.. >>x >> and a special thanks to a the president and director

of the 9/11 memorial museum. [applause] of this museum is a testament to the resilience, courage, and compassion of the human spirit that lies within each and every human being. i think it is only fitting we bring our ceremony to a close with one of the most enduring and life affirming pieces, a fanfare for the common man. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause]

[inaudible conversations] >> good morning. the senate foreign relations committee, exactly one month ago today extremist in northern nigeria abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls in an unconscionable act of terror. the leaders, boko haram are selling the girls into a marriage and forsythe into

islam to some as a bargaining chip into negotiations with the nigerian government. they are held today in make dense tropical forest area that borders three countries. besides being forewarned the local and central government did nothing to protect them. parents should not have to be afraid to send their children to school, no child to live through the for these girls have experienced unfortunately these are not delay families that have suffered at the hands of boko haram the same day 75 more were killed and 100 wounded in the capital city. 300 were murdered just last week according to amnesty international boko haram has killed over 4,000 including 1500 the last year alone. want to welcome my partner senator flake as well as

chairman mendez and others nizolek their response to the kidnappings with the grave and growing threat. the subcommittee met when we looked at the divide between north and south governance and services in the security challenges nigeria is important part of the of growing poverty interruption to undermine the domestic scope. boko haram name means western education at targets churches and schools and children are the frequent victims of attacks. as written last week in the greatest threat to extremism is not drones or missiles but girls reading books. those schoolgirls' demonstrated great courage

to take their final exams of a group that targeted simply because they sought an education. boko haram is trying to send a message started with the nigerian government to save their crimes will not be tolerated and perpetrators heldill accountable. we hold this because of the of pouring of concern because of my constituents and millions of americans. sgirl bring back our girls #that has ben mocked sometimes than those posted were from trying to people and trying to make sure e devastatese the girls home. those people deserve to know that we hear you and share your goals. every day these girms are missing, it becomes less likely they will be returned home safely. it took too long for the nigerian government to respond to these girls' abduction. it took too long for the nigerian government to accept offers of assistance from the

united states, the united kingdom, france and china. and once accepted, it took too long for that assistance to be implemented. i'm glad a u.s. team is on the ground now and we need to make sure not another day is wasted. we cannot stand by while boko haram viciously attacks nigerian citizens, their freedom, their security and their right to an education. so in this hearing we will discuss the response of the nigerian government to boko haram both before and after the abduction. we will consider what the u.s. is doing and can do to help in response to the abductions. and in confronting boko haram. finally, we will consider the regional implications of those growing threat and what action can and should be taken by cameroon, chad and niger to ensure the schoolgirls are not taken across borders and to minimize the growing regional threat. i'd like to invite an opening statement by my ranking member flake and then senator menendez. >> i appreciate the witnesses coming forward. look forward to their testimony. i won't take any time here.

just to say i agree with the chairman's comments. we want to know what the u.s. government is doing, what -- what the nigerians have asked for. whether we can help them or not in this regard. i look forward to the testimony. thank you for calling the hearing. >> thank you, senator. i greatly appreciate your cooperation and real partnership in working on this subcommittee. to the full committee chairman, senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. as i sit here in your chair i get the blue hand vibrations coming from delaware. so i appreciate your leadership and senator flake's on the africa subcommittee on a wide range of topics. and today is a continuation of that leadership. and we are all thankful for the work that you do on behalf of all of us that serve on the committee. so thank you for your work and your leadership. we are -- it's very rare, i should say, that i come to a

subcommittee hearing, as a matter of fact, i haven't done it in the 17 months that i've been the chairman. i remember senator lugar used to do it quite often. but this is one that i clearly feel compelled to be a part of. we are all appalled at the plight of nearly 300 young women abducted in nigeria by boko haram. which has been said many times, to me it's amazing that the phrase "education is forbidden" in the 21st century is still a reality. of course, it's a phrase that is counterintuitive to those of us who care about the future of the next generation. right now these girls are separated from their families and no doubt are terrified. i've seen the video released by boko haram this week, and my thoughts as a father are with the missing girls and their parents. frankly, in my view, the fact that incidents like this are

happening at all in the 21st century should be deeply troubling to every human being. we must reaffirm and recommit ourselves to the fundamental rule of law everywhere. as parents, as human beings, we must insist women and girls be treated with dignity and allowed to live and learn in safety from extremists everywhere. sadly, while the scale of this incident is staggering, the boko haram threat is not a new one. they have led an escalating campaign of atrocities against their own people for five years. they are extremists with a gangster mentality who represent no interest but their own, targeting young women, but also young men, churches and schools. i believe they do not represent islam. and in my view, their actions cannot go unanswered. the mothers, activists and concerned citizens who have taken their outrage and grief to the streets of abuja, london and washington and the electronic highways of twitter and facebook

deserve credit for focusing the world's attention on this crisis and insisting the nigerian government bring them home. just this past friday i joined outraged citizens in my own state of new jersey who added their voices to the chorus and took up the cause on social media. that said, despite offers of assistance from the united states and other international partners, the nigerian government's response to this crisis has been tragically and unacceptably slow. i've called on president jonathan to demonstrate the leadership his nation is demanding. my understanding is that our team of u.s. technical advisers is now on the ground supporting existing teams, conducting aerial surveillance and sharing commercial satellite imagery with nigerian authorities. beyond what is happening on the ground as we speak, i look forward to hearing our witnesses discuss a plan of action for coordinating with nigeria over the coming days and weeks. finally, from a 30,000-foot view, the rise of groups like

boko haram do not occur in a vacuum. nigeria has a long history of division along ethnic and religious lines. tensions that terrorists capitalize on creating more distrust and more tension. but as much as we are appalled by the actions of boko haram and their tactical effort to use societal fissures to create chaos and distress, we should also be troubled by a record of excessive force and human rights abuses by nigeria's military. i'm pleased to see, mr. chairman, you've added an additional witness. ms. atata abu dalahi who's worked in nigeria on interfaith violence prevention and reconciliation issues. brought together civil society groups, government leaders and security forces to prevent human rights abuses in nigeria. we look forward to hearing her testimony. finally, let me close by emphasizing the intention of myself as the chairman the importance of elevating the issue of women's issues

globally. sexual violence, violence against women in general to the international arena. i call on my colleagues in congress to pass the international violence against women's act we introduced last week. i believe the world is watching and the time is now. my thanks to you, mr. chairman, senator flake and to our witnesses i look forward to the testimony. >> thank you very much, chairman menendez. we all look forward to the testimony of our witnesses today. i'd like to welcome our first panel. ambassador robert jackson, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for african affairs, earl gast. and ms. alice friend, principal director for african affairs at the department of defense make up our first satle. our second panel will be latana abdue lahi. this hearing will be joining us later via google hangout from

nigeria. we look forward to ms. adulahi's testimony. i want to thank our first panel of witnesses for being here today. and welcome your opening statements. >> chairman coons, ranking member flake, chairman menendez, other members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to update you about u.s. efforts to address the chilling threat that boko haram represents to nigeria. one of our most important partners in subsaharan africa. -- she will be attending the regional summit organized by president hollande in paris on saturday. it has now been one month since boko haram kidnapped the 200 young women from the town of chibok in northeastern nigeria. at the time of the kidnapping, these brave young women had

returned to their high school in order to complete examinations that would allow them to attend university. by seeking knowledge and opportunity, they represented a challenge to boko haram since it opposes democracy and formal education. indeed, boko haram has attempted to crush the kind of faith and the promise of education and prosperity that families in chibok showed. the attack is part of a long, terrible trend. boko haram fighters have repeatedly targeted schools. in february, boko haram massacred at least 29 people when it destroyed a rural boarding school in otamawa. boko haram has murdered police officers, snatched children, destroyed churches, burned schools, attacked mosques, driven people from their homes, challenged the government's authority and kidnapped westerners in both nigeria and neighboring cameroon. since january 1st, boko haram has killed over 1,000 people.

