>> yes sir. during that time sir when mr. gonzalez was arrested down in virginia our roanoke office was advised of the arrest. there was consultation between the local authorities and our agents and at that time our agents did not interview mr. gonzalez. subsequent to that, when mr. gonzalez posted bond our agents did interview mr. gonzalez and we were all where of the weapons that he had in his vehicle. we were also aware of the map that he had in his possession. this is one of the most difficult decisions and agent has to make to make an assessment of someone that they are interviewing whether or not that individual has the potential or the motive to do harm to any of our protectees and during that interview mr. gonzalez did not exhibit any of those characteristics. he did not indicate in any way

that he wanted to harm or indicate in any way that he wanted to harm any of the protectees of the president. .. walking, and there was a bulge in the back of his jacket. as i've been briefed here. and the officer approached him, and noticed that he had a hatchet in the back of his pants. as i was briefed. the hatchet, my understanding, in d.c. is not in violation of the law, if it's considered to be used for camping-type activities. and that's what his individual indicated he had the hatchet for. the individual also allowed for -- gave a consent search of his vehicle. so he was very cooperative during the interview.

when they searched his vehicle, there were no weapo found in equipment to again the story that he was involved in camping activities, so again he was released from the interview then subsequently on september 19 and again three of the officers who were familiar with the hatchet interview recognized him. we've got a better job of communicating. there is officers who saw him more thing on the perimeter of the white house if we do not do a good enough job of communicating to everyone including the joint operation center that he was in the vicinity again. >> in the infrastructure for the security risk is in the discretion of the disservice to

update the physical security systems in place within the white house and surrounding grounds and which offices if any must approve any recommended improvements. >> i walked the perimeter of the white house as well as the interior of the white house and looked at the security measures we have in place. any adjustments we need to make as an example of defense we have to work with our partners and we are happy to do that. we've gotten very good cooperation to include the national capital planning commission and the fine arts commission, the national park service and we we work on the primitive of the white predator of the white house for any adjustments we want to make. >> mr. chairman, i yield back. >> we recognize the gentleman

from tennessee for his question. >> thank you mr. chairman and it is an honor to follow the gentleman from north carolina who served the committee for so many years it has been a friend to me. i appreciate that. >> the white house protection, does the secret service protection began on the inside of the fence or does the secret service have personnel on the outside of the fence? >> we are on the outside perimeter is as well. perimeters as well. >> did the dc police normally also provide some type of perimeter screening. >> it's also on the outside but the perimeter for the protection of the complex would be the responsibility of the secret service and we do have people in several different job descriptions on the perimeter of the white house. >> on the day in question september 19, 2014 how many agents were on the 16th

streetside at opposite andy jackson hominy folks were on the street beyond the white house perimeter? typically we would have the uniformed officers but we also have some countersurveillance unit that could be in that area in the park. we also have post right inside the gate. >> but none of them saw the man jump the fence? >> they saw him prepping to jump the fence and they can usually see the body language of individuals who as you know so many pedestrians come up that our officers and other security folks recognize when someone is starting to prep to climb the fence and they move in a direction and as you start to make a move they shouted verbal commands, sprint and they are

about an arms length or two arms length short of reaching them. >> what do they do then do they jump over the fence or were they in capable of doing that? >> the protocol is first to get on the radio and one of the officers did get on the radio to announce fence jumper. then the next role is to clear all of the tourists that are on pennsylvania avenue and once that individual in this case climbed over the fence now it's the responsibility primarily of the emergency response team and the other officers inside the fence area to >> and it's easy to second-guess nevertheless doesn't it seem like they should have been able to leap the fence leave the fence and chased him from behind and not just have done what you said to become a radio communication and clear up other folks? they didn't try to apprehend the

person clicks >> they do not have a specific position to hold. one of the reasons is because of the canine. as a result of september 19 if you go by the white house we have a bike rack rack they are now between this and going to prevent someone from jumping the bits going to allow us to have more time to react to have designs on claiming the fence. >> is that the area that we have had any people trying to enter the white house from the outside? i will say the north ground is more prominent in people jumping, yes.

to be an attractive and effective -- >> it may be the accessibility of the white house we recognize the historic nature of the white house and the american people should have access to the white house, so we are now in the process of working at the partners. that's the first step to see if we can do something that would be appeasing to the eye and keep the historical nature of the white house, but maybe the high fence. >> he got further in the white house than some of my republican colleagues have gotten. >> yes sir. it would certainly help us and we are looking for ways and options and in fact we hope within the next few months to have some drawings of options for people to look at.

