interests of this country. at the same time, our budget is a mess. you have to meet all of what i just described without even knowing within tens of wind, if not hundreds of billions of dollars, how much money you're going to have from year to year. will disagree slightly with the chairman on the fact that somehow the president's budget is what is reflective of that challenge. it's really all of us. it's congress. congress passed sequestration. allowed it to happen. the president, yes, signed it. all three, house, senate,

president, have got to come together to address our long-term budget challenges so that at a minimum we can give, not just the department of defense but our entire government, some stability so they have some idea from month to month how many money they're going to have. the ability to plan is destroyed when in jap we -- january we say we're delaying sequestration or two two months in march it hits and now be sit here in april trying to absorb it and wonder if it's going to continue into 2014. so i don't think it's one party's fault, president, house, senate, but all three pieces of the puzzle have got to come together and recognize that absent a clear, long-term decision, we're having a devastating impact on many aspects of the government, but sirly on -- certainly on our national security, which is supposed to be paramount. we cannot plan any strategy when we do not know how much money

we'll have from month to month. i applaud the chairman for urge that same reconciliation to come together, and today, i look forward to hearing from our witnesses how they're going to deal with the challenges. make no mistake, as challenges as that is, we will deal with it and make the decisions and protect this country. we have certainly faced tougher times in the past and came through it. at it challenge put we'll meet it and i look forward to hearing from our witnessed today about their plans to too just that. thank you, mr. chairman. >> mr. secretary. >> general mckeon, ranking member smith, members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss the president's fiscal year 2014 budget requests for the department of defense. allow me to express my appreciation also to the committee for its continued support of our men and women in uniform and our entire civilian

work force. these people are doing tremendous work. and they're making great sacrifices along with their families, as they have for more than 11 years. 11 years our nation has been at war. whether fighting in afghanistan, patrolling the world's sea lanes, standing vigilant on the korean peninsula, supplying troops or supporting civil thats when narl disaster strikes, they're advancing america0s interests at home and eye broad. their dedication and professionalism are the foundation of our military strength. as we discuss numbers, budgets, and strategic priorities. we'll not lose sight of these men and women serving across the globe. ...

the risk of regional conflicts, which could draw in the united states. faceless, nameless, silent cyberattacks. the debilitating and dangerous curse of human despair and poverty as a dancer implications of environmental