>> were subsequent terminated within 24 hours. if you consider how many employees nationwide we are exposed to throughout the screening process, many employees had the opportunity to do the wrong thing but only three did. tsa's workforce of the fundamental role in providing security for the traveling public. the public has every right to expect the workforce to adhere to the highest professional standards. on a personal note let me be clear that administer pistol and i have a zero paul thornton misconduct. we appreciate that putting to work with each of you. thank you and look forward to answering your questions. >> thank you. the chair when i recognize mr. lord for an opening statement. spin chairman duncan and hudson, ranking member thompson, thanks for inviting her today to discuss results of our tsa misconduct report released yesterday but i think this is a timely hearing, given recent press accounts about these types of incidents. and also tsa's recent efforts to address them but i think it is important to note in context tsa

manages transportations pre-security officers or workplace, 56,000 spread across 450 airports. some ways it's a difficult workforce to address. and it's also underscore the need to of clearly defined inconsistently applied procedures to know investigate but adjudicate instances of misconduct. today, i'd like to discuss two issues highlighted in our recent report. the first is the magnitude of the problem and secondly, it's a little insight on how tsa investigates and adjudicates these allegations. regarding the numbers, tsa investigated, adjudicated 96 or cases over the last three years, an average of about 3200 per year. as mr. halinski noted, about half of these cases focused on two areas, attendance and as

well as screening. it's interesting when you look at how tsa responded to these cases, the 9600 cases, about half resulted in letters of reprimand. 31% resulted in suspensions, and 17% resulted in the employer's removal from tsa. it's important to note that tsa has taken some positive steps to address these issues. recently, for example, they establish the office of professional responsibility and also rolled out a new training program for airport staff. however, as we hide letter and report issued yesterday, they still need to enhance the current process by taking action. first they need to verify that airport staff comply with the procedures for adjudicating these cases. why is that the case? without a tsa review board, once they reviewed some of these

misconduct cases, they either overturned or rolled back the penalty in 15% of the cases. we look at over 800 of these cases. business suggests the need for more consistency in the process. a second key point is tsa needs to do a better job of recording the results of its adjudication and its so-called integrated database. we found, only visited seven airports. five we interview the staff. they weren't using the so-called integrated database to record all the incidents. recording the outcome of these cases is important, especially when tsa employees move across airports. you really need to know what their track record is if you're going to have any disciplinary issues with them. thirdly, tsa needs to do a better job of tracking the time taken to not only investigate the cases, but adjudicate them. i call that the start to finish guide. we really need a little more awareness how long it's taken to

close these cases it and it's interesting to note while tsa has standards, and expects its debt to comply with them it really doesn't track performanperforman ce against these standards in terms of timeliness. we think of tracking the cycle time's will really give good management some good insight on what airports, if there's any special issues or what types of cases are problematic. and, finally, we recommended that tsa establish so-called reconciliation procedures. that means once you complete an investigation need to adjudicated. that is, apply the appropriate penalty. we noticed they didn't close the loop on a few cases. we look at 50. we found two that had not been fully adjudicated. that's a small number but given the numbers involved we thought that could be symptomatic of a large problem but in closing, as a highlight in a report released yesterday, tsa still needs to

take some key actions to enhance the current process. this will help instill greater public confidence in the tsa staff, interacting with the public at over 450 airports. and as mr. halinski and some members already noted, you do not want the misdeeds of a few bad apples to sully the reputation of a lot of hard-working, dedicated employees. the good news, mr. halinski said, tsa has endorsed our recommendation. however, we will work with them close over the next few months to see how they implement them in practice. chairman duncan, this concludes my prepared statement. i look forward to respond to any questions. >> and the chair when i recognize ms. outten-mills for five minutes. am i pronouncing that correctly? >> out and. >> i apologize. ms. outten-mills is recognized. >> thank you. good morning. thank you for the opportunity to

testify and integrity and misconduct challenges in tsa. to protect the american people in their homeland, it's paramount to maintain employee integrity and accountability. within dhs, oig maintains primary law enforcement authority to investigate allegations of employee misconduct and fraud involving dhs programs, operations, and activities. other departmental internal affairs units investigate allegations of employee misconduct that oig either refers back to them, or that does not require referrals to oig. these allegations generally relate to administrative or non-criminal matters. for fiscal years 2004-2012, dhs received approximately 130,000 allegations through the oig hotline, and from varies internal affairs offices within the department, and we initiated investigations on about 10,000 allegations. oig investigations hotline staff

processes all complaints that come to the oig. went oig declines a case, it is referred back to the applicable component agency for further inquiry or investigation. unless specifically requested, oig does not track what happens to the complaint after it is referred to the component. within tsa, the office of inspection is responsible for conducting internal investigations of employee misconduct at this office operates under a blanket waiver that weighs referrals to oig or certain alleged offenses. the waiver was based on our authorization we've accepted for investigation about 3% of these types of referred allegations, and request reports of results for only 10% of the cases referred back to tsa for investigation. in this clear 2012, oig received approximately 16,400 complaints of misconduct. of these cases, 1358 were related to tsa.

oig initiated investigations for approximately 90 cases, and referred about 1268 complaints to tsa's office of inspections. while none of our work focus primarily on tsa's challenges in dealing with misconduct issues, we identified reports that may provide some insight into tsa's efforts to address allegations of employee misconduct, and strengthen their ability to monitor employee misconduct. and october 2012 from week issued a report, personnel security and internal control at tsa's legacy transportation threat assessment and credentialing office, to determine whether personal was critical roles and transportation should have sufficient oversight. it was established as the lead for conducting security threat assessments and credentialing initiatives for domestic passengers, transportation industry workers, and individuals seeking access to critical infrastructure.

we determined that within legacy ttac office there has been a pattern of poor management practices and inappropriate use of informal administrative processes to assess and address misconduct. senior legacy ttac leaders sought to address allegations of misconduct through training and inform internal administrative processes, but efforts were not successful. employee complaints channeled through tsa's formal grievance processes are managed and documented appropriately but not all employees have sufficient information to access former redress options. we recommended that tsa for a minimum of two years, that legacy ttac officer for all personal related complaints, grievances, disciplinary actions, investigations and inspections to appropriate tsa or dhs offices with primary oversight responsibility. we also recommend that they provide employees with a know your rights responsible the

website at the to establish an independent review panel through which legacy ttac imposed a request a review or desk audit. we also conducted a review of allegations of misconduct and illegal this commission retaliation and federal air marshal service. in 2010, seen in report allegations of misconduct and illegal discrimination retaliation in the orlando field office. while our review did not find widespread this commission and retaliation within then, we i can find inconsistencies and have field offices handle and report misconduct incidents to headquarters, the severity of this when decisions employee misconduct and timeliness issues are exiting various portions of the discipline process. we recommended that tsa provide guidance regarding the types of incidents that should be reported to the office of officf inspection, the to provide authentication about discipline

actions and develop a comprehensive tracking system. this concludes my prepared remarks and i welcome any questions that you or the members have to. >> thank you, treadwell. we will begin the questioning portion members are reminded we will adhere to the five men to grow. i would recommend this over five is a question. first off let me just say that i understand the tremendous challenge that tsa has a keeping american safe as they travel the nation's airports. but they also, americans expect that the tsa will practice best management practices and that their officers will experience some sort of consistency and discipline action. i think that's what we owe to the employees of tsa. mr. halinski, lest you get a word that tsa would take appropriate action to deal with misconduct. over the past two years, about half the misconduct cases have been closed by issuing reprimand letters. do you feel that that is an appropriate action?