>> into the incident there's hardly anything we can do about a great. >> what we have done is we've pushed out the perimeter after the constitution ave. again to monitor that area as well. >> i yield back the balance of my time. >> i have a great admiration for the secret service when i was a judge in texas i had agents bring cases that were well prepared and well received by the juries and that is the case today. the secret service does a lot of things. is your number one priority protecting the president and the

president's family? everything else is below and you are in charge of all of that. i delete the united states because of who we are it's really neat that the people go to the white house. you can do that in other countries whether it is western countries were third world countries but we get to do that and i think that's a good thing. let's go back to the fence jumpers. there have been 16 in recent years is that correct? jumping the fence going onto the white house grounds without permission it would be the

federal offense and up to 16 what happened to the other fence jumpers? were people don't do it again, were they released at the time? presumably jumping the white house fence. >> i will have to get back to you with the exact how that played out in court i don't have the figures in front of me. >> i would appreciate if you take the cases and the result of the prosecution and send that to the chairman of the committee. that is the secret service protecting the president. >> it is sir.

>> it seems the secret service cannot make a mistake. this is one area in your protecting presidents, the president's family, there can't be mistakes and if there are mistakes but for some other intervening reason bad things are going to happen. as you know very serious and very important. it's not just the secret service that is practice their it's also the white house police. >> there is a uniformed division branch of the secret service that protects the white house facility. years ago they were called white house believes but now it's uniform division.

>> so it's all secret service. >> it is sir. >> are there protocols when people jump the fence 16 people jump the fence to make sure that the president and the president's family if that's the ultimate goal that will not happen >> on september 19 we failed in the execution of that security plan but we do have very specific assignments and responsibilities of tactical units as well as the officers. >> we have a minute left. you're not trying to say this event occurred because of a so-called budget problem are you? >> this is solely -- >> it has nothing to do with the budget because that's your number one prayer one priya reddy protecting the president

and all the other things the secret service do as a secondary. >> that's correct. >> columbia hell many agents were involved in the scandal in columbia? do you know how many agents were involved? >> there were 13 as my understanding and i believe ten of them are no longer with us. you let them retire or something like that? thank you for your help today and good luck. >> i recognize the gentleman from washington. >> thank you mr. chair and director for being with us today. i wanted to ask regarding the september 19 tens and in particular can you explain further the radio communication challenges that were experienced? there were several officers who were unable to hear any

comprehensible radio communications to notify them of the fence jumper leading to for example a delay in deploying the canine unit so is it concerning to learn that some experienced muffled radio communications about the break and can you talk about what might have cost the communication challenges whether it was people didn't know how to operate the equipment properly or whether there was problems in the communication infrastructure and the underlying infrastructure? >> we are very concerned in the radio communications. for us to execute our security plan we have to have good communication and we didn't have the communication we should have had. i did read the report by the deputy secretary of homeland, and he highlighted that is one of our feelings on the communication that evening. we immediately went out and checked all of the reviews at the white house complex as well

as our joint operation centers. and we did discover some areas of the joint operation center that the commander of the joint operation center when he put out the word that there was a fence jumper he was under the impression that his communication with overwrite all the handheld radios and it did not. but we have now gone back and we have corrected that. so when the joint operation center has to get a message out, that will override any handheld radio communications. there was also some reports of the muffling of the radio communications. sometimes that is in the heat of battle people had to slow down and use radio discipline and explain exactly what happened subsequent but subsequent to that event we also did a review of any dead spots. were there any dead spots in the radiocommunication of the complex and we found that there were no dead spots, but that is the command post is one area that we had to correct and that