making nigeria's struggle against this group one of the deadliest conflicts in africa today. in addition to terrorizing the capital and other cities, boko haram attacks villages and military installations. the abductions in chibok fit into a larger pattern of violence. throughout northeastern nigeria, teachers and students have learned to fear the men who come in the night to kill young men and teachers and steal away young women. some of the young women from chibok daringly escaped their captors, but many more remain prisonerses of boko haram's leader, abubakar shekau and his followers. this tragic kidnapping calls us to redouble our efforts to defeat a malicious terrorist organization that has troubled nigeria for more than a decade. world leaders including

president obama have pledged their full support to the government and people of nigeria as they seek to safely recover and assist these courageous young women. we acted swiftly to carry out the president's pledge. by monday, may 12th, we had deployed an 18-member interagency team to advise the nigerian government as it works to bring back the young women. specifically, by advising on how to safely recover and assist these girls, offering specialized expertise on military and law enforcement best practices, hostage negotiation, intelligence gathering, strategic communications and how to mitigate the risk of future kidnappings. usaid has mobilized resources to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by boko haram violence including through the provision of psycho, social and medical support and treatment. we are cooperating fully with our partners, the uk, france and a host of other countries who

are also dedicating significant interagency manpower, resources and time to this effort. mr. chairman, a peaceful and stable nigeria is crucially important to the future of africa. and we cannot stay on the sidelines if it stumbles. nigeria has the largest economy and largest population. we look to nigeria as an ally in our quest to help africans lead lives free of violence and filled with possibility. as an engine of growth and a political giant, nigeria is vital to the success of president obama's 2012 strategy toward subsaharan africa. as we implement the strategy we are looking at secure nigeria. since boko haram came to the world's attention with a massive uprising in 2009 we have been working to help nigeria counter this threat. we provide nigeria with security assistance which goes to our professionals in the nigerian military, investigating bomb sites and enhancing border

security. we have increasingly placed our response to boko haram in a regional context. through our transs a,h,a,are an counterterrorism partnership the global counterterrorism forum and bilateral relationships with nigeria's neighbors we are encouraging greater information sharing and border security efforts. the importance of regional coordination is clear at a time like this as nigeria and its partners seek to prevent boko haram from smuggling young women across the border or using neighboring countries as safe havens. i must note, however, that our ability to encourage regional collaboration is made more difficult at this time as our highly qualified nominees to be the ambassadors to niger and cameroon continue to await confirmation by the full senate. we have also joined the international effort to isolate boko haram. in june 2012 the state department designated boko haram's top commanders as specially designated global terrorists. in june 2013 the state

department added abuick c-- abubakar shekau. in november 2013 the state department designated boko haram and ensaro as foreign terrorist organizations. last week our ambassador met president jonathan and they agreed on the importance of quick action on the u.n. designation of boko haram as a terrorist group. this week nigeria brought this question to the u.n. security council. at the same time, we have been urging nigeria to reform its approach to boko haram. from our own difficult experiences in afghanistan and iraq, we know that turning the tide of an insurgency requires more than force. the state must demonstrate to its citizens that it can protect them and offer them opportunity. when soldiers destroy towns, kill civilians and detain innocent people with impunity, mistrust takes root.

we share these lessons with our partners in nigeria, urging them to ensure that security services respect human rights and officials and a culture of impunity while people see the benefits of government and diverse voices are heard and represented in the capital. we have seen some signs of reform. national security adviser sambo dusuki's march announcement of a soft approach to countering violent extremism was encouraging. and we have worked through our counterterrorism and conflict stabilization operations bureaus to promote narratives of nonviolence in nigeria. as we strike a balance between counseling and empowering nigeria, we regularly send high-level diplomats to nigeria. on may 12th and 13th our undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, dr. sarah sewell, and african commander general david rodriguez were in nigeria to discuss how to intensify our efforts against boko haram,

reform human rights practices and pursue a comprehensive approach. all of these policy tools, our security actions -- constitute the framework in which we are working to help nigeria bring back these girls kidnapped by boko haram. resolving this crisis is now one of the highest priorities of the u.s. government. nevertheless, nigeria's conflict with boko haram will not end when these young women are brought home. consequently, throughout this crisis, our assistance is framed by our broader and long-term policy goal of helping the nigerians implement a comprehensive response to defeat boko haram that protects civilians, respects human rights and addresses the underlying causes of conflict. we are sharing with the government of nigeria practices and strategies that will bolster its future efforts to defeat this deadly movement. nigeria's importance and the violent attacks committed by boko haram are both growing.

we cannot ignore either trend. we welcome the committee's interest in these urgent matters and we look forward to continuing to work with you as we strive to bring these young women home and to address the broader threat. i look forward to your questions. thank you. >> thank you, ambassador jackson. assistant administrator gest. >> chairman coons, ranking member flake and chairman me mendes, thank you for the opportunity for me to speak before you today about the brutal kidnaps of more than 250 young girls from their school just one month ago. this late egs brutality was not an isolated incident. for years boko haram has terrorized the people of northern nigeria. they have attempted to exploit northern nigeria's low level of infrastructure, development and security that affects all aspects o f life from economic growth to access to basic services, resulting in the north's growing isolation. this conflict has caused decreases in agricultural production, price spikes and serious concerns about food security, both in the north and

also in neighboring states. for example, niger is import dependent and dependent on exports from nigeria. in nigeria, nearly 4.2 million persons are at risk of food insecurity and continued unrest will likely have long-term impacts on nutrition, agriculture and trade. it is projected that by 2015, nigeria will soon be home to the largest number of persons worldwide living in extreme poverty. in may 2013, due to an escalation of violence, the government of nigeria declared a state of emergency in adamawa, borno and yobay states. in early 2014 attacks carried out by boko haram militants killed more than 1,500 persons. according to the u.n., violence had displaced more than a quarter of a million persons to neighboring states by only a few months later in march. 70% of whom were women and

children. in communities hosting internally displaced persons, the presence of additional families is straining local resources, including already stretched water systems and basic commodities. to determine the extent of this crisis, the u.n. along with key international ngos are currently conducting a multiagency, multisector needs assessment. and u.s. aid is a part of that assessment team. last week, a team of humanitarian professionals from the u.n. and the ngo community traveled to the areas that are now part of the state of emergency as well as three bordering states that have received most of the idps, internally displaced persons. this team is meeting with state and local officials, with the displaced persons themselves, and other community members to establish the number of displaced persons, where they're living, their ability to access

food, income, health care, education and water and hygiene. the team will also evaluate food security, nutrition and protection services along -- along with identifying actors who are on the ground and who can help develop the most effective approaches to deliver relief. we will use the results of this mission to shape the provision of humanitarian assistance in partnership with others to meet urgent humanitarian needs among affected families. assistance will include food, shelter, safe drinking water, emergency treatment of acute malnutrition, community-based psychosocial support and programs targeted at preventing and treating sexual and gender-based violence. exacerbating this humanitarian crisis is boko haram's assaults on youth seeking education. a good education is a global public good and it's a necessary ingredient for economic