>> sir, what i talked about last year was if we can prove an individual is stealing, if we can prove that an insurgent is taking drugs, if we can prove that an individual is intentionally subjugating the security system, and we can prove it, immediately, they are out the door. what happens if we can't be if we can't be neatly prove it is we give them the due diligence any american is able to get through a process, and that is, we run an investigation. we look at the circumstances. and recommendation is made for punishment. if it's appropriate. and then that individual has an appeal process. that's taken into account. so if the individual is given a letter of reprimand, then it meant that he is innocent until proven guilty and we couldn't prove that he did that. that's the very's degrees we have and i think it's important to note, if there is x number's allegations of theft, if i can prove that they are stealing,

we're going to walk them out the door. if i can't convince will run an investigation. and i had to give that person the fact that they're innocent until proven guilty. went to lead an investigation run its course. i think that's where we do business in this country. and if there's a letter of recommendation or suspension come it means that we couldn't unequivocally prove that he had done that. or he may have done and there were some mitigating circumstances. that means that he was a stupid i'm using the case dealing right now but in all these cases of misconduct we're talking about, we label this misconduct. over one-third of these cases time and attendance can people showed up early to work we are classifying it as misconduct. we have a very good workforce. we look at the process. we investigate it if we can't prove but i've given you my work and if you're stealing, doing drugs or breaching the security system intentionally and i can prove it, they are out. we have taken those actions. the rest of the time i think

it's what we have to do as americans and give them the due process and let's go to the investigation process. we have shortened that, let her go through an appeal process and give them the rights they deserve. >> i appreciate everything you said. just understand that i think your workers want to see a set of guidelines follow. they want to see some consistency and discipline action. when you come up with a set of guidelines that this is the discipline action that's going to happen for x, y and z, and fraction, then has to be some sort of consistency with the. i think that's important to i think americans see a slap on the wrist for some of those infractions as not enough disciplinary action team taken. and so, i would just say that going forward, implementing a lot of things gao has recommend is the right thing and appreciate your comments that you're all working on the. i look for doing back from you in the future about how that's working out.

according to gao, 4% of the screen as if he misconduct cases involve sleeping on duty. i understand some of the maven in the break room while they were on break. i get some of that, but officers who are sleeping on duty and as you mentioned those that just goes to show up to work on time, that frustrates americans because the way i understand it the officer goes to show or fails to call the supervisor and since i'm taking a lead they or a family getting, it takes x number of persons to open up a checkpoint. any delay of some and not showing up on time or not showing up at all, cause a delay for the american travelers by that checkpoint not being open on time and properly screening an expedited manner. how do you go forward with that sort of idea? that we've got to employees show up on time, we've got to the mauchly show up. and if they dorvisor no,

that's important to america's safety and security so what is that this one action you take at that point? >> first i would like to see a source with training and education. we have put together office of training and workforce engagement a very robust, ethics and integrity training program. and also a training program for entire workforce. because that's a we get to an efficient workforce in future, high-performance workforce. we have put together a very substantial required training that all tsos have to go through. >> how do you train -- i'm baffled. how to train one to know to call their supervisor and tell him i'm not going to be a work or i may be late? >> it is commonsense. and i would tell you that we have ethics training. we have integrity training. we have situational training on videos for our people. we're trying to train a workforce of about 47,000 screeners, and they have to do

the job and have to be trained. they get in on an annual basis. we distrusted it would but messages. i want to you on the issue of tardiness, you're right. i'm not going to disagree with you. everyone should be on time when they come to work. if they are not, they can be disciplined in the case of tsa. i do think it's an offense they need to be fired unless it's a third, fourth, or fifth time and it's a consistent pattern. hopefully the first time gets the work or a letter of reprimand, it's not something to take why the. it means you will not get a bonus that year, possibly. you're not going to get promoted or it's going to stay in your jacket. it's a serious thing, sir, and it escalates from there. a suspension. this is a thing and we take this serious. i mean, we do. when you look at the numbers and percentages, i do have a large workforce and i can't control the behavior of everybody. we can train them, we can hold him accountable and that's what i believe we're doing. we have a good workforce, sir. our people take an oath when

they come into service. same oath that you take as a congressman. we raise our right hands and we commit to the. the one thing i find very good about our workforce is year in and year out there's a federal employee survey that they have. tsa morale wise can people say you are in the low percentages but, you know, what we are every year? 80% above belief in our mission. that mission is to protect the traveling public, and will let people that will do stupid things, guarantee. i was a marine for 25 years. we had knuckleheads that did stupid things on the weekends or other times. that's going to happen. we will hold them accountable, sir. i've told you that in a committed to it, so is mr. pistole. >> i look for to about how they're held accountable going for basins in the things we're going. i'm out of time so i will yield now to come simply don't have the ranking member of the subcommittee, mr. thompson, ranking member of the full committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ms. outten-mills -- hope i pronounced it -- okay. last fall the i report on the

mr. salmond of equal employment opportunity commission complaints within tsa's legacy transportation threat assessment and credentialing office. now, in response to the allegations of favoritism and eeoc by, violations can inspector general recommend tsa establish an independent review panel through which legacy ttac employees could request a review of desk audit and reassignments. why did inspector general believe this recommendation was important? >> server, is that for me or -- >> vig. >> during our review of ttac, we found there was favoritism being shown for various effort

employees. we found that ttac had, there's a formal tsa process in place for handling allegations and complaints, but within ttac they had developed a system that circumvented the formal process where employees, many of the employees were not even aware of what the tsa's formal process in the -- process until. as part of what we found was happening in ttac, employees were being removed from their position into other positions that had no responsibilities. now, tsa started in 2010 our restructuring and realignment which included like is the ttac employees. so for those employees in past years had been downgraded, when their position descriptions and

their current roles are reviewed, it might result in downgrades. so our recommendation what, what we wanted to address was the fact that there could be seen as no favoritism, that there could be an equal playing field in reviewing the ttac's current positions and the roles, and that they would be some fairness in the system. >> now, can you tell me whether or not since that recommendation was put out, have you worked with tsa, and have some of your concerns been satisfied and? >> we have worked with tsa, and the formal written response that tsa provided is responsive to our recommendations to great this independent review panel over the desk reviews. what we are waiting for right

now, we are monitoring what tsa is doing, but the response that they provided to us did address our concerns, if they put that in place. >> okay. mr. halinski, you can take that. are you, what you just heard, is that basically where you are? >> yes, sir. in fact owned like is the also the ttac does not exist any longer. that or position was integrate into our office of intelligence. that the individuals at the senior level no longer work for our agency. we took those recommendations on board. we believe we've worked with the ig on this and will continue to work with it. a piece on the desk audit, we did go through a restructuring transformation within our headquarters over the last to your process where we have done desk audits of individual positions. we think that's in line with government policy. and we believe that that also met those requirements from that

particular case. >> thank you. and i want to talk a little bit about the mishandling of sensitive security information. in july of 2010, a new hire training manual containing sensitive security information about screening practices was stolen after private security company employee removed it from san francisco international airport without authorization. mr. halinski, what is the recommended penalty for tso been mishandled sensitive security information? >> for a tso that mishandles ssi information, they can range from a letter of reprimand to a 14 day suspension, sir. >> letter of -- >> there is a range in between from 14 day suspension to a letter of reprimand. >> what is a recommended penalty

for a contract to screen the mishandles sensitive security information? >> for a contract screener, we do not deal directly with the contract to screen. we deal with the company under contract shall or seizures. the contracting company could be fined for the particular type of incident. >> so you find the company, but you don't deal with the employer and? >> no, sir. >> i yield back. >> i thank the ranking member, and chair when i recognized the chairman of the transportation security subcommittee, mr. hudson, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. halinski, one of the things in the gao report that concerned us was the idea of staff not comply with policies and procedures for adjudicating misconduct. some the cases have been overturned because staff at our ports did not document sufficient evidence or property

of what penalty factors. to his responsibility is it for to review misconduct cases at airports? >> yes, sir. let me give you a two prong and on the. it depends on the severity of the case, sir, but we come i also want to say that the transportation security officers if they're found guilty of anything have the right to appeal under our of hello board. so if there is an incident and its, let's say, tardiness for work, the process is handled at the airport of the local level. if it's a more severe case it will be handled with our office of investigation. it will be looked at through our office of professional responsibility. it is a suitcase and a recommendation will be made, then the individual has a right to appeal that. there is one difference as was mentioned earlier. our tsos do not have the right for nspd appeal. but what we have greater to ensure that there's equity in the process is we have given them the ability and we've had