has been corrected. >> given the communication is critical to deploying the resources around in a situation like this, the report recently issued by the dhs suggested that the infrastructure he had contributed as well. so are there specific resources that might be preventing you from doing the best job that you can and is there a modernization to the infrastructure that is going to be important and can you give me any feedback on what you think would be more helpful in the terms that are available to your officers? >> that is a major concern. some of the recruitment is aging and that is what we are looking at to enhance our radio communications. it's outdated, some of it. it's still operational. we can certainly fulfill our mission but we are always looking to approve the access that we have. >> do you know what it is that you pay for to have or would it

be helpful? >> i think it's a little more technical but we would provide a report for you. >> i think i will yield back my time. thank you mr. chair. we are pleased to recognize the gentleman from utah and also to congratulate him on his new assignment the new congress has the chairman of the house oversight government reform committee. gentleman from utah. >> i think the chairman and the director. we made a the exceptional choice of venue in the position to the surface of in the country and you're taking on this role. you have an internal code of conduct. my understanding is that code to play for deals with false and misleading information. do you expect every person in the secret service to live under this code?

>> we do. >> there is no exceptions who should or shouldn't live under the code of providing false information and the penalty? >> that's correct. >> my understanding is if it is found that you are providing this information that would lead anywhere between the range of the five-day suspension to the removal, correct? the secret service put up up a put out a statement september 20, 2014 after the fence jumping incident where they said, quote, physically pretended after entering the white house doors is that true or not true? >> that is not true. >> it was further said according to mr. donovan and the associated press article posted on september 20, 2014 at 1:24 eastern daylight time edit

donovan -- >> the regional public affairs office. >> he said the man appeared unarmed officers in spite of claiming the fence and the search of the suspect turned up no weapons. is that true or not true? >> can i elaborate on that? >> how quickly after did you find the weapon on the suspect could have been heard at the white house flex? >> within minutes i would have to assume. >> and he claimed that the suspect turned up no weapons. this has been posted on the associated press. is there a secret service website or get into the media that this was an accurate? they just let that linger in perpetuity. let me go on operation that might mr. donovan is quoted as

saying that there were no protective assets used during the checks was no impact on the protective obligations. the ub we've got leave that to be true or not true? >> from the inspector general's report everyone indicated it did not affect the president. >> so you have a unit outside of the white house, and the president of the united states in the white house and you don't believe that there is trouble by taking those protective assets and moving them close to an hour away from the president himself? >> i read the inspector general's report and we respect and agree with his report that there was poor judgment sending the unit that distance in this case. >> the general came to the conclusion they would have been unable to respond if there was an incident at the white house. >> that particular unit, yes that's correct. >> so did the president have more or less access around him

from the secret service by moving the unit away? >> he didn't have that unit. >> there was less protection for the president as opposed to more. >> it is a reactive unit. >> we don't believe there's good to be an incident and when you take the unit how do you come to the conclusion that it had no effect on the security but if there was an incident? >> i would have to define what the unit does. we have agents assigned to the washington field office had when they are called to the white house -- >> sorry i need to ask the question here. we cited two were three incidents as the public was misled and vaults and permission giving that wasn't correct. was there any disciplinary action in the chain of command

to review the secret service is saying because as a member of congress the secret service misled it on purpose. was there any consequence to any person now did you follow the code and did you actually suspend or remove people from their service was there any county or consequence for providing false information? >> i agree with you and have the same outreach regarding the communication. >> but i want to know what you did. >> we have to do a better job of communicating. >> i want to know if there's any there is any consequence did anybody face disciplinary action there doesn't seem to be a consequence in your own internal code. >> this wasn't an internal consequence of the code. >> was there any consequence?

>> there was no discipline administered in those examples you gave. >> with all due respect my time has expired. until you actually live by your own code and hold people responsible and accountable you're going to continue to have this problem. that is my view of it from afar but there have to be consequences when people purposefully and knowingly mislead the public, the press and the congress. >> with respect from what i heard and have been briefed on and have seen i wouldn't say that it's intentional. there is a difference between misconduct and i think that there is a very clear distinction. >> addicted you know immediately who was apprehended at the door or in the white house? >> the time of the gentleman has expired. he will be permitted to answer the question. you can answer that question.