development and poverty reduction. education enables people to live healthier lives, fulfill their potential and also contributes to open, inclusive and vibrant societies. these attacks undermine northern nigeria's already precarious educational system by destroys schools, forcing others to close, and keeps thousands of students and teachers out of the classroom. school attendance in the region already well below the national rate will continue to suffer. usaid has active programs in nearly all of nigeria's northern states with a particular focus on bochi and soboto. through our education programs in the north we have increased access to basic education services for more than 15,000 orphans and vulnerable children. we've strengthened the capacity of some 24 education-related ngos. and we've also influenced nigeria's educational research

and development council to include reading as a core objective of its curriculum. usaid's conflict mitigation program active in six states in the north including borno, the state most affected by the violence, has funded numerous community training programs on conflict mitigation. we've supported and trained conflict management and mitigation councils, and we have carried out in partnership with local organizations phone in interfaith dialogues on radio and television programs. today our thoughts are with the schoolgirls and their families and the millions of nigerians forced to live under the threat of boko haram's violence every day. thank you and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much. principal director friend, thank you for joining us today. we welcome your testimony. >> chairman coons, ranking member flake, members of the committee, thank you for calling us together to address the deeply disturbing abductions of over 270 schoolgirls in northern

nigeria by the terrorist organization boko haram. people of goodwill across the globe have been horrified by this barbarous act and are rightly demanding nigerian authorities take immediate measures to recover the girls and are asking what those of us in the international community can do to support nigerian efforts. last friday the united states dispatched a multidisciplinary state-department led team of experts to abuja to provide the government of nigeria with the specialized advice and expertise it needs to respond to these abductions. dod has provided four subject matter experts from u.s. african command headquarters in stutgart germany to augment ten dod personnel already assigned to our embassy in abuja as part of the interagency team. in addition two military officers with extensive experience supporting the counter lords resistance army mission in uganda also have been temporarily relocated to abuja

to provide their advice and assistance. in total, 16 dod pesh knell with medical, intelligence, counterterrorism and communications expertise have been assigned exclusively to the mission of advising the nigerian security force's efforts to recover these girls. secretary jackson also mentioned the concurrent visit of the commander of africa command, general rodriguez, to engage with his nigerian counterparts alongside undersecretary sewell. their initial efforts have been to work with nigerian security personnel to analyze nigerian operations, identify gaps and short falls, and otherwise provide requested expeer tees and information to the nigerian authorities including through the use of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. we are also working closely with other international partners including the uk and france to coordinate multilateral actions and maximize our collective assistance efforts. mr. chairman, the threat to

nigeria from boko haram has grown over the past five years and mutates day by day, extending its reach, increasing the sophistication and lee that willty of attacks and growing military capacity. these most recent attacks are especially unconsciousable because they were perpetrated against innocent girls. and because of the sheer scale of the attack in chibok. unfortunately these kidnappings are only the most recent outrages in a growing portfolio of attacks perpetrated by boko haram in its war against education. on july 6th, 2013, in an attack on the secondary school in mamuto village 29 students were killed including reports that some were burned alive when their dormitory was deliberately set on fire. overnight between september 28th and 29th, 2013, upwards of 40 students were slaughtered in a nighttime attack on the yabay state college of agriculture.

in yet another nighttime attack, this at the buniyadi federal government college in february of this year, at least 59 people including boys ranging in age from 11 to 18, were killed. the department has been deeply concerned for some time by how much the government of nigeria has struggled to keep pace with boko haram's growing lethality and capabilities. recognizing this threat and the need for nigeria to adopt a whole of government approach to defeating it, over the past several years, dod has undertaken a number of initiatives to assist nigeria in its counter-boko haram empts. for example, we have supported the establishment of counter ied and civil military operations capacity within the nigerian army. we have also supported the establishment of an intelligence fusion center in an effort to promote information sharing among various national security entities. and overall to enable more effective and responsible intelligence driven counterterrorism operations.

more recently, we have begun working with nigeria's newly reyited ranger battalion to impart the specialized skills and disciplines needed to mount effective counterterrorism operations. mr. chairman, as dedicated as the department of defense is to supporting nigeria in its fight against boko haram and in recovering these girls safely, we cannot ignore nigeria can be an extremely challenging partner to work with. in the face of this sophisticated threat nye jeer ja's security forces have been slow to adapt with new strategies, new doctrines and new tactics. even more troubling, nigeria's record of atrocities perpetrated by some of its security forces during operations against boko haram have been widely documented. as we have advised the nigerians, consistent with u.s. law and policy, we review security force units who may receive assistance and we cannot and do not provide assistance when we have credible

information that those units have committed gross violations of human rights. with this important consideration in mind, we have worked to engage where and how we are able to. in viewing our engagements and training efforts with human rights and law of armed conflict modules and emphasizing the importance of the broad counterinsurgency approach that we ourselves have spent so much blood and treasure fulfilling. indeed if this tragic episode is to end the way we all hope it will, nigeria's leaders must continue to match their public statements with a serious and focused response that draws on all elements of their government and makes maximum use of their resources international partners are offering to them. this will not be an easy task. we are still seeking information on whether, where and how the girls may have been dispersed. but dod is committed to supporting nigeria in locating these girls and seeing them safely returned to their loved ones. thank you again for convening us here today and i look forward to

your question skbls thank you, principal director friend. thank you so this panel for your testimony. i'd like to now begin questions in seven-minute rounds. i'll remind all of us we have a scheduled vote at 11:15 and following the second panel witness. if i mightt, a affleck you have addressed this in nonperforming if i could have the interest of time a concise answer when did your agency make its first offer of assistance after the kidnappings? what was the nigerians government response and what of the nigerians taking full opportunity of those resources we have offered? >> secretary kerry called the president roughly two weeks ago today to made the offer of which it involved intelligence collection and other resources that i describe in my testimony.

>> almost immediately after the incident does embassy declared a state of emergency that allowed us to bring in additional resources and assessment teams. the second was the administrator almost immediate lee traveled to nigeria to me with that government also is to partaken other discussions but did partaken this issue. >> the state department took the lead to make the initial offer however once the government of nigeria accepted the offer i believe on the fourth they had flights by the night of may. >> if i could ambassador jackson there's testimony does state department to liberated mother to make it a foreign terrorist organization or to designate the top leaders which happened in 2012 and the

group as a whole the following year. but what were the implications and what additional steps have been taken to target other sources of support and why was there not initially unanimity about designating the whole organization? >> senator, the debates dates back many years at least serve 2011 and former assistant secretary as has been explained in media interviews it was really about the nigerian attitude the government feared that designating these individuals would bring them more attention and publicity to be counter productive. for some time we accepted the point of view but now they're only asking the u.n. do designate shows the

hesitancy but we decided to move ahead in 2012 precisely because we were convinced they met the criteria for that designation spinet describes the strategy to address the root causes of boko haram support the hearings that we conducted two years ago could be repeated today. with those challenges that would lead to this insurgency to create the conditions that have accelerated those for boko haram. >> as the principal deputy mentioned there is say realization within the national security group including the security advisor that this is a major concern. there are two units with the national security adviser's

office working on developing plans it and one is a multi year development program. with the immediate concerns of development with those two groups to help identify areas where we can assist and provide support. >> curls around a role there risking their lives every day just to get an education. usaid does deliver significant support and with the inclusion of women and girls but with the decline of the funding request for education programming i am concerned we may not have enough resources to do what we should in nigeria and elsewhere but it is predominantly focused with a small portion of the total

north but speak to the strategy how to support education that is the root causes of the of violence of this access to education for women. >> it has been a robust element with the budget for education is it is days if the ticket contribution we are making. the question is are we placings the resources in the rat -- the criteria? why is extremely difficult to program those in the north. we are working with the british development agency and we believe we are close to announcing a major effort to support education, a partner in the girls' education in the north. >> director friend, tell me