-- it was mentioned by mr. lord that about 50%, it was a turnover of those appeals. that's about the same amount roughly the same percentage that mspb has a we believe we're in line with a. we have to give our people and appeals process so we put that in place. there is a process. we recognize what gao said and what putting into place, biological most of the recommendations they had me. we put in place we feel that they will be complete comments sometime by the end of september, beginning october. we welcome gao to come back to say we've done. i think there's much more oversight at this point. >> the federal security director's role then would be to sort of determine as this violation importing of to take it upstairs or do i do with the dear? >> yes, sir. spin is that sort of the role? >> yes, sir. speak what steps were taken to remedy this problem in particular of failure to

document correctly these incidents? >> i think one of things we did do was we had to clean up the database. and went to make it a much more efficient database, and it's one of those things that sometimes run into government would have multiple databases. so we combined -- we combined into one which we call her integrated database. we made a much stronger process. we have professionals who are trained h.r. people are trying to input it in and then there's oversight to make sure that it is being inputted in currently. we're responsible for auditing all inputs but also have our legal field council there to help with including those offenses into the system and then our office of investigation and office of human capital are responsible for doing spot audits. we as they put out a rigorous schedule on that and increased that so, therefore, levels of oversight now. we think that will fix the problem that was identified by the gao. >> great. pivoting a little bit, how does

the tsa recruit airport personnel and what are some of the key qualifications of tsa looks for? as this evolves over time? has this changed? >> i would tell you we use a variety of methods to recruit personnel. we use the normal u.s.a. jobs, we use of social media to recruit our personnel. but let me toggle bit because i think in the context of this hearing, what's important is how we hire our personnel. first off, they are fingerprinted. there is an ncic check of federal criminal record check that is done. there's a credit check done of our personal before the coming. then there's an interview with a manager for suitability. then at a certain point there will also be an interview by our personal -- personal security people because we were all of our people to have the potential to hold a security clearance. that being said, as you've seen and as evidenced by the gao we let people sometimes do stupid

things. i think that's endemic with the entire system when jessica eclipses or anything else. we believe that we do the due diligence through two different types of interviews, finger printed, credit checks to bring people on board to work stsos. >> i think you for the answers as my time is when done i will go ahead and give back and hopefully will have a second round. thank you. >> the chair will recognize the gentlelady from indiana, ms. brooks for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. this question is to you, mr. halinski. i understand that the table, there's a table of offenses that is provided to all of the airports and supervisors that sets out kind of appropriate suggested discipline for offenses and penalties form this kind of cases. how over the gao report indicates it has not been, it's been fairly inconsistent in the manner in which it issue is useg

the airports when issuing a penalty. can you talk about that lack of consistency and to use of this table of offenses and the recommended penalties? >> yes, ma'am. i think was important when mr. pistole came into me created the office of professional responsibility modeled on the office is in the fbi. quite frankly build a table of offenses and penalties based on many systems that in the government and other agencies, not just within dhs but other outside departments. it goes once again back to the surface of the offense. what you have is a range of options. what is the offense. imago from this level to the most extreme level. if it is a series of fans, it's taken out of the hands of the local airport, and it's given to our office of investigation which is been adjudicated by our office of professional responsibility at if it is an offense such as you out of

uniform when to work, you are late for work, you may have mouthed off to a supervisor, then it's held at the fsb level. now, i think what's important to remember is before we had this table, before red obr, the tso had no appeal rights in any case that was out there. not have the right to appeal. they can go to that obr appeals board and say i believe based on my time in service by my clean record, by the evidence i provided you, that i shouldn't be held accountable for this. so there's an appeal process which is based on opr, based on the table that was built but it's been a very helpful tool force. >> i think my concern might be, and i've also been federal government, i was a u.s. attorney and often working with the usaf arranges the nation's with respect to my employees at the time, they often wanted to compare what our discipline --

and that's very important when you have large agencies like a tsa. and so i guess the concern is how often are airports issuing penalties that are varying on those tables, how are you keeping track of that? because i think that opens the agency up for a lot more problems beyond the appeals process. the inconsistency of the penalties. and so to your knowledge, how often are the airports, you know, wavering from the table? >> what we're trying to do through the process that was recommended by the gao is we've made a much stronger integrated database so that we can track that information now. the one piece that i think is in important is the ability to do trend analysis. basically which are talking about, is one of for not doing things similar to another airport. we believe sometime in the fall i think, end of september, early october we will have the capability to do trend analysis. they ke key is oversight but its

oversight by the headquarters. we have our office of investigation and office of human capital that is dedicated to that type of analysis and those spot audits. which i think are very important. >> is that how you determine if people though are not using the integrated database that you're referring to that i heard that some condos also part of the gao report, is that some airports are not using it? >> yes, ma'am. what we found was and i think when you go in, and mr. lord can correct me on this, but when you went in it wasn't that they were not using the system for serious offenses. what we found when we went back in is the lower the offense or if it wasn't, we need to have that information. so if someone moves across airports as was mentioned earlier we can keep track of that. at some airports it wasn't being done. it's been kind and a management directive that's gone out and it's inspected when inspector airports. i might also add one other thing which i think is very important our office of professional

responsibly now puts out a newsletter every month. and it lists for our entire workforce was the offenses were and what the actions were and what the adjudication was. would also include the number of covert tests that we do for integrity. and i think it's a because it sends a signal to the workforce that if you do this, this is what happens. but i think it also sends a signal to the workforce that we have consistency across the board. >> i think that's a great way to communicate with your workforce, and i applaud you for doing that. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from florida for five minutes. >> thank you so much. want to thank you, and also mr. hudson, for holding this hearing. i have been an original requester of this report by gao because, again, having been, creating tsa i was concerned some of the reports rid of misconduct were mounting.

and this report does, in fact, confirm that tsa employee misconduct has spiraled almost to an unbelievable level, and that's very disappointing. mr. halinski, you pointed out that tsa actually with mr. pencils a sentient instituted to offices but what were they? >> the office of professional responsibly and the office of training and workforce engagement. >> wendy the institute of those? >> approximately two years ago. >> okay. in the last three years, mr. lord, you review this. what's the increase of incidents over the three-year period of? >> it's 27%. >> 27%. so maybe we should go back to not having that office.

we were probably doing better before. but you instituted, again, these to offices and we have a 27% increase. i mean, some of the incidents have been totally embarrassing, embarrassing to the thousands of tsa employees that get up and do a good job every day. orlando airport, they featured, which is when my airports, local airports, an employee was caught in a media steam stealing a computer. there's another case i think a new report, mr. lord, again fat. we have the newark situation was so embarrassing, the supervisor was advising a tsa employee on how to steal contents of passengers luggage.

again, this has been totally embarrassing for everyone. so i think one of the members on the other side said this involves about 6% of employees. they're given a 9000 incidents over three years your timing, that's the figure that was used by the other side. not to mention how many criminal incidences, or arrests of tsa employees, which is an acceptable. now, the other thing this report identifies, into a sort of glossed over, it's just i guess 32% of the offenses are attendance, leaves or i'm excessive absences is that right, mr. lord? these are not just missing a day or two. these are more extensive offenses, would that be correct? spent how shall i think it varies but it does --

>> so the problem you have is you don't have standard reporting, which are report said, is that right? >> yes. that was one of the issues. >> i think the number of issues that are reported, 9600, because with such a variance, are probably under reports what is acted taking place. would that be an appropriate assumption, mr. lord? >> that was one of the issues were identified on our report, a lack of -- >> but it would indicate that they are not all reported. 32% doesn't sound like much of an impact of unexcused absent but it throws the whole system into chaos. people don't show up for work. how can you properly screened folks, mr. lord, for the record is shaking his head in the affirmative. >> i think it depends on particular facts and circumstances. it does have different potential to disrupt screening operations. >> the other thing is the cost. mr. halinski, do we still have a

national screening force that we send in -- where you don't have the screeners? >> sir, we do have a national screening force. >> how many millions of dollars does that cost a year? i ask you, because at another and you couldn't answer to kenya and to get a? >> i would tell you that screening force has been reduced to approximately 250 personnel -- >> what's the cost? for the record, mr. chairman, i would like in the record the cost of this national screening force, if you can provided to the committee for the past three years. because it's disgraceful that people don't show up for work. there's great cost to the taxpayers and great destruction. couple of quick closing comments. are used to recruiting people -- are you still recruiting people for ads on the top of pizza

boxes on ads of discount gas pumps for employment at tsa? >> no, sir. >> that have stopped it then the fingerprint check and all of that, i would like, i'll put in the record a letter from one of my sheriffs that notified me that two people he dismissed for misconduct, he employed at the daytona airport, and death, if you what i would make that part of the record. thank you. >> without objection is so ordered to the gentleman's time has expired. will enter into a second round of questioning your. mr. lord, the other side of the i was talking about private companies that are doing security screening. is there anything for the private companies to keep folks employed that have solar continue to show up to work not