>> how that information was related and not being there and not knowing how it was related to the public affairs office, but needless to say it wasn't relayed in the proper manner. we gave that information and it's something we cannot do. we have to slow down with our communication because we know it's critical to get accurate information and that's what the goal is that we failed on that. >> the gentleman from new york is recognized for five minutes for his opening question. >> thank you mr. chair for your service to the country. it's my understanding that the number of threats to this particular president barack obama and the white house has increased significantly as the president first took office in january of 2009 is that correct? >> depending on the world offense we noticed over time french fries and lower depending

on the world events. >> what you characterize on the comparative standpoint the number of threats that this white house or this president has faced compared to the modern presidents over the last 20 or so years. >> the intelligence department does my tricks regarding trust with what you are referring to and we compared the previous administration didn't presidents and the last one i looked at, it does look as if the president threat level has gone slightly but it is an unnatural but it has gone up slightly. >> said the president threat level has gone up to some degree and at the same time over the last six years we have seen security breach after security breach after security breach. i think that is the reason for us to be concerned if not

outraged as it relates to the state of the secret service right now. as it relates to the concerns that you established upon your arrival i think you mentioned three staffing, training and morale is that correct? and is it fair to say the staffing issues that you confront relates to the fact you don't have the budgetary resources necessary to operate at an optimal level packs >> i think that our staffing levels from the budget perspective are appropriate at this time. one of the things we need to do to build our staffing is better the hiring process. as i mentioned in an opening statement it takes 12 months to get people high iran and we have to do a better job of identifying good of the people early on in the process so that we can streamline that process and may be moving to 12 months were seven months possibly shorter.

first of all there is an incredible interest in the secret service. the last job announcement we had 40,000 applicants but only 72 of those applicants made it through the process and were hired. >> connecting it to the problem that you've identified and other members of the congress have identified, you've got to the the elite presidential protection unit, correct? >> assessor. >> and that is generally viewed as an optimal assignment is that fair to say? >> in mind you it is. >> and you demonstrated your self to be an excellent leader of the unit and we were thankful for that. as it relates to the uniformed service division is a general perception among many observers in the secret service that it is viewed as less desirable assignment or on a cache system some may say as it relates to

secret service hierarchy is that fair to say? >> for the uniformed division that is a very challenging position. the officers at the white house had a very challenging position. i have great admiration for what they do and as it was mentioned earlier the number of people that have come into the white house with over 300,000 people that have come through the white house every day and these officers are confronted with a variety of issues and i have great admiration for the work they do. >> what can you do to improve the morale and the operational capacity, the ability, the competence of the members of the uniformed secret service division who play a very important role in the most recent incident that we saw in the fence jumping episode didn't perform with a level of first family deserved.

>> a lot of people desire more training. they have a passion to get out of the facility for more training and we have to get them out there for that additional training. that's one thing that may help the morale and we have to do a better job of communicating and hearing their issues and that's why we instituted the one button and put more focus on the anonymity of the concerns that could be sent because these officers want to be heard and the on button and sits on my director staffs or twice a week when i need with the staff, they will bring those issues to the table where i am sitting and as much as they want to allow we want to allow people to communicate we have to communicate down as well with response to these concerns and that will help the u-uniform uniform officers, so training, better communication i think will be a good start for helping the uniformed officers. >> think you and i will yield back.

>> the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania are his questions. >> at the leisure to be talking with you today since we have a fellow pennsylvanian and the director of the secret service. i worked for the secret service for 18 years as a prosecutor and i have nothing for praise for the secret service and i have personal experience, so i think the agents for their service. the president made the right choice putting you in this position. i can tell from the way you answered several of the questions. in the choice of assigning it as the director you have your hands full and there are some changes that have to be have to be made but i have complete confidence that you will square these issues away and improve security and morale. i do bv find kind of bb if i'm kind of old-fashioned and i think secret service should be with treasury, not homeland security. i think there was a fine system

of operation no disrespect to homeland security. they have their hands full in many other areas. and with that i'm going to yield back because many of my questions pertain to the second round of thanks for being here. >> if you'll bear with me i recognize the next person from rhode island. i apologize. forgive me with with the gentleman yield to the ranking member? >> think you and i apologize for my tardiness. i wanted to raise a little discussion about the people that