more about the counterterrorism partnership them but we have done regionally with others that are affected and mentioning the gross human rights violations but we're still able to find units that we could partner and it is still possible for the nigerian military police and security forces to take those leads to ensure the safe return of the school groups? >> yes. simon chin denied testimony the ranger battalion we will begin training this month and programming has begun to lay the groundwork. we are able to go inside the armed forces it is a

troubling limitation to provide assistance particularly training assistance that the nigerians so badly need we have been talking about this for quite some time with another recent engagement was a counter insurgency focused trip to nigeria last fall where reword urging them to take a more holistic approach. but with your question is?p sta effort. so i don't want to speak out of turn for mr. jackson. but i will say that in the region, we have been working increasingly with the cameroonians and the nigerians and chadians to talk about the regional threat boko haram

presents. some gi the border with cameroon and niger in particular is very pourous. we do know boko haram does operate back and forth across the international border particularly with cameroon. the cameroonian government and cameroonian president in particular have recently been taking boko haram even more seriously than previously. and we are working with them and with the nigerians and chadians to assist them and make sure these countries coordinate with each other. >> thank you very much. senator flake. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for the testimony. ms. friend, with our cooperation or assistance to the military, to what extent is it complicated by some of the rules and regulations we have about dealing with militaries that have human rights abuses lodged against them or have problems that way? what restrictions are we under and how does that limit our ability to work with them? >> so essentially, sir, under the leahy provision, any unit

that we suspect of having committed gross human rights violations, we cannot provide military training or assistance to. the broader implications of your question, however, how much does it affect our engagement with nigeria, it affects it very much. we have struggled a great deal in the past to locate units that we can work with and, indeed, to convince the nigerians to change their tactics, techniques and procedures towards boko haram. another way that we are very, very careful to ensure that we are only providing assistance to those who will not use it in ways that may affect civilians or otherwise violate international human rights standards is our intel sharing. though the sharing intelligence with a foreign government that is available -- intelligence that is available to dod would not normally be considered assistance subject to the leahy law, we are exceedingly cautious when it comes to sharing

information with the nigerians because of their unfortunate record. in this case, for example, we have sought assurances from them that ambassador entwisle delivered a couple days ago that they will use any information we pass to them from this isr support in a manner consistent with international humanitarian and human rights law. >> so i understand it, we have a couple offish shoo us with the military. one, they've been using pretty brutal tactics and pretty brutal justice, if you will, with regard to boko haram in the north. but also there's some fear that some of its ranks are infiltrated with boko haram sympathizers. is that a concern as well? the latter? >> that's a concern, sir. i would say an even greater concern is the incapacity of the nigerian military and the nigerian government's failure to provide leadership to the military in a way that changes these tactics. the division in the north that mainly is engaging with boko

haram, the seventh division, has recently shown signs of real fear. they do not have the capabilities, the training or the equipment that boko haram does. and boko haram is exceptionally brutal and indiscriminate in their attacks. and so as heavy handed as the forces on the nigerian side have been, boko haram has been even more brutal. and so we're now looking at a military force that's quite frankly becoming afraid to even engage. and that's one of the things that we're talking to the military leadership in abuja about right now. about how to get the training and also the orientation of the forces under control so that they will feel more competent to face the threat. >> the -- the military has declined in effectiveness in nigeria is really traced to fear that the political leadership has to military coup. that's been the pattern that's been followed around other countries as well. is that what you trace the

decline to? and how -- is this political leadership now, this president and those around him, do they fear strengthening the military for that purpose fearing a coup later? what is the relationship right now between political leadership and the military? >> the relationship between the political leadership and the military itself is reasonably healthy. i do -- my understanding is that the weakening of the nigerian military does trace back a couple of decades, at least, to concerns about capability for a coup. at this point, that isn't a concern in nigeria. another concern which my colleagues can also speak to is that the nigerian military has the same challenges with corruption that every other institution in nigeria does. much of the funding that goes to the nigerian military is skimmed off the top, if you will. >> assistant administrator gast,

reports have been around for a while about kidnappings and whatnot in the north. let me just read from one report. for much of the past year boko haram's fighters have stocked the rugged hills of northeastern nigeria forcing teenage boys into their trucks as recruits and snatching teenage girls as sex slaves, said nigerian officials and analysts. villages and small towns in the northeast are dotted with parents who haven't seen their children in months. how aware has the state department been of this activity, and should we have been more aware of the events that might have told us that a kidnapping of this kind was coming? >> so from a.i.d.'s perspective, i'll led deputy assistant secretary jackson address it from state, yes, we're very

and individuals that can help promote dialogue between communities. unfortunately, the capacity of them to expand and go into more areas and reach more deeply into pockets of so side is somewhat limited. >> a.i.d. usually learns of these things because of the program you do with the local population there. mr. jackson, can you speak from state's perspective how aware were we of these kind of kidnappings and this activity going on long before the school kidnapping? >> senator, we've been very aware. as ambassador of cameroon the last three years, i was witness to the kidnappings of french citizens there starting early last year and then that has

expanded. we just had a third kidnapping earlier this year. the kidnappings are part of this larger strategy of terror and consistent with what the lord's resistance army has done in uganda. i think they are copying the tactics in some respects, which is why it's useful to have people with our military familiar with the lra's actics and attempt to apply that in nigeria. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to you and ranking member flake for holding the hearing today. as i think we would all agree this kidnapping of these young girls in nigeria is horrible. it's outrageous. we are all in sympathy with their families and the community

they came from. it's been interesting to me to see the outcry around the world as a result of these kidnappings. it sadly reminds us there are too many girls and women around the world who are threatened, who are, for young girls who are trying to get an education and better themselves. they are victims of violence. too many children are given as child brides, too many women are kidnapped and sold into slavery, sex trafficking, and we have got to do a better job, not only in the united states but in the world in combatting these crimes. i know this week the international violence against women act was filed. again, i'm certainly hopeful that the full committee will take up this legislation and pass it because we can either

allow women to continue to be victims of violence and ignorance and repression or we can act on behalf of our wives, our daughters, our granddaughters and make a change in the world that will benefit everyone. i wonder, and i'm not sure who to direct this question to. i understand that there have been a number of offers of assistance to nigeria, from france, from britain. i understand that israel and china have also offered to help. can someone describe the extent to which those offers are being taken up and how the coordination is happening? >> senator, i would be happy to take that question. in fact, we have a fusion cell

in the nigerian capital where the british, french, americans and nigerians are working together to develop the information that we have been able to gather through our various activities. we are also in touch with the israelis and the chinese to much lesser extent, but we are talking with them to find out what is being provided. i spoke with our team leader just before coming to this hearing. he's very satisfied with the cooperation and he's looking forward to expanding it this weekend when the regional leaders meet in paris. >> are there any muslim countries that have offered assistance? >> a number of muslim countries have spoken out. certainly niger which is predominantly muslim offered its assistance as has chad. >> when you say a number have

spoken out, to condemn what has happened? >> absolutely. the message that all the muslim leaders who have spoken out, whether religious leaders or political leaders have passed is that this is not about islam. i think that's a very important point. boko haram's philosophy is not an islamic philosophy. >> i agree and i'm glad you made that point. clearly, we need to make sure islam is not confused with some of these horrible terrorist acts that have been and continue to be perpetrated by terrorists groups. mr. gast, can i ask you to elaborate on a question senator coons posed about what we are doing to help address women and girls in nigeria where 2/3 of women in northern nigeria receive no education, only one out of 20 women has a high

school education, and where half of nigerianian women are reportedly married at age 15. can you talk to what more we can do to address the circumstances there and cooperate with those organizations in nigeria who share the values of trying to support getting an education for women? >> senator, i would be pleased to take your question. if one were to look at the development indicators between the north and south, it's almost looking at two different countries. that is one of the reasons why we are targeting a lot of our assistance in health. a lot is targeted to the north, northwest as well as northeast, and for education, as well. education access freights are very low.

in fact in comparison with the rest of the continent, also near the bottom. part of the problem is that educators themselves do not meet standards. less than 50% of the teachers in the north do not meet the federal standards. so we're helping the ministry with teachers training. we are also helping with access to education. the problem is there are many problems and impediments along the way. one is security. we don't want to do harm. we don't want to, in a very insecure environment which we know boko haram is operating and they are targeting girls, we don't want to encourage girls to go to schools. so we are looking at alternative ways. at-home education, radio education, things of that sort. we are also very focused and we are supporting the government's program of saving one million lives which is targeted toward

maternal mortality and child mortality. again, both of those programs are in the north. >> and i guess this is probably for mr. jackson, but do you expect or do we expect either state or d.o.d. to request additional funding to help the situation in nigeria? >> senator, that is an excellent question. i think we'll have to see how the operation evolves and how quickly we are able to develop good intelligence based on our overflights and we'll get back to you. >> thank you very much. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator shaheen. before i turn to senator rubio, i want to remind all of us we have a scheduled 11:15 vote. we have a second witness waiting to participate live from nigeria and we'll do what questions we can of her after hearing her opening statement. senator rubio. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for being here today and for your attention to

this horrifying crime that's been committed. ambassador jackson, from your testimony, from much of the media reporting on this, the perception is being created and i wanted to ask you, is the prime motivator here of this instance in your opinion, is the prime motivator the desire to deny young womac saccess to education and empowerment? >> i think the prime motivator is to raise more funds for boko haram through a ransom. the fact boko haram. >> this is motivated by an anti-christian attitude of this group. i want to read you comments from the leader of boko haram. i'm sure you're aware of it because the whole world has seen it, a gloatesque statement.

it concludes by saying, "to the people of the world, everybody should know his tat yus. you are with mujahadin or with the christians. it's a jihad war against christians and christianity, a war against western education, democracy and constitution. we have not started. next time we are going inside and to a refinery and town of christians. do you know me? i have no problem with jonathan. this is a war against christians and democracy and their constitution. allah says we should finish them when we get them." i don't think there is any doubt one of their leading motivators here. there is no doubt this is a part of it, but this is not just about girls going to school around raising money. there is a strong anti-chris tin element of this organization. >> there is a strong anti-christian element. i would offer that more the thousands of people who died as

a result of boko haram's activities are muslim than christian. >> again, i think when you commit these horrifying atrocities you're going to target numerous people. from the various statement he said we should not ignore the fact there is a religious persecution aspect of this that is very significant and deserves attention, especially in light of what we are seeing, not just in this part of the world but multiple areas of the world where we are seeing horrifying instances of religious persecution against christians, which in my opinion has been underreported. would you agree this is one such instance which anti-christian motivations are strong component of what drives this organization to target? for example, my understanding is according to one pastor, nigerian evangelist, most of the 200 plus school girls kidnapped are christians. anti-christianity is a strong motivators in this effort. >> senator, i respectfully suggest while anti-christian

sentiment is a strong motivator, the fact of the matter is boko haram is trying to portray its philosophy as being a muslim philosophy, and that's just not accurate. >> officely it is a radical philosophy dressed up in a perversion of the tenets of a faith they claim to adhere to. i'm not claiming this is somehow driven by legitimate teachings of islam. i'm arguing there is a strong anti-christian element to this and it is part of a broader anti-christian persecution that we are seeing repeatedly throughout the world. would you disagree with that statement? >> i do not disagree, but i continue to want to emphasize that boko haram terrorizes all people. >> i don't think that's in dispute. my question is just from the very statement i have read here

to you today, clearly he has featured christianity as a key component that motivates who they are targeting and why they are targeting them. >> they are. if i may take the example of the school girls. 85% of the school girls kidnapped were christian. the other 15% were muslim, but they are all hostages. >> okay. i think we would stipulate there are nonchristians being impacted by this and its horrifying just as well. a crime against muslim is is no worse than -- it is no less worse or less bad than a crime against christians. what i'm trying to put forward here is we cannot continue to ignore that persecution of christians is a leading motivators not just of what's happening in boko haram and other parts of the world, but in this instance they are clearly motivated by anti-christian attitudes and ante christian beliefs. i don't think that is debatable given their own statement. in your opinion in hindsight, i know hindsight is 20/20, was it

a mistake not to designate this organization as a terrorist organization earlier? >> senator, as i explained, i think we had a healthy debate. we are respectful of the nigerian attitude. boko haram and the fear of designating the organization would bring it more publicity, in retrospect, we might have done it earlier. i think the important thing is we have done it and we've offered a reward for the leadership of boko haram's rockies. >> for future reference, do you think there is a lesson here when we make decisions about designating groups as terrorists, it shouldn't simply be -- either you're a terrorist group or not and in the future we should not so heavily rely upon some government's input with regards to whether an organization that happens to be operating within their territory should be designated or no. >> i think there is definitely a

lesson here. i think we will be quicker to act to make designations based on our own assessments earlier on based on this. >> my last question has to do with a broader theme regard to the risks of global jihadists and terrorists at-large. there was a narrative not long ago al qaeda was on the run. it was dissipating. in fact a new risk has emerged. want to rely on the testimony of director clapper before the senate committee of intelligence where i sit. decentralization of al qaeda movement led to new power centers and increase in threats by networks of like-minded extremists to multiple groups to which it's clear aqm, there appears to be some links and ties or some elements with boko haram. my question is what do we know at this point about that?

do we have any indications we can reveal in a setting of this magnitude this type that this is a group whose aspirations potentially involve attacks outside of nigerian territory against western interests, either elsewhere in africa or potentially in europe in the western world? what do we know about that at this stage? >> we definitely determined there are links between al qaeda and boko haram. they probably provided at least training, perhaps financial support. more importantly to the second part of your question, boko haram has become a regional threat. it's kidnapped a french family in cameroon. it's most recently kidnapped a canadian priest, a canadian nun and two italian priest and kidnapped a french priest several months ago who was liberated. this is an organization that is becoming an international threat and needs to be dealt with through international cooperation. >> i have a 15-second follow-up,

mr. chairman. is it fair to begin to hold -- is it fair to hold this group up as yet another example of what secretary clapper was talking about when he said the decentralization of al qaeda and emergence of these different groups and regions poses the new face of the al qaeda threat in the 21st century. this is one more example of those types of groups popping up in different parts of the world and pose a different challenge in nature from the al qaeda we confronted during the 9/11 pierce? >> senator, yes. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator rubio. chairman mendez has returned. >> thank you very much. what is in a banking mark-up, but appreciate the opportunity. let me ask you, mr. secretary, it is my understanding that nigeria has not been cooperative with us in our efforts to

designate boko haram as a terrorist group at the united nations. is that the case? >> until very recently, they were reluctant to designate them at the united nations. this week, their permanent representative did consult with the security council about designation. i expect that will happen imminently. >> we finally got them to see the light. it's a shame that it took the abduction of 300 girls to get them to understand they should have joined us at the united nations. you said consulted. does that mean they are going to support us in our designation of the united nations? >> yes, senator. we have been informed they will work with us and other security council to designate boko haram with the united nations. >> that is good all around.

even though the day i fear may cause challenges to getting each and every one of these girls back, that's our goal. that's why i sent a letter to president jonathan calling him on demonstrating leadership. what is your level of confidence that that the nigerian government after an indefensible delay now has the political will and military capacity to ensure a swift and effective response that utilizes international support to the fullest and is in line with human right standards? >> i'll answer the political will department and defer to our colleague. we do believe that the political will now exists. president jonathan seized with the issue. i just learned this morning he is on his way to visit the school and meet with the families of the kidnapped girls.

>> mr. senator, if i may, after the social media campaign was under way in earnest, we found in our engagements with the nigerian military an unprecedented level of access and frankness with them. our impression from the department of defense is that they are quite certainly for the first time in recent memory taking this threat very seriously and engaging with us very seriously. >> i see we are spending a significant amount of money engaging them in terms of creating a capacity. i also see what happened at the school and notice they had and lack of response. the question is what is their capacity? i accept president jonathan has now seized because of international outrage and is willing to do something, if we were to share at some point intelligence, assuming we had it and came upon it and could have actionable intelligence, what is

their capacity to execute such an effort? >> senator, we don't know what kind of situation we are facing. we can't isolate particular courses of military actions that might be appropriate for the rescue of the girls because we don't know where they are. there are two anxious as to your question. one is their capacity overall to handle the threat from boko haram to take defensive measures as you alluded to, at the school. there was also a recent prison break equivalent. that was virtually undefended by the nigerian military. again, as i spoke of earlier, the nigerian military in the north has significant capacity challenges. our aim right now is to support them as much as possible to get them training in assistance where possible. >> here's my problem. we are going to support them as much as possible, but if we

found actionable intelligence that identified where a large part where all the girls are, and we do not believe or we don't know if they have the capacity to act on it what good will that be? >> i can't speculate on that, senator. i don't want to give you speculative information. >> i need you to go back to the department and bring back a better answer than that. it is impossible to fathom we may have actionable intelligence and we may not have the wherewithal, either by the nigerians themselves or by other entities helping the nigerians to be able to conduct a rescue mission. so all of this would be worthless unless we know the nigerians are capable of executing or in the absence of their ability to execute, then we have some other efforts of support to be able to effectuate

an effective rescue. i would like you to go back to the department at whatever level is necessary to give the committee a better answer than that. otherwise some of us will question all of our efforts if they cannot be executed. >> sir, as we gather more information with the nigerians, we would be happy to come back and talk to you. >> i would like, yes, from the nigerians, but i want to know our own assessment. i want to have the department of defense's assessment as to what would be the capacity of the nigerian military and/or security to effectuate a rescue mission assuming that opportunity unveils itself. we are not going to wait until finding out we have actionable intelligence and find out we don't have the capacity to do this. >> i would be happy to come back to with you that information, sir.

>> we are trying to work out the logistics of a vote that is about to be called and second panel witness, senator cardin has questions of this panel. i'm going to invite senator cardin to question this panel. senator flake and i are going to go to the floor, cast our votes and come promptly back. senator cardin will transition to the introduction of our witness if we are not back within seven minutes. >> i don't expect to take seven minutes. i'll keep moving. >> we'll keep it as quickly as we can. >> i understand the challenges as the chair pointed out. the floor has a series of votes starting at 11:15. i will do my best to keep things moving along. i was following the hearing from the broadcast, had some conflicts in my office. this is a matter of urgency globally, as i think has been

expressed here. these nigerian girls were not in the wrong place at the wrong time. they were in the right place at the right time what happened there is beyond description. this is not a u.s. interest, this is a humanitarian global interest. united states has certain unique capabilities. the international community has capabilities. we are not yet clear as to the capacity of what the nigerian government can do. we do believe that the international focus on this issue has given greater strength to the nigerian government to take the appropriate steps for the safe return of the girls. i was listening to the comments of my colleagues, and i know it's frustrating when we know how long these girls have been under captive.

i guess my only observation, not so much as a question, this is not about what we read in the paper. this is about getting the girls back safely. this is not about u.s. or the u.s. being visible or invisible. it's about getting the girls home safely. we want to do everything we possibly can in that regard. there's also the issue generally in nigeria how they handle opposition, how they handle stability in their own country, which is of a concern to the united states. what i think most of us are concerned about is we don't want the safety of these girls confused with the outrageous terrorist acts and that there is any legitimacy to this whatsoever. i think that is a point that is not just u.s. interest but humanitarian global interest around the world.

it's that balance that we're seeking. how can we be constructive and how can we be forceful in helping bring back these girls safely? i thank you all for your testimonies today. we know these are difficult, anxious moments, but we want to be as constructive as we possibly can. we want to be very clear about the outrageous conduct of the terrorists that go beyond the pale of anything any of us can imagine. and we recognize that this is a global matter that the nigerians must handle, but they should seek help from the international community and we are available with the international community. thank you very much. i now invite up miss natanh aa.n

>> hello? members of the senate, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. hello. >> we hear you fine. can you hear us? >> oh, good. good morning. chairman coons, ranking member flake, members of the committee, thank you for convening this important and timely meeting and for giving me the opportunity to speak today. i thank honorable mr. jackson and honorable ms. friend for your testimonies. i thank you for your commitment and effort to help respond to the crisis in our country. my name is lantana abdullah. i work with violence prevention

in nigeria. the testimony reflects my own views and informed by my experiences first as a mother with five children, a nigerian and peace builder. i will speak of the evidence that brought us today because of the crisis and practical recommendations. you will all recall that today marks the 30th day that is over 200 christian and muslim girls were abducted from their school in north nigeria. this means a whole generation is, frankly, at risk. this is only one of many attacks which boko haram claimed responsibility. the group was created in 2002 with the sole proposal of imposing islamic law throughout

nigeria. so far the attack s have claime more than 2,000 people to date and displaced tens of thousands of people, and more than 10 million people are currently at risk if you combine the population. in addition to one of the comments made about the goal of boko haram, about their anti-christianity stance, i want to say of course it is a reply to pit christians and muslims against each other, and of course seek sympathy amongst muslims. this abduction just serves as a sad reminder of the long-standing challenges at play in nigeria that may also produce a negative impact throughout the greater region. currently, the lack of information on the current level of response from the government and forces is a great source of

worry for many nigerians. nigerians are also very much frustrated by the history and current level of corruption in the government associated, of course, with bad governors and impunity. boko haram, corruption is the result of democracy. western import that has failed. this description is in the group efforts. another nigeria asked me has been historically disadvantaged. in comparison to the south, boko haram took advantage of this to make heroes with the population by offering food, shelter and education. we must also acknowledge the nature of our borders, where violence has originated and

allowed boko haram to traffic victims as well as escape persecution by seeking refuge abroad. we have all been deeply torched by the attention of the girls' kidnapping. i think there is still more to be done to end this crisis. there is an underground response. it will be a short-term gain ensuring lasting peace in the region requires the issue to be addressed from multiple angles and engagement of all stake holders to prevent future atrocities. despite the escalation of boko haram violent actions, there are few reasons for hopeful. we have witnessed a decrease in attacks, especially coming from regions like central nigeria and particularly where i come from. during periods of insurgency,

victims appeal to own communitys to regain retribution. we've seen more and more christians and muslims working together as seen by the "bring back our girls" movement. and driven of course by nigerians. in the past there has been international cooperation. the world economy for africa hosted in nigeria have created an opportunity for u.s. and foreign technical assistance. with this in mind, i would want to make four recommendations. there is a need for humanitarian assistance and support to prevent further marginalization of the populations who are at ri risk. there is urgent need for support to victims of violence in northeast nigeria. other recommendations support

regional approach like all weaknesses have said, there is a need to have regional collaboration between nigeria and its neighbors. particularly cameroon. securing the borders will limit illegal activities. we need also to support a robust community for improving human security. how do we ensure communities also engaged in this? we also need to prevent a monetary humanitarian abuse is by security forces. more importantly, we know that the level and presence of military in locations have also increased the level of violations of human rights of citizens. we need to build this effort. nass much as we want to concentrate on the current crisis, particularly on the boko haram terrorist activities, we shouldn't also forget the issue

s of the upcoming elections. i would like to close with a personal story. three years ago i was at a wedding. boko haram. soon as i arrived, i heard multiple explosions, serving as a painful reminder of the violence affecting the residents. you could not move freely even with the current celebrations was made because of the lack of security. it is warm to my heart to see how resilient my family were as well as friends and neighbors. despite the terror, women still went to the market and children went to school. i strengthen my commitment as a peace builder to ensure all nigerians, christians and muslims can walk together and live free of fear. i tell you this story to remind

you that my experience is not unique. millions of other people throughout north eastern nigeria are affected by this violence. i hope my testimony today represents them all. i also want to thank the senate for this opportunity to speak and showing interest and support to overcome these challenges. in particular, i also wish to appreciate and thank the american people for joining the global movement to bring back our girls and end terrorism. we must continue in this spirit until the war is won. thank you and i await your questions. >> thank you very much for your testimony. lantana abdullah, we are grateful for you joining us today. you experienced so much as someone from the north and

advocate for peace-building. how has boko haram impacted your life, the community around you in the north, and what message would you like to send to the perpetrators of these vicious attacks? >> i think i want to talk first as a muslim. i want to say the activities of boko haram mostly affected those in nigeria. we've been left to talk about defending our faith and educating us as boko haram do not present islam and do not represent interests of muslims in nigeria. of course, coming from where we are, we are dealing with other conflicts in other locations like the north central region where we are dealing with ethnic and religious conflict. boko haram has also taken advantage of trying to perpetrate some of the terrorist

activities in some of these locations. it is taking a lot of our efforts to make sure we localize the contacts and not allow boko haram to hijack the process and work we are doing in nigeria. >> thank you. as you know, many americans have taken to the internet to express their outrage to boko haram and their support for safely returning for bringing back the girls. today's hearing is an expression in part of american concern and solidarity and commitment to support the families and the girls. what message do you have for us, for the u.s. government and the american people, as we consider what more we could do to support peace and security in nigeria? >> i think very importantly we want to acknowledge the american people and government for coming to our rescue at this moment.

we know of the military in america and nigerian government. of course the support from the nigerian government for such support, but we still believe the time is now to act. we need to look at nonmilitary support from the american government, particularly when looking at economy-driven, peace-building strategies and approach to also consolidate. we need to do that, but more importantly, we need to acknowledge that the region is one of the most backwards region in nigeria. there is a weak media presence, a weak society presence. we need to actually push to empower communities to speak their voice, not to allow some people or institutions to speak for them. that's where we are actually

pushing to see how we can have community level driven radio stations. at this moment, there is actually no license, the government is not issuing such license, but we think the time has come to have community regions to walk with young girls and women. >> thank you for those comments. >> if you could tell us what others in addition to the radio conversation that your organization, the organization for which your work search common ground has taken, and as a peace-builder, what are the most important steps you have taken to encourage reconciliation and dialogue amongst the communities in the north. what are the most positive steps you have seen so far? and what recommendations do you have for us about how we can best support peace-building efforts in the north. >> as you know, common ground is an organization that is very

innovative. it needs peace-building efforts around the world that. innovation and uniqueness is what we have to do with conflicts in many parts of nigeria. currently, we are working basically more in the middle belt region trying to bring ethnic groups together to look at their common grounds values and to work on their differences. we are also of course supporting the federal government to work on the military problem and stability in the niger delta region. we would be supporting communities to seek dialogue over their differences, using their own local initiatives. also empowering more skills and knowledge particularly on conflict transmission to deal with those issues constructively. >> thank you, lantana. i'm going to yield to senator flake so he also has an opportunity to ask questions before we must return for our

next vote. thank you so much for your testimony today. senator flake? >> thank you. i'm sorry if i'm asking questions already answered. with regard to the government's response to what's going on in the north, have there been any initiatives by the government that have been effective in diminishing the attractiveness of boko haram for recruiting or for their activities? is the government winning this battle or not at this point? >> over 200 young girls can actually be abducted right in the presence of the nigerian government and remain missing for 30 days, it means we have lost in some way. it's obvious there is still lack of capacity to actually deal with the problem. it also seems at the advent of the boko haram in 2002, the

government were not actually prepared to actually deal with the issue. of course, they have for us most nigerians, there have been many allies, many arguments about the position of government on using just being military offensive to deal with the boko haram is to suggest instead of trying to address some of the root causes brought about boko haram in the first instance. we had some announcements by the government to try to provide sustainable and you know, address some of the life and concerns of the region, to address widespread poverty and the low educational level and political marginalization of the region. of course, we've also not seen anything happening in regard to the money meant for that.

>> one other question. i think we were struck here at the international community was struck with how slow the nigerian government reacted to these kidnappings. does that suggest they simply aren't ready and willing to address the issues, whether the root causes or more immediate concerns? and are they only acting because the international community is putting pressure on them now? >> i think they are slow responding to the crisis and have knowledge of nigerians that have been coming out to actually push and talk about the current crisis. of course there have been many push by the international community to come in and support. the government were very

skeptical. they are very slow in accepting these offers. i think nigerians have actually pushed for that. we've seen it happening now and we hope apart from just wanting the girls released and work beyond the abduction to address the root causes. >> thank you. i turn it back to the chairman. >> thank you for your participation. we really appreciate you doing this. >> thank you so much. >> ms. abdullah, if you have closing comments you would like to make us to, we have to go back to the senate floor in just a moment for another vote. i know it was a little disjointed between senator cardin, senator flake and myself. if there are any closing comments you have for us, suggestions how we can most be helpful supporting reconciliation and development in the north that will address some of the root causes of the boko haram insurgency or that can address some of the root

causes of violence and of difficulties between communities, i would welcome that. if you have any other suggestions for how we can best support the nigerian school girls kidnapped and their families, we welcome that as well. thank you so much for your testimony. we look forward to a closing comment from you. >> thank you so much for the opportunity to actually talk today. of course, like i said, we need a lot of support. there is weak presence of civil society on ground to actually support the current crisis in the region. we want the u.s. senate to push how we can have more actions in the region starting out with the humanitarian issues immediately, but also looking out to plan long-term interventions. what can we do to promote civilian protection and also

promote human rights by armed forces and under community-driven efforts. >> thank you so much. thank you for your focus on peace-building, respecting human rights and reconciliation. we are grateful for the effort you made to testify before us today. i will leave the record open for an additional week until the close of business thursday may 22nd for any members of this committee not able to attend but have questions for our first or second panel, we greatly appreciate the testimony offered today by all four of our witnesses and the very hard work many are doing here in the capitol of the united states to provide support for the girls and >>

>> several members of congress acting in good

faith have put forward a plan that addresses our long-term funding issue. we applaud them for their efforts. there will be -- there will be more discussion of those attempts. others are suggesting the political realities will have to settle for the infusion of cash into the highway trust fund of the stop-gap measure. where will you get the cash? is used to be there were raised to do it. that things are tighter now then it was. it may be true we can get an infusion but it is hardly the long term solution we need to maintain a world-class infrastructure system. this is like the movie "groundhog day" every few years we wake up to have the same conversation about funding the same fights of the gas tax and the same scramble for money. the only problem in recent years we have not been doing very well.

in round numbers we have 20 years since we increase the gas tax. don't get me wrong when he is important, but don't for a minute think that is all we have to do for the infrastructure issues working. looking at everything being discussed in the recent days and weeks around the environmental issues, many of those are in conflict, not because they are wrong but trying to spend our money. in fact, what everybody would agree to is a comprehensive forward-looking program that meets the needs of the competitive 21st century that embraces the innovative approach and distills confidence to earn the support of a jaded citizenry.

[inaudible conversations]

good morning. for almost one year the a permanent subcommittee on investigations has been investigating hidden hazards to a consumer data and privacy and security that results from online advertising. our subcommittee operates in a bipartisan way and practices of our rules provide that the ranking minority member may initiate a inquiry and the tradition is for both sides of the aisle to work on investigations together and the staff work very closely together. thismmm5 investigation was initiated and led by senator mccain so i would like to call on him to give his opening statement first after which i will add a few additional remarks of first-ever like to commend senator mccain for his leadership a of the staff for their hard work to address the vaccine and the issues that are the subject of today's hearing.

>> i appreciate you and your staffhu cooperation to conduct the imports and bipartisan investigation. that is the hallmark of our relationship together for many years. i believe consumer privacy and safety with the online advertising industry is a serious issue the warrants examination. to the emergence of the internet and e-commerce more commonplace activities are taking place of the internet that leads to major advances and consumer choice and economic growth. these have presented novel questions concerning whether consumer security and privacy can be maintained in the new technology based world. we will examine these issues specifically with online advertising where the data is collected and cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities to use now where.

-- well aware but it is important to keep in mind the simple idea that everyone will agree consumers should not have to know more than cybercriminals about technology and the internet tuesday's safe. these companies like google a un the offer to have a responsibility to help protect consumers from the harmful effects of that advertisements they deliver. deciding who should bear responsibility gmbh technical and difficult question that cannot continue to be the case as the consumer is its of mainstream websites but still has the computer affected with the advertisement at the same time online advertising is an instrumental part how consumer companies reach

consumers. in 23 online advertising revenue reached a record high $42.8 billion surpassing the first time revenue from broadcast television advertising that is almost $3 billion less. with the boom of all the prices it will become more decorative than the years to come. this will outline the consumer space and cybercriminals have defeated the security efforts and what improvements could be made to ensure consumers are protected of mine and the internet remains a safe engine for economic growth? make no mistake the hazards are something even the tech savvy consumer cannot avoid. not just avoiding shady web sites are clicking on advertisements that look suspicious but in february

as security form discovered that you tear it -- malware was given to users' computers just going to you to the to watch a video was enough to affect with the virus. that was designed to break into online bank accounts. a similar attack in 2013 on the offer to also did not require a user to click to have the computer compromise. the consumer bank account that was compromised by the you to back has little recourse under the law. they managed to track down the criminal they could take legal action but cybercriminals are normally a part of sophisticated

enterprises overseas tracking down is exceedingly difficult even for professional security specialists but the consumer has essentially no chance whatsoever to recover funds from cybercriminals. how can it be they can sneak malware into advertisements under the most technologically advanced companies in the world? they have clever tricks to avoid the security procedures in the industry. one of them is getting to have a tester visit a web site to see if the virus down votes to the test computer. just as they can target their advertisements only to run a specific location cybercriminals can target by location to avoid scanning. the cybercriminal knows those responsible are clustered around certain cities you target the

malicious advertisement to run in other areas of the scanners will not see it. they have used even simpler techniques the law enforcement found calenders marked extensively with u.s. federal holidays and three day weekends. there were not planning for the july picnics but to initiate now where attacks at times when they would be at their lowest just this past holiday season two days after christmas than four days before he beat new year's eve young who was hacked and they began to deliver malware advertisements to computers to seize control of the computer using it to generate a bit quaint -- of that coin.

independent security firms estimate around 27,000 computers were infected of this one malware advertisement there has also been countless attacks of consumers online month vulnerability is the advertisements themselves and not under direct control of online advertising companies like yahoo! and google. >> they decide not to control them then sells because of videophiles would be more expensive instead of wind advertising companies put to liver that directly to the consumer while it is cheaper but can lead to greater hazards. with those advertisements to switch out legitimate adds.

the tech companies frequently do not know when such as which occurs intel after the ad is served because they do not controlled the advertisement is a quality-control process that is purely reactive instead of before finding problems afterwards the industry grows more complicated the single online advertisements for individual consumer routinely goes from five or six companies before ultimately reaching the consumer's computer. that makes it easier for the various companies to claim responsibility when things go awry. one instance is the attack on major league baseball web site june 2012. in that case the ad appeared to be for luxury watches it was a banner on the top of the page it was shown to 300,000 before being taken

down. in the aftermath it was still unclear which entity was responsible. one security analyst noted at that time the lack of transparency with of wind advertising made a signing up responsibility virtually impossible. one way to get an idea how complicated the on the road can we is to take a look at what happens when the consumer is it's a website where advertisements are served by third-party companies. when a user visits so website it instantaneously contacts the online advertising company. it then contacts other internet companies who help to collect and analyze data for the purposes of targeting in each company in turn can identify the users to analyze the online

activities and ultimately hundreds of third parties can be contacted resulted of a consumer visiting just a single web site. using special software called disconnect the subcommittee could detect how many sites were contacted when the user visits a particular web site they are represented in a charge. with the first example -- we go to video. we can see what happens with the ordinary business that does not depend heavily on revenues. in this case a company web site that gives online banking services for existing customers and not to generate people but it does not need to rival a large amount of traffic from advertisements.

you can see it is very difficult to see but the us use third parties were contacted by contrast when a consumer visits a web site it depends much more heavily on revenue of base and as a visit the web site and a number of third parties that are higher. for example, -- do we? this video shows what happens when a consumer visits tmz.com. a celebrity gossip web site. and just to make that point even been more clear these

are side by side. finally, another problem with the current online advertising is a meaningful standards for security the primary regulators from the ftc and the digital advertising space and san network advertising initiative have not been acted to generate effective guidance or standards for online advertising security. on the government side the ftc brought a number of enforcement actions against companies involved with online advertising for deceptive practices pursuant to authority under section five. they all have misrepresentation made by a company rather than the

failure to it here to any standards. i will just summarize by saying with consumer privacy there are some guidelines generated on internet users and how that data can be used. these approaches do not track efforts and they have all the them partially effective. with the consumer data em privacy may be necessary but senator kerry and i introduced of bill of rights and updates will be necessary to provide a framework how to think about these issues calling for that includes basic rights and expectations consumers could have with the dissemination of the personal private information online and specifically the prohibited practices of the of role of the ftc in a safe harbor for those that choose

to take effective steps to further consumer security and privacy. that legislation has a role forced regulators to engage with the ftc to come up with best practices and solutions. consumers deserve to be equipped to understand the risks to make informed decisions as online activities. today one thing is clear as things stand the consumer is the one party involved was online advertising simultaneously the least capable to take effective security precautions have forced to bear when security fails. such a model is not tenable. to play that indispensable role to make a profitable on the internet. but it should not come at

the expense of the consumer. thank you to the chairman for working with me on this and i thank you and the of witnesses. . . those weak links can be exploited. although consumers have done

nothing ever -- other than those of the mainstream website, the subcommittee's report and senator mccain's opening statement also highlight the hundreds of third parties that may have access to a consumer browser and affirmation with every web page of the visit. according to a recent white house report more than 500 million photos are uploaded by consumers to the internet each day along with more than 200 hours of video agreement. however, the volume of information that people create about themselves pales in comparison to the amount of digital information continually created about the. according to some estimates nearly has had a bite or 1 trillion gigabytes are transferred on the internet annually. that is a billion trillion bytes of data. against that backdrop today's hearing will explore what we