on? >> i don't think there's an incentive if the company is private or federal, if you're problematic employees. >> mr. halinski just estimate a few minutes ago there is a financial penalty for companies that come yet, someone in their employee has stolen our show up not on time and that sort of thing. so i would say for the record there is a disincentive for the private companies to continue those practices. mr. lord, many of the offenses that the tsa employs have been accused of could have led to severe aviation security risk. is there any evidence that day to an opposed director indirect illegal actions occurred at an airport was breached speaks well, by definition, 20% of the cases we looked at were labeled security and screen related. so obviously we believe those cases get some nexus to security. but again it all depends on particular circumstance of a case. but those are the ones i view more surveys compared to the

cases related to time and attendance. >> of the 56 cases of theft and unauthorized taking from 2010-22, 31 result in termination. 31 of the 56 result in termination to 11 resulted in letters of reprimand, 11 resulted in suspension of a defined period, and to resulted in a definite suspicion of mr. lord, despite the recommended penalty range for these offenses, not including termination, deputy administrator halinski told the committee last year that tsa took offenses and tsa can brigade if he would terminate those who would steal. do you this happening in your report? >> that's a good question. i believe under the updated guidelines if there are mitigating circumstances, a letter of reprimand is one possible option. but again, it depends on the circumstances, so i think there

is some leeway there under the -- >> i understand extenuating circumstances and some of the process printing it and what do. i guess americans would be frustrated continuing to see letters of reprimand versus termination when the theft is proven to i want to make sure that tsa does follow through with their protocol. i want to go back to the private screening, the private contractors issue. you know, i came from the private sector and it was an incentive to do things right. also to have customer satisfaction with people we did business for to apply the best management practices. there was a disincentive if we fail to do what we said we're going to do. there was a disincentive for me if one of my employees didn't show up for work on time and we were not able to conduct, we did auctions. we were not able to conduct those in the time was that were

were delays both on the fireside and the somerset. to i think prompt and appropriate action and consistency is very, very important but i think that's what your gao report points out over and over that we need to be consistent. and i think and the private sector, you see when companies don't provide consistency with regard to discipline action. then that opens them up to apostolate of lawsuits because i think in a personnel situation, you have to have consistency. you can show preferential treatment from unemployed to the next. we shouldn't be able to do that in the public sector as well. i don't have anything further. so with that w. to the gentlemen, recognize the gentleman rather from mississippi for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate your interest in my airports but what i want to do is make sure we keep it in the right language. my only -- sensitive personal.

it is i do with time and attend a wedding like that in the private sector. it's sensitive security information. and that kind of information, we all agree, is something that is far more serious than someone not showing up for work. now, as important for me in this conversation is whether or not, mr. halinski, you saw the fact that in the contracting with tsa with private contractors, because you do not have the ability to deal with personnel found guilty of that. have you now change the contracting document to tsa to get you to where you need to be? >> yes, sir. we have changed the contract for

all the contracts were spp airports, and there is a clause in there that requires them to report any type of misconduct activities of the workforce. and we also require in this new language that if an employee is identified with misconduct, that appropriate action needs to be taken by that company, sir steve would the gentleman yield? the have the ability to terminate a contract -- followed up on what he was acting under asking, if you find men can't -- misconduct on deploy? >> no, sir. i do not believe that we do. but i could get you a more thorough answer but i'm not an expert on contract. i wish i could give you a better answer but i'll get you an answer on that. >> thank you. >> thank you. ms. outten-mills among we've talked a lot about tsa. what has been your analysis in

the viewing of the component of dhs with respect to claims of misconduct? does the tsa higher, lower, in the middle, or can you provide some direction to this board? >> [inaudible] >> can you -- >> the body of work that we conducted in oig at this point has not focused on misconduct and allegation, even with the ttac job and the fams project we conducted. we basically look at pre-adjudication and the policies and procedures that were in place to make sure that credible allegations were able to enter the process. as far as how agencies speed so

you really can't -- -- >> no, we do not spent mr. lord, the reference to this increase in complaints, did you change the matrix for review, or is it the same matrix all along? >> i'm not sure i understand your question. >> you said you had a 26% increase, i believe? >> over three years, that's what the data clearly shows. it's actually 27%. >> all right. is that the same that you generally do? >> you mean when compared to other dhs components of? >> yes. >> we didn't do that announce but i think it's important to recognize all the other, for example, customs of the border protections, that they have a definition, different

organizations have appeared it would be difficult to make direct comparisons. but for purposes of our report we did not include that information. that was outside the scope spent comparison of coming to work. that's in any agency, right of? >> on time and attendance, a document on screen and security violations. i have no comparative data available. >> if you did, cbp or in what else, would you do time and attendance as part of the review of? >> definitely. definitely spent so not in your capacity to perform any of those time and attendance reviews for any other agency? >> we have not done that early. we will be happy to work with your staff if you're interested in having a follow-up review conducted on this. >> i'm concerned about the increase at tsa, but if this situation is peculiar to other agencies i'd like to know what

also. so, i yield back spent thank the gentleman. a chair will recognize the gentleman from north carolina for five minutes. >> thank you, sir. mr. halinski, in terms of the amount of time it goes to go through an entire investigation and adjudication process what is the tsa done to streamline this process? can tsa be doing more? was the amount on amount of time a tsa employee can remain on the job while his or her case is being investigated? if, for example, a screen is accused of failing to follow standard operating procedure at a checkpoint, what would the individual be allowed, would they be allowed to continue to work at a checkpoint going to be given of the response does until the investigating is completed? how does that process works because it depends on decisions of the offense. if you're talking about an offense on the administrative side and not the criminal side,

then the local airport will conduct its investigation. they will take state and put the evidence together. it's not a long process, quite frankly. we're not talking about an investigation where you're going in and it takes months at a time. and more serious offenses that, that's when you go to her office of investigation. we have made great strides in that area since last year, and in those cases we are running in more than 50% of the cases under 90 days to conduct a full criminal investigation on these folks and send it to our office of professional responsibly. >> are they reassigned to a different -- >> yes, sir. while they're in a status they can be put on administrative leave. they can be suspended. they can be put on, at a given part in a non-screen will. there's a variety of roles but if the allegations are sick enough, they are not kept on the line. they are moved out while the process takes place.

>> okay. how many tsa employees are current on administrative leave for a process like this? >> sir, i do not have that number. i will get back with you i would take that we don't like to put anybody on administrative leave because that means that people are getting paid for not working. so do try to find other duties for them, but i will get back with you on that number. i don't have that number right off hand. >> appreciate that. shifting gears a little bit. as i understand tsa's current policy, if a screener fails a covert test conducted by tsa's inspectors, the screeners is retrain and allowed to continue screening passengers at the checkpoint. is a screener fails a covert test conducted by ngo inspectors, the screen is neither notified right away nor pulled off olympic in both cases the screeners in question does not receive a suspension or the builder arrived at the could be a variety of reasons why some of fails one of these tests. there are certain cases where after careful review of the circumstances it would be

appropriate for screeners who failed a covert test to be suspended after all, tsa's sole purpose is security. and the test are in place identified security weaknesses. tsa makes headway towards risk of a security, i'm concerned a security fear at a checkpoint could assess back tremendously. it don't takes one mistake to get a bomb on a plane, for instance. the ability of script to detect explosives and other threats and the confidence of the american public is fundamental to the success of risk-based security. would you agree, mr. halinski, to revisit the policies and procedures for holding accountable those screeners who failed a covert test? >> yes, sir. let me talk about covert testing your covert testing i think is one of the very solid called it issuance programs that we've had. i believe the numbers are over 6000 covert test we've done over the last several years together thing about covert testing like any red team organization, any or position, you know exactly

where the weaknesses are big enough to build the devices so you can make it as difficult as possible. i'm not going to win a whole lot of details specific about the test b i will address your question because we keep that classified, for a reason. because threat, they pay attention to what we do and to use it against us but we have seen consistently. now, when we have someone who fails a covert test, we try, particularly with a covert testing, we take them off the line and try to do the immediate quality assurance but if we see a trend, sir, we understand people can make a mistake. let me give you an example. someone puts a test device in a growing area, and it's a small device but i think you've seen the device. and they give a pat down an andt is could not at that data is going to find that device. we take immediate action and tell that individual look, you need to do a better job on that pat down. we will look at that. i will tell you that anybody who fails test consistently is going