have successfully climbed over the white house fence and is there any thought of yet about how we are going to prepare this problem that keeps happening replacement or a different design or what are your thoughts as you sit here before the judiciary committee? >> the first is for our own operational standpoint to address what happened on september 19. immediately we have instituted additional training between the tactical units and uniformed division officers first with a four-hour block classroom work and then additionally six-hour

block out of the training facility where we would do integrated training so we could do a much better job cannot allow what happened on september 19th two of her again but additionally, there are some other things we are looking at to include adjusting the height of the fence or some modification to that end again we worked very well with our partners and services and we are meeting in the very near future with the national capital planning commission and fine arts commission. with those meetings we think we are going to find some solutions to make it more difficult for people to get over that fence. >> thank you. now, the secret service performs two huge missions one protecting the president and vice president, their family and other dignitaries but also investigating crimes against our

financial system and some have raised the question whether secret service should maintain both missions and question whether the mission reduces the effectiveness of the protective mission. have you examined these issues yet but we break it up the white house complex are strictly there for protection. but on the agent side of the white house we have a very robust investigative field office throughout the country. we think that it's critical to our mission to read our protective mission and overall mission that the work that our agents do in the field allows them to build skills from working the streets, doing interviews, situational awareness committee kerry over into the protective mode so that you are much more attentive and pay attention to details, it of

helps you with your advanced work, there is a direct correlation between the investigative side of the house and the production side. to include now the site of investigations where we have had great success investigated fully we use a lot of those people with the critical systems division. we use them significantly with our national special security events so we see the correlation between the physical security of our sites as well as the cybersecurity. >> let me ask you about the september 19 incident. it revealed numerous problems with radio systems, alarm systems, officer training, physical act of attitude of the white house grounds and officer

performance. did you have any way of determining as acting director whether we have facilities and training to host the full-scale drills to test the equipment so that we can be confident that it will not fail us in the future >> as an example with the training that we've instituted just recently, and again for the reach raining we sent our officers out there for >> we built a markup of the ground as we had a proper distance from the north fence line to the north port but it is a markup added that the facility. ideally in the future we would love to have h. roux replica of the white house so that our dogs can feel comfortable working in

the true environment of the north grounds are like saddam would be a long-term goal to get a markup of the white house at the training facility. >> glad to hear you say that. i would ask unanimous consent that my opening statement be included in the record. >> without objection. the chair will now recognize the gentleman from north carolina mr. holden. >> thank you mr. chairman. director clancy, thank you for being here. we think it's very good that someone with a long history in the secret service is there to address these problems like my friend i spent a lot of time working with the secret service and had nothing but the highest respect. the secret service is always willing to jump into the task

force and bring whatever resources they have to the table and how to multitask is always good when you have a secret service agent they bring a lot to the table and pride themselves on always having the best prepared cases when they bring them into the u.s. attorney's office and so forth. picking up where mr. marino left off it saddens me to hear the secret service is having such problems considering the elevated reputation of the stature and talking to agents over the years and you may think the problems started when the secret service was taken out of the treasury.

but you have a breadth of experience and you were in the secret service when they were in the treasury department. take him out and just reflect on that and do you think some of these problems started then and if so what have you thought about the ways to address the problems that may have started when the secret service treasury? >> when i was a younger agent and younger manager in the secret service, we were under treasury. when i didn't have a lot of exposure to the decisions at the time my true management experience has been with the department of homeland security. and to be candid, the issues we have had as of late are a reflection on some of the things we've done and i'm focused on we have to fix our own operational procedures and conduct and morale.

i was concerned when i came back from the private sector that was very concerning so that is one of the areas of which we need to fix and i'm committed on working on ways to fix that morale and as i said earlier training is one of the things we have to build up. we can get our folks trained they will feel more confident in their actions every day and so that's one priority. and the other is the communication. we have good ideas out there and we want to hear they're good ideas and if it's an idea that we cannot implement. the key is communication. people want to be heard and my first day on the job i met with our senior staff.

they are being heard and respected. >> one other follow-up question and i will yield back regarding the security guard who was armed were there any other security guards armed? >> there were other armed security is at the cdc that they were not on the inner perimeter. they were on the outside of the inner perimeter is not uncommon on the outside predator to have. so there were armed security that hadn't been cleared on the outside of the predator. were there any on the inside of the perimeter like the individual that we noted? >> none other than the elevator operator was armed. >> thank you. i yield back. >> the chair will recognize mr. sicily and. >> thank you for being with us

today. as you understand the protection of the president is a critical national responsibility and i know that we all recognize in many ways the work and the secret service really worth the ability to defend the democracy and directly tied to the ability to protect the occupant of the white house whoever he or she is in any given time. so these issues are serious and i think that we all appreciate the seriousness which you are approaching the new responsibilities and i thank you for being here to provide some testimony today. i just want to first focus on you made some reference to the staffing levels declined over the last several years of the workload of the agency has not said whether there are training and personnel and scheduling and communications issues that relate to each are there more general concerns you have about the resources without the staffing level and in tons of infrastructure equipment and the

capacity to integrate new equipment as it becomes available? >> we are appropriately funded. our concern is getting people into our pipeline and getting them hired quicker so that we can build up our staff. our staff. from the infrastructure standpoint, there are some things we will be looking for additional funding. we talked about events. once we get a good renderings good renderings and the approval if we get the approval from our partners in the national capital region that will be required. some additional funding for that but also the communications we would like to update the communication systems and resolve that we have some failures on september 19 to the communications need to be upgraded. the the vice president's president said we had a lot of facilities to protect and all of those are under constant review and we always want to update our

alarms and cameras and that's the main focus. >> i was pleased to hear you say with respect that additional training to be sure that agents are familiar with the ground by white house that you have some expectations to make requests for additional facilities that your training. but in addition to that it seems as if the staffing policies also play a role particularly in the incident on september 19 and the agents being required to work overtime and many shifts in a row that contributes to the general weariness into the way the seniority plays a role so can you speak to what you will be doing or have already done to address the staffing issues that they are contributing to the kind of experience is? >> you bring up an excellent point regarding the staffing

particularly at the white house. we are making a review of our staffing in terms of experience at the white house. we want to make sure we have a good mix of experience as well as newer agents at the white house complex and that review is ongoing now. we've already completed that review at our other branches of the division. >> sometimes the least experienced officers are assigned the most important responsibilities. is that what happens? >> we have an overabundance on some shifts and that's where we want to find the balance we have good experience and mentors for those agents who may be on duty at the same time. >> and that is an issue that you are examining. >> i should have started with this and i will end with this to say that i have enormous respect for the men and women in the secret service. they've always represented the gold standard in many ways and i'm very pleased you want to address these deficiencies and help raise the bar out.

it's essential because of the work they do and obviously this committee and the congress will look to be a partner and support you in any way you think is necessary to achieve the mission successfully and with that i yield back. >> mr. director i want to start by also thanking you for your service. i hold a law enforcement in high esteem and i would be biased towards law enforcement. i think that they have been getting unique powers in our culture and with those common corresponding week unique responsibilities. it's a difficult job and it takes a different kind of person to be able to do that job. when i hear reports about alcohol abuse while you are either on the job were about to go to the job and when i hear reports that harassment and female agents or solicitation

for prostitution with all due respect that doesn't strike me as a training issue. that is a moral issue and character issue and recruitment issue. if you need to go to a seminar to learn at that stage of your career not to send sexually explicit text you have no business being in the secret service. there is a quote from a spokesperson periodically we have isolated incidents of misconduct. it's not a defense. you are different. so from a recruitment standpoint and then we will get into jurisdiction but from the recruitment standpoint you get the state and local law enforcement are you get folks with no experience, talk about the recruitment.

>> one of the things we feel is that through the jobs we are getting a lot of applicants who may get moved on because they use the right words in the computer system. what we need to do is if any of our people know good quality people and served in a terry and have law-enforcement experience, good quality get into the field offices and interview right away and then get them to the hiring process that's the way we used to do it years ago and we've got to get back to that where we can bring in good quality people up front. staggering into deeper to your expertise and i will have a different perspective whether you're jurisdiction should be as expensive as it is way back when the earth cooled and when i used to work with the secret service i never got the connection between investigating counterfeit 100-dollar bills that were created on an ink printer and protecting the life

of the president or vice president or judge. i would rather have a state and local law enforcement officer who used to do homicide cases. so, atf in the early 1990s kind of was more tricky writing towards the cases and i just wondered if it wouldn't be in the service best interest to let the marshals or the bureau or somebody else bureau or somebody else handle some of these books of business and focus on what is incredibly important which is protecting the life of our commander commander-in-chief and judges and other important people. why is that not enough? >> i would say additionally our field offices in addition to the investigations regarding the counterfeit and cybercrime and whatnot but they also do

productive intelligence investigations. so if you are sitting in kansas city or texas and there is a threat made to the president, the same field agents go out and do the investigation so they've got the skills and they've got to make judgments on is this someone who could potentially threaten or harm any of our protect these so they learn those skills as well. additionally when our protect these travel for example the president travels to any city within the country, the same field offices have already built up the report and the county officers to report has already been built through their investigations and now we are going to rely on them to support us in a protective mission. in the perimeter that we set up, the outer perimeter commanders of those relationships are very strong and we use that in the protective standpoint. they actually start the advance work.

>> you are the expert and clearly i am not. i would -- it is tough for me to draw the connection between the investigation of the financial crime and counterfeiting. there may be categories where there's there is an actual seamless transition. i just you are the boss and i'm not and never will be. there may be businesses that prepare your agents. i just, i don't see that one. but i will share with a colleague outside for whatever reason we tend to have the person not not responsible not responsibly before asked that you could argue was responsible is no longer in a position so i'm not going to spend my energy speaking up i do not understand not searching the white house when there is any evidence even of a shooting. i cannot understand not doing that but it's not fair to ask about that.

so what the right would reflect i was spared on at least one occasion and i will recognize the lady from texas is jackson-lee. >> this is a very serious hearing and i'm grateful to the judiciary committee for its concerns and i particularly want to thank him for his words if i associate myself as i imagine every single member of congress and that is to recognize the story of the secret service that have certainly traveled through many presidents careers and we thank you so much for your sacrifice. as well i associate myself with the concept that the most important responsibility i believe is the securing of the commander-in-chief.

although they've added additional duties and i think over the years you have been engaged as a part of the treasury before coming into the homeland security and our founding fathers or father's later than that and another is thought that was an appropriate role for you to be engaged. so, obviously, changes would require assessment and overhaul from many parties including members of the united states congress. but i did want to put on the record that i thought no one doubted the respect we have for the secret service and particularly for the important and crucial role that you had. as i recalled the former actor was brought on to address the scandals and problems reported about the culture of the service and an independent review panel will insure an issue in a future for the record. is that report coming soon

collects >> yes-man a has been completed. >> and i'm not talking about the one that we received on homeland security. is there another report coming? to make the investigation that was conducted by the deputy has been completed. now there is a blue ribbon panel by the secretary that was set up and it will be completed. >> that's what i'm asking is the homeland security. so we can expect that because that's ties into the reason why the director was the plaintiff and the idea is that there were issues that needed to be addressed before is that correct? >> that's correct. we also know that every director has to address emerging threats and stabbing morale problems etc.. so i'm hoping to this report will address the question. just as an aside and i'm going into some of the aspects but just as an aside we know there

are issues dealing with morale i think that you've acknowledged that. are you focusing on trying to address those questions? >> absolutely. and i know that a recent order or notice came out for the female agents to wear their hair in a gun as opposed to any other kind of hairstyle. can you tell me how that helps morale and how that is evident caring for the principles that they have concern for? >> i'm not familiar with the directive but i will go back after this hearing. >> would you please check that and i would appreciate a response back and argue that that is an appropriate is inappropriate and is certainly a contributor to blow more now. let me continue on who is responsible for overseeing the interdisciplinary processes ensuring that the employees are held accountable. >> who is responsible and is

there an attempt to make sure that there is evenhanded assessment of the discipline? >> yes-man. as a result of some of the other events, the office of integrity was set up by director pearson. so the purpose of the office of integrity is to have one central location where all discipline will be filtered into end of their decision is made whether or not it is a criminal violation or whether it's a misconduct by deletion etc.. we want to make sure that there's a consistency in the discipline that is affected. we have a table of penalties now that will ensure that there is a consistency as we are confronted with these operational or misconduct. >> i have the greatest respect for the amendment and the greatest respect for the media that has every right to interpret and write articles. please i do know that but i know

that sometimes we have to get to the facts so if the the chair man what an bulge me let me get to practice on the table without any personal like college meant but in one instant >> the gentleman is recognized for one additional minutes. >> in one instance on the beach a gentle man was on the phone on a personal phone, earplug was not in their ear and the walkie-talkie was locked. the second instance is the gentleman on the elevator at cbc who as the story was told was certified and authorized to be there, had secret clearance from the cdc and was doing his job. at the fact that he took pictures as he was waving goodbye to the commander-in-chief after he got in the car. can you tell me how does that trickle up to if you were at the

time the director how does that trickle up and those are incidences i deleted it was you i would want to give you an opportunity to correct it because those are incidences that in the best mind you can't imagine that happening and the gentleman was legitimately doing his job certified and got a little star happy. why don't i yield to you and find out because i want to get to the point we are not knocking off directors every five minutes because incidences have been that should have been taken care of by the immediate manager. mr. clancy. >> yes-man. as far as the officer at the white house complex on the cell phone that's been reported to the investigation by the deputy secretary of homeland security. we waited for that report to be concluded and we forwarded the facts of that report onto the office of integrity surveys under review now for any discipline that maybe affected.

.. the white house? >> it's actually the responsibility of this specific central office of integrity. so that it's removed from the direct supervisor. >> but the actions were under the direct supervisor. >> in regards to the cdc events, that is -- that was fully investigated. it was actually self f reported. they saw the individual in the elevator was armed. he self f reported that. immediately we had an interaction. we had a full inquiry. and those details were also sent to that office of integrity to de >> chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. issa, forha his questions. >> thank you. director, i know we go into a

classified section so i will be brief. two predecessors ago, we had a scandal. it turned out that this committee, two other committees were never given the full facts. we then had subsequent n revelation, time and time again. during each of these committees of jurisdiction including my other committee, oversight,aga endeavored to work with your, your people in homeland security to get the full facts. in each case we did not get the full truth. will you pledge today, in all cases, during your tenure, to give us more, not less, and if there is something that may be relevant in even the most spurious way, at least make the staffs of the committees of jurisdiction aware that there is something else that we may or

may not want to pursue, at least in an in camera format? because without that we're playing a game i don't want to play ever. certainly not publicly ask, you anticipates, i ask another one to try to see if there is anything else. i don't want to ask publicly, and i don't think the chairman wants to ask publicly, or the rest of us what it is your not telling us? >> yes, sir, you have that commitment. >> secondly, i will end with this as quickly as i can. the term, law enforcement sensitive. >> yes, sir. >> is one that was recently used in, if you will, the two versions of this report. now our committee, our other committee and i believe this committee got to look in camera at the sensitive material. do you know how fox what we werv only allowed to look at in camera, to get it on the air? in other words it was on camera but we were still looking at it

in camera? t >> no, sir, i'm not aware. >> will you pledge to see if you can find out? and if it came from the offices of the president or anyone else in the administration, would yof at least report back to us so that we know that there are two standards, the standards for the press when convenient and standards for congress? because i just have to share one thing with you? i have always felt that an in camera review followed up with a discussion about what should be made available fully to theay committee and under what conditions, is a reasonable middle ground. but if anything is withheld from congress and asked to look at in camera, by definition, i think it is fair to say you have in fact assert ad form of privilege, or at least the potential for a privilege or sensitivity or nearct classification. and that bars the administration from willy-nilly releasing it to the press in order to get, if

you will, either a positive spin or get ahead of a story. i hope you appreciate the sensitivity. >> yes, sir. thank you, sir. >> so will you come back with any findings of how that got to fox before it got to chairman? >> i will, sir. this is the first i'm hearing about that, yes, sir. >> okay. our staff over at oversight will be glad to share the detailed timeline with your people. >> thank you. >> andou i do yield back the balance of my time, mr. chairman. >> chair thanks the gentleman