to be in trouble in the organization, sir. >> appreciate that but obviously one failed patdown could lead to a horrible disaster for the public. >> we do understand that and that's one of the reasons why we have, and i think it's important to recognize that we have a system of security that is multiple layers but it's a defense in depth and we have to have that. because everyone have one point and we pay someone put, it's a single point of any. that's what we have our dogs but that's why have our fams because what we have intelligence system. you have to have a defense in depth to anybody who is been involved in security understands. it's like football. if you have one person on the line and you don't have backs or to have linebackers come you're going to be in trouble. that's what we have, a defense in depth. so we tried to overlap that and ensure that that one failure doesn't happen. every single day 1.8 million times a day. >> day. welcomepreciate that and my tide

back to ranking member, mr. barber, for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. halinski, i would like to ask a few questions about the procedures that were addressed or referred to by the gao in their recent report. the gao indicate that the tsa does not have procedures to identify allegations of misconduct had not been adjudicated. in other words, that could be allegations of misconduct that it never been resolved. i have a series of questions related to the. can you say how many there are remaining that have not been adjudicated? secondly, an average length of time that those that have been pending? and how does the agency plan to address this issue going forward? >> to the best of my knowledge, we have taken with the gao said to heart. we made those changes. i don't live in cases that are outstanding. and in the process

we is now is automatic. with this integrated database, if you go through the process there is a system of checks and oversight by our office of human capital, by our office of investigation and by our office of professional responsibility. when a case is closed, this is an automatically goes back to everyone of those offices are everybody understands that the case has been adjudicated and it's put in their records. so that's been, we took that to heart. we made that correction, and it's in place, sir. >> the standard procedures that are now in place so that we have what we hope is nonarbitrary or fair across the board actions being taken, can you say what a one strike you're out it looks like? >> yes, sir. we judge an individual -- let me go back to covert testing that we're doing for integrity. we have a screener on the line. we have one of our covert

testers go through but he has and i bet he decides he's going to put in his pocket as i said earlier, the vast majority of our people are good people that don't do that but when that happens, sir, and we have absolute proof that he stole that item, it's 24 hours he is out the door. we have put that into effect. drugs, another case. you are caught with drugs, on the spot, we can put you out. we've done that. if it involves an investigation into drugs, there's an investigation involves. if i can't be neatly printed, we have to do due diligence for our people. they are innocent until proven guilty. and that takes a little bit of time, but we do give them the benefit of the doubt in this case is until the proof shows otherwise. >> what if the infraction has to do with putting the public at risk? i mean, a covert investigation, someone came through with essentially an explosive. is that a one strike you're out? >> sir, if someone is

intentionally trying to go against the security practices, he is intentionally trying to bypass that system. yes, sir. it is. we've had instances of that in the last year, and those people have been removed. >> well, let me go to a different aspect of this, and this is a question or an issue we raised before in other hearings with the department. and that is, the concern that i've and the public has about transparency and accountability with the department on the behalf of the department. and i guess i'm really concerned about how it is that we have transparency in ensuring the public that these matters are investigated i realized the person of restrictions or privacy concerns, but the gao report is now a public document. people have a right to say that's not good. what are we doing about it. what can the department to more

than it's already done to ensure transparency with the american people? >> circumnavigate to the question of first let me say, we are a very large organization, and we are and/or position probably that is in the public eye more than any other government or position right now. we see the traveling public 1.8 million times a day. .. >> when you're talking about image and transparency, you have to take the good with the bad.

the actual percentages are very low and comparable to any government organization. i have my people on the line 365 days a year, and they know if they fail, someone could die. >> could i just make sure we have the answer to the question about transparency? the gao report is public, the public will soon understand what's in it? what can you do to assure the american people that the issues that are raised in that study and report have been properly dealt with? transparency in that regard is what i was referring to. >> all right, sir. i appreciate that. what i would tell you is what i said earlier, is that we absolutely embrace the comments made by the gao. we are in the process and have almost completely taken those onboard and completed those. we believe they'll be complete by the end of september, october. there's one big piece we're working on, and i'm sitting here on c-span and telling you we embrace them, and we're going to

do them, sir. >> thank you. gentleman's time has expired. the chair will recognize ms. jackson lee for any questions she may have. >> chairman, thank you very much for what -- >> in a few moments, the justice department hosts a farewell ceremony for outgoing fbi director robert mueller. and at 9 a.m. we'll be live for daniel werfel speaking about the rise in arrests and identity theft cases. >> this weekend on c-span live coverage of the national governors' association's annual summer meeting. this year the nation's governors discuss national infrastructure and the global economy. sunday live at noon on c-span2, booktv's "in depth." your questions for author and head of pediatric neurosurgery at johns hopkins, ben carson. and on c-span3's american history tv, 1968.

from the assassinations of robert luther king jr. and robert kennedy to -- martin luther king jr. and robert kennedy, sunday at 1. >> we've never really known what to do with our first ladies, and that is particularly true in more recent times as on the one hand they're expected to have causes. you can't imagine a first lady today without a cause. on the other hand, those causes are not permitted to intrude upon law making or an official capacity. so it's always been a tight rope. and seeing how each of these women walked that tight rope tells you a lot not only about them, but about the institution and about the society that they represented. >> next week we'll begin our encore presentation of our original series "first ladies: influence and image," examining the public and private lives of

the women who filled the position of first lady and influenced the presidency. next week martha washington to angelica van buren. first ladies, weeknights all this month starting monday at 9 eastern on c-span. >> now, the farewell ceremony for outgoing fbi director robert mueller. he served 12 years in the position which he assumed one week before the attacks on 9/11. speakers at the ceremony include attorney general eric holder, former cia director george tenet, and tsa administrator john pistole. this is a little less than an hour. [background sounds]

[background sounds] >> all right. could you remain standing while we have the presentation of the colors. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> halt! present colors! ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> forward march! ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ [background sounds] [laughter] >> good morning, everybody, and welcome to thi celebration of

the public service career of robert mueller iii whom i have been accused of dubbing bobby three sticks. there are far too many alumnis and dignitaries present for me to point out by name, but you will have the opportunity to talk to old friends after this on fifth floor. but there's one person with us today whom i am compelled to recognize. the brains, charm, charisma and class of the mueller family; bob's far better wife -- far better half, rather, ann. [applause] she's also his better wife. [laughter] bob mueller, an american patriot, has spent his entire

career in public service with only an occasional brief interlude since the 1960s when he was a decorated marine for his service in vietnam. he has served as an assistant united states attorney in three cities, as the united states attorney in two districts, as the assistant attorney general for the criminal division, as the deputy attorney general and most recently now as the director of the fbi. so it appears that as he departs justice for the last time, hopefully -- [laughter] he will have held every position in the department save one; attorney general. but then again one has to wonder whether this time he's really leaving for good. when he bade him farewell in this same hall in january of 1993, we thought we were rid of him for good. [laughter] ah, well, there's no sense in worrying today about what might

happen tomorrow. george tenet capped his distinguished career in public service as the director of central intelligence from if -- from 1997 to 2004, the second longest-serving director in agency history. in that role he had the opportunity to work with bob in the three years immediately following 9/11. director tenet? [applause] >> good morning. it's a great honor for me to be here today to speak about a great public servant and my friend, bob mueller. of one of the important things to know about bob is that he is and always will be a united states marine, and service to this country has been his life. on certain occasions -- seven occasions, he has sworn to protect and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

and what that has meant for him always is a devotion to duty, to men and women he has served with and led, to upholding law, to speaking bluntly and directly, and as a young second lieutenant in vietnam, to putting his life on the line. he won a bronze star and a purple heart. his bronze star citation in part read: second lieutenant mueller moved fearlessly with complete disregard for his own safety and personally led a fire team to recover a mortally wounded marine who had fallen in a position forward of friendly lines. bob mueller has never changed. his life has been defined by trust, discipline and honor. now, when i first met bob mueller in the summer of 2001, it was a bit daunting, a little bit like the clash of

civilizations. [laughter] the scene would be cast as a braman from mainline philly, st. paul's, princeton, a high protestant with a locked jaw, blue blazer, khaki pants, penny loafers, maybe a little old spice to boot. [laughter] meets first generation greek diner kid from queens who had never played golf. [laughter] >> yet. >> yes, yet. very soon after 9/11, a special be relationship was born that allowed two great organizations to work with a common spirit that has continued to grow to this day. and a special lifelong friendship was formed that allowed us to help each other in thousands of different and unspoken ways, that illustrated to all of our colleagues the importance of working together.

it was easy because you could trust bob mueller with your life. you would want him back to back with you in the trench whether facing al-qaeda or the hordes inside the beltway who would routinely come out of the hills to bayonet the wounded. laugh after -- [laughter] now, everybody who's served knows what i'm talking about. [laughter] now, bob, i am going to tell this story about how much bob and i love testifying together. mr. attorney general, i know you love testifying. [laughter] but bob, you see, had a very unique way of doing this, and the first time i testified with him, you know, he sat there like a choir boy and never moved. and i said, bob, you know, you have to emote a little. he said i've been trained as a prosecutor, we're not allowed to show emotion. so i figured i've got to change this. so we'd sit next to each other. and you know how before you

usually cup their hands, and everybody thinks we're saying something profound to each other. well, bob and i would be in the middle of a testimony, and i would cup my hand and say something to mueller like, bob, isn't that the dumbest question you've ever heard your life? [laughter] shut up. [laughter] here it comes, bob. swim, bobby, swim! [laughter] shut up. [laughter] and finally, you know, it would always be, bob, are you really going to take that from this guy? [laughter] yes, senator, i'm not worthy. [laughter] but anyway, this very decent man transformed the fbi and helped keep our country safe. he has reached out to communities across the country, particularly those from other lands, to understand their

problems, to build bridge, to inspire common values and to shape their perception of law enforcement in a truly unique american context. if your son or daughter wanted to be a public or servant, they need to look no further than bob mueller's career to learn how to do it honorably, with old school values that will always endure. finally, i'll say this about bob: he's not so tough. he's a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. his love and affection for his family is obvious and complete, and for all these years of service, his ace in the hole has been his college sweetheart, ann. her devotion and sacrifice, her love and commitment to bob and their family has allowed us and all americans to enjoy the benefits what has truly been their joint service to our country. ann, your smile and your warmth and your care for the men and

women of the fbi and for so many others have been magnificent to behold, and as good as bob is, you're even better. mr. director, thank you on behalf of my family and on behalf of intelligence officers around the world for what you've done and your friendship and on behalf of all your friends, we desperately hope that you can finally find a job. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you, director tenet. over the past several months, a great number of people have asked me what bob planned to do when the inevitable day came when he left the bureau. and until this day i have deflected the question. however, i am now authorized to announce that bob has been offered and accepted his dream job which he will start shortly

after labor day, a job he was born for and has isn't his whole life -- has spent his whole life preparing for, drill instructor at paris island. [laughter] he's smiling for is once there. [laughter] after a successful career in a number of positions at the fbi, john pistole served as bob's right hand and deputy director from 2004 to 2010. in 2010 the president appointed john administrator of tsa, a position he holds to this day. john has graciously agreed to field questions from frustrated travelers in the audience -- [laughter] at the back of the hall at the conclusion of this event. administrator pistole. [applause]

>> ah, the privileges and opportunities of being the tsa administrator. thank you, dave. [laughter] so let me say a few words about director mueller. bob, some traits, if you will. obviously, the first thing that comes to mind, i think, for most of us is a leader. man of character and integrity. a distinguished and dedicated public servant. humble. principled pragmatist. an innovative and motivator. and so now a few words about those few words. under director mueller he directed and implemented what is arguably the most significant change in the fbi's 105-year history. i think historians may debate what has been the most significant, but i would suggest that that is what has happened in the last 12 years. he is the most significant sea change for an organization such as the fbi. we all remember the mi5 debate,

whether the fbi in a post-9/11 world could handle the traditional law enforcement responsibilities that it was known for and also collect intelligence that contributed to national security and share that intelligence. and so it's good that george tenet is here this morning, because it is because of george and his cooperation, collaboration, sending 20 reports officers over to fbi headquarters shortly after 9/11 which then became the baseline for the director of intelligence that allowed the fbi, enabled the fbi to continue that transformation. so in addition to all the pundits and all the critics, we have the official inquiries, of the 9/11 commission, of course, the president's foreign intelligence advisory board, his own directors advisory board all giving suggestions, advice, input as to what the fbi needed to do. matter experts, some who

actually knew what they were talking about and most of the others who were also giving their views to bob mueller. and so during this time he, i would say, adeptly and successfully navigated through all the different and sometimes competing views on who the fbi should be and how they should carry out their mission. and it's because of that that the fbi today is able to serve a vital national security in miss. i mentioned to you he's humble. in spite of his significant accomplishments, a few of which you've heard here in this morning and many which are not known and probably will never be known because of his humility, bob has never been one to seek out the lime l light. he's always been quick to give others credit and to mentor others such as myself. and i think if wanda could verify this, but i don't think

when we talk about reporters, i don't think there's a single reporter on bob mueller's speed dial. we could check that just to make sure -- [laughter] but let me just give one example of all the traits that i've mentioned. so several years back one of bob's favorite agencies, the office's inspector general, did a mildly critical report on the fbi's use of national security letters. just about, you know, some procedures and protocols and perhaps a forerunner of some of the things that were happening today. so bob decided to hold a press conference at fbi headquarters. now, you think about that. the last 12 years how many press conferences can you think of that bob mueller held at fbi headquarters? so envision this in the webster room. we have a table set up, basically in a u shape. so two lines of tables with reporters just jammed in there because they saw some possible blood in the water and circling and all this. and then the director and the deputy director at that time,

happened to be me, seated at the end. and the notion was to have everybody seated because that would kind of keep everybody at ease. so he starts off his statement, and in the course of that statement he said you may ask who is responsible for this, these shortcomings, and who is accountable. and without missing a beat he turned to me, and he said of course the tenty director is -- deputy director is. [laughter] no. no, no. that may be a slight variation of facts there. [laughter] so, obviously, being the principled leader that he is, always has been, he said i am responsible, and i'm going to fix this. so that part about fixing, that's -- i mentioned that he was a motivator. that's when the motivator part of bob mueller came in, really kicked in, and i do mean kicked in. [laughter] so we did get it fixed there. and as long as we're talking a little bit of inside baseball, there's a phrase that's well known on the seventh floor overs

been uttered a few times in the last 12 year, and sean joyce is here, i'm sure has heard it once or twice in the last few years, deputy handle. all good leaders need how to delegate, and that's something that happened from time to time. and i thank you for those lessons, bob, because in my three years at tsa, i've learned some of the benefits of doing that. [laughter] so a couple brief points to wrawp. as, bob, as you and ann leave government service and as you start traveling without your security detail, there's a couple words you need to know that will be very important to you, and that is tsa precheck. laugh after -- [laughter] trust me on this one. [laughter] >> now you know why you were invited. >> that's right, that's right. [laughter] [applause] and so finally, on behalf of all

the men and women of the fbi who have had the privilege and honor of serving with mr. director bob mueller these last 12 years, let me express profound appreciation and gratitude for what you have done, guiding the bureau through a tumultuous time with integrity and distinction, and on a personal note just to say thanks for the privilege of serving as one of your deputy directors, for encouraging me and teaching me lessons in leadership which i have had the opportunity to use. and now as you and ann do go into that next chapter of your lives, best wishes and godspeed in all you do. thanks. [applause] >> thank you, john. i think that two brief anecdotes

are quite illuminating about this great department, this attorney general and director mueller. one day in the mid '90s not long after he left the position of assistant attorney general for the criminal division for private practice at the beginning of the clinton administration, mueller called me and advised that u.s. attorney eric holder had offered him the position of senior litigation, senior litigator in the homicide unit of the u.s. attorney's office in d.c. bob wanted to take the job, but he recognized that he had been a political appointee of the immediately-previous administration, and he did not want to accept this position in the career service if it would cause any discomfort at main justice. so he asked me to run the traps. when i brought the question to the deputy -- the then-deputy attorney general, she said with her customary subtlety and tact: that's a no-brainer. everyone knows that mueller is

an outstanding prosecutor, and eric is fortunate to get him. period. when i later asked bob why he wanted this job, less pay than private practice, obviously, and not as prestigious a title as his assistant attorney general job, he replied that he wanted to give something back to this community, and this was the best way he knew how to do it. a couple of years later i was looking for an outstanding candidate to serve as interim united states attorney in san francisco after a sudden vacancy, and i was at a dead end in my search. i advised then-deputy attorney general holder of my failure, and he said call mueller and see if he will go out there on a temporary basis. the rest is history. he did such a good job as the interim united states attorney that president clinton appointed him to that position.

in perilous times when this department finds it necessary to go to the mattresses, there is no one i would rather have at my side than bob mueller, except, of course, jim comey. [laughter] i admire him, i respect him, and as much as i hate to admit it, i do love the guy. bob, from one wasp to another -- [laughter] give me a moment to collect my thoughts here. i'm not used to complimenting the director. [laughter] one of the perks of spending almost a half century in this d.

is the -- in this department is the opportunity to watch a raw, talented honor grad ma a cure into a polished department leader. jim cole, like the attorney general himself, is a perfect example of this process. he handles his assignment as deputy attorney general in the most challenging times decisively, effectively, with grace and never losing his marvelous sense of humor. the deputy attorney general of the united states. [applause] >> thank you, david. um, a lot of themes are very similar here about bob today because he's touched so many people, and so much of the same way throughout their careers. i first met bob probably more than 30 years ago. he was an ausa in boston, i was a young lawyer, and i'd come up to boston to help on a case, and

i met bob. he was one of the most seasoned and senior prosecutors that they had in the office. and when i met him, the words that came to mind were talented, smart, respected. as i looked at him, i realized when i grow up as a prosecutor, i want to be like bob, i want to be that kind of prosecutor. several years later bob came to main justice first in ag thornburg's office and then as the assistant attorney general for the criminal division. at this time i was the deputy chief of the public integrity section and had the privilege of working with bob on frequent occasions. and i remember that when dealing with him on particularly sensitive cases that would come up, the words that came to mind then were leadership and support. bob would not only go out of his way to make sure you had everything you needed and all

the resources you needed to be successful in the case, but through his own experience as a great prosecutor he would talk through with you the intricacies of the case and, inevitably, he would end up with tremendous value being added from those encounters. now, as we all though and we've heard several times today, bob left his position as the assistant attorney general for private practice for about 20 minutes, and he did an extraordinary thing. he returned to the department as a line ausa doing homicide cases. d.c. was going through a particularly rough period of increased murders at this time, and bob wanted to help. as i saw this, the words that came to mind were sacrifice, dedication and humility. he saw a problem in the community that had to be solved, a public service that had to be done, and he did it.

without any fanfare, without any glory, without any reward. he just did it because it was the right thing to do. and when the u.s. attorney's office in san francisco was going through a rough patch, bob was asked to go out there and take it over and put it back in shape. probably really didn't want to leave d.c. but, again, he did it. and the words that came to mind were team player and, again, leader. he restore the reputation of that office and to this day they still talk about him as the best with united states attorney they have ever had. and since bob became the director of the fbi, i have both followed his work from afar and had the privilege of working with him for almost three years now as he has transformed this agency in the wake of 9/11 into the most effective counterterrorism and law enforcement agency on the face

of the earth. and working with him every day, the words that a come to mind are politically astute, wise, dedicated to the rule of law. all necessary attributes that you need to have to work your way through the vast array of unimaginable issues that confront us every day. so here we are trying to sum up the career of a man who has had all of these roles, done them in an exemplary way and displayed the kind of character that we all want to emulate. who has given virtually his entire career to his country and has done it in a way that serves as an example to the world of what we stand for as a nation. and when i put that all together, the word that comes to mind best to describe bob is

pate o. -- patriot. bob, thank you not only for what you've done for the department of justice and for the nation, but thank you for all i've gained from having had the privilege of getting to work with you over so many years. i wish you well, my friend. [applause] >> now, the only thing better than getting to work with bob mueller is the opportunity to get to work with bob mueller and eric holder. both are public servants in the same mold where getting it right, the merits, the rule of law and ethics mean everything. this is the kind of department that the two of them together have established. it's my honor, ladies and gentlemen, to present to you the attorney general of the united states. [applause]

>> thank you. good morning. well, good morning. and thank you, jim, for those kind words, and thank you all for being here. it is an honor to be with you all this morning and a privilege to welcome bob's wife, ann, their daughters cynthia melissa and their families back to the great hall. now, as anyone who knows bob can tell you, his passion for his work is exceeded only by his dedication to his family, so it's great to have all of you here with us including the little one who took a little detour there. i also want to welcome each of our distinguished guests, too numerous to mention, but we have former attorneys general, former heads of the fbi, the head of npd, members of congress, senator rob, good to see you. good to have you all here with us. the former and current justice department officials here today, i think, is an indication of the

esteem with which bob is held. but i want to thank you all for taking the time to be here with us today. i.c.e. -- i'd also like to thank david margolis for being an incomparable master of ceremonies. he was supposed to come straight to the podium and somehow give a sign to the color guard to start the event -- [laughter] we always have to cover for margolis. [laughter] >> [inaudible] >> he's out of here. [laughter] normally, this is where i might say it's a pleasure to join you all for this important event, but i know this is a moment we've all really been dreading for quite some time, the day we have to try and do our jobs without bob mueller. nevertheless, i appreciate this chance to stand with such a distinguished group as we thank bob for his dedicated service over the years, as we applaud his leadership as director of

the federal bureau of investigation and as we celebrate his contributions in protecting our fellow citizens from crime, insuring america's national security and transforming the fbi into the dynamic, threat-focused organization that it is today. now, as you heard, bob's service to our nation began long before he became one of the top law enforcement officials in this country. before he served as deputy attorney general or as assistant attorney general for the criminal division and before he assumed his post as u.s. attorney for the northern district of california, in fact, welcome back's patriotism and -- in fact, bob's patriotism and dedication to service have defined and distinguished just about his entire life beginning from the moment when he graduated from college and decided to join the united states marine corps. now, as a young officer, he was soon entrusted to lead, as you heard, a rifle platoon in vietnam. and for his exemplary conduct, he was awarded the bronze star,

two navy commendation medals, a purple heart and the vietnamese cross of gallantry, and he was praised for his, quote: courage, aggression, initiative and his unwavering devotion to duty. now, as anyone who's had the privilege of working with bob will tell you, these qualities have remained his hallmark ever since then. now, i would say that he's proud to be a former serviceman, but i know that there's no such thing as a former marine. and even after he left the corps, earned his law degree and became a litigator, bob's passion for public service quickly drew him back to the federal government, and this time as a prosecutor. over the next two decades, he held a variety of positions in u.s. attorney's offices and here at main justice in washington. he excelled in every role, overseeing high profile investigations and prosecutions from major organized crime and financial fraud case toss the infamous lockerbie bombing to the prosecution of manuel nor

yessing georgia, and in every endeavor, bob's skill, intellect, his excellent judgment, his humility and natural sense of leadership were on constant display. but i think the single best illustration of bob mueller's sense of duty and his passion for public service actually came after he left the justice department after he accepted a prestigious job in private practice. now, this was supposed to be my story, you know? but everybody's talked about it. so i'm going to say it again anyway. at that time, as you've heard, i was serving -- [laughter] i was serving as the united states attorney for the district of columbia, and and bob had been working in a white collar crime litigation firm for a couple of years. one day he called me, and my secretary, annie bradley -- still with me -- said bob mueller's on the phone. he asked me if i could use a homicide prosecutor in my office, and i was thinking, sure, i wonder who he's talking about. bob said he was talking about himself.

i reminded him that he already had a great job, that there was no way i'd be able to match his current salary and that having already served as assistant attorney general for the criminal division, he might be a little overqualified for a job as a line prosecutor. but before he could change his mind, i just said when can you start? and before i knew it, bob was hard at work as a senior litigator in the homicide section heading out to crime scenes and developing strong relationships with local detectives, but also importantly with the people of the city. not long after he became chief of the homicide section, and much to everyone's annoyance, regularly called early morning meetings even after he and everyone else had pulled late nights at the office. now, this was at a time when our nation's capital was a city in great distress. we were called the murder capital of the united states. bob's work literally helped to save lives and also made better the lyes of -- the lives of people who were too often unseen, overlooked, forgotten.

he made a difference, and he was determined to serve the people of this city. to make our community safer and to represent the interests of the people of the united states. and that's why it was no surprise when in 1998 president clinton appointed bob to serve as u.s. attorney for the northern district of california. he did a great job. just a few years later, president bush nominated him to become fbi director, a position to which he was unanimously confirmed in 2001. and the rest, as they say, is history. like many of you, i can't imagine the bureau or the justice department or my professional life without bob. since i took office as attorney general in 2009, he and i have started nearly every day together being brief about the -- briefed about the most serious recent threats against the united states and american citizens around the world. and let me assure you as much as i like this guy, this is a

fun w start your day. but there's no question that the american people are safer because bob mueller has been in those meetings every day for the past 12 years. during his time as fbi director, bob has served as a key adviser to two presidents, a critical member of this president's national security team and an indispensable partner to me. in the years since september 11th attacks which occurred just one week into his tenure, he has led nothing less than a large scale and historic transformation of the bureau. he has happied to a-- helped to adjust and adapt its capabilities. and he has led effort toss thwart and to investigate some of the most serious terrorist plots our nation has faced since 9/11. along the way he has won the respect and the admiration of his colleagues, all of the brave men and women who serve the fbi here in washington, across the country and, indeed, around the world. he has fostered a culture of unsurpassed excellence at every

level of the bureau, insuring that every special agent, every analyst, every technician, every support professional is dedicated to and incredibly effective at protecting our national security and combating crime. he has, in short, i think, set the standard for what it means to be the director of the fbi. positioning the bureau to deal with the 21st century threats that it has to confront without losing sight of its traditional law enforcement missions. and that's why when his ten-year term as director was set to expire in 2011, president obama took the extraordinary step of asking the united states senate to extend it by two full years. and it's why the senate, once again, unanimously approved that request. and it's why although i rebret that we've been unable to convince bob and ann to stick around for another two years or maybe another 12, i'm confident that he will leave this nation not only safer, but stronger and more prepared than he found it. so, bob and ann, as you open an

exciting new chapter in your lives and hopefully take a long and well deserved vacation, i wish you nothing but the best. i thank you, bob, for your leadership, for your service and most of all for your friendship over the many years that i've had the good fortune of working with you. on behalf of a grateful nation, i also want to thank you, ann, for your service and for your sacrifice these many years. standing with this great man has been a truly great woman. i know iak for president obama, for everyone in this great hall today and for many others far beyond it when i say that while we are confident that jim comey will be a superb fbi director and that he will continue to uphold the standards of excellence and integrity that you've established, all of us will miss you a great deal. your example and your tireless dedication will guide and inspire us for many years to come. and wherever your career may lead you, you should always know that you are and always will be an essential part of the justice

department family, and you will also be a dear friend. before bob takes the podium, i'd like to make a special presentation. as attorney general, the highest award i can bestow within the justice department is the attorney general's award for exceptional service which is typically presented only once each year. well, today in recognition of bob mueller's leadership of the fbi, his contributions over the course of his career and his exemplary service to the american people, it is my privilege to present him with this year's exceptional service award. [applause] because of sequestration, he gets to hold on to it, but then i take it back. [laughter]

there is, actually, only one of these per year now. it is now my great pleasure to introduce the director of the federal bureau of investigation, robert mueller. [applause] >> thank you. [applause] thank you. we've got to get out of here, thank you. thank you, thank you. and thank you, all the speakers for that hyperbole. it's always a pleasure to hear that. each of you will be gratified to know that my farewell speech will be half as long as george tenet's farewell speech when he left the agency. [laughter] i want to tell you what an honor

it is to see so many friends, colleagues and relationships here that literally span decades. i want to thank the attorney general for hosting this event and, again, the kind words from each of the speakers. and i will say as i look around the room, i see individuals whose good judgment and wise counsel made a world of difference to me over the years both personally and professionally. whether it be from the u.s. attorneys offices in boston, in san francisco, in washington to my colleagues here at the department of justice past and present and from our law enforcement partners across the country and our counterparts in the intelligence community to the men and women of the fbi. i will say, george, i was appreciative of your comments about testifying, but i will tell you that george has a selective memory. [laughter]

when we were testifying, it is true that george would complain bitterly and try to get me to smile, whereupon i would point out to george that he had been the architect of similar questions. one of those carrying the bayonets, when he was the staff director of the senate select committee on intelligence s and we had to appear before that committee. [laughter] you say that i've been blessed with three families; my own family, my marine corps family, and my justice and fbi family. first and foremost, i have been blessed with my family. my wife, ann, two daughters, cynthia and melissa, and their families now. and i will tell you that many of us work, many of us in this room work long hours, spend time away from our families reluctantly but out of necessity, and our

spouses and significant others carry the lion's share of the burden on the home front. and i must say being absent from home may upon occasion be seen by some in the family as, perhaps, a plus. and i am reminded of one of my favorite stories which comes from a police officer who was a graduation speaker in one of the classes of the fbi's national academy. for those of you not aware, the national academy program provides training to state and local law enforcement, officers at our quantico facility over a ten-week period. and as this story was related sometime after this officer graduated, he was reminiscing at the breakfast table about the good times he had at quantico. he said the weeks he spent at the academy were the best ten weeks of his life. his teenage daughter looked at him and said, dad, they were the best ten weeks of my life too. [laughter]

i must have told that story a hundred times. [laughter] regardless, i want to thank my wife, ann, my daughters for their patience, understanding. i could not have served in these positions without their support. i have also been blessed by being part of the marine corps family. the marine corps taught me the value of service, sacrifice and discipline, the value of leadership, teamwork and integrity, lessons i could not have learned in quite the same way elsewhere and lessons i have tried to carry with me throughout life. and lastly, i have been blessed with my justice and my fbi family. as has been pointed out, i have been, i have spent the better part of my career -- i would say the best part of my career -- with the department of justice and the fbi. i have been fortunate to work with old friends and new colleagues alike, individuals of honesty and integrity.

this includes on the one hand margolis -- [laughter] better known to all of you as me news la. maine news la. [laughter] and on the other hand, my executive assistant wanda sigh ferret, known to many of you. wanda has often said -- perhaps accurately so -- to be the one who runs the bureau particularly because of her common sense, her organizational skills and, i might add, her intimidation factor. [laughter] all of you know wanda, please, thank you for her years of service. [laughter] [applause] i've always been with proud to say that i work with the department of justice because of that for which it stands, which is an unyielding commitment to the rule of law and to the safety and security of the citizens we serve. i've also been honored to work

with the individuals who have given the justice department its legacy and its lasting impact. over the years many of you have worked hard to advise me and, most particularly, to insure that i kept things into perspective. lee rolls immediately comes to mind when i discuss this issue, and many of you may have heard this story before, but it bears repeating. lee was a college classmate of mine and a longtime department of justice colleague known to many of you. he was my former chief of staff. he passed away two years ago, and he is missed by many of us in this room today ors but -- today, but he does exemplify what the department is like. lee knew how to cut through the nonsense and get to the heart of the matter better than anyone, he also knew how to put me in my place. i remember one particularly heated meeting, everyone was frustrated mostly with me, and i

myself may have been a wee bit ill tempered. wanda's laughing. [laughter] lee sat silently and then posed the following question out of the blue: what is the difference between the director of the fbi and a 4-year-old child? [laughter] the room grew hushed and finally he said, height. [laughter] throughout my time here, i have seen unparalleled commitment and professionalism, and i've seen firsthand the sacrifices made by those in law enforcement. some of our darkest days are those on which we lose special agents, lose them in the line of duty, days that remind us of the grave danger our agents, our officers and deputies willingly assume. it has been my privilege to work with so many dedicated and talented public servants, men

and women who give everything in their power to keep the american people safe, men and women for whom the rule of law is the guiding principle. and let me close by saying that opportunities, that the opportunities i have been given in the marine corps, in the justice department and at the fbi have been gifts that i did not anticipate and for which i will be forever grateful, for i have loved serving in each of these organizations. and while it is difficult to leave this family, i leave knowing that the work will continue under the leadership of individuals in the department of justice and in the fbi alike who embody the fbi's motto of fidelity, bravery and integrity in the truest and best sense of those words. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> thanks to glenn kivlin and his team for putting this program together. they did a splendid job. that concludes our program, and we'll see you all upstairs. thank you for coming.

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[inaudible conversations] >> here on c-span2 we take you live now to the rayburn house office building for hearing on tax fraud. acting irs commissioner daniel werfel and the treasury department inspector general will be testifying before the house oversight committee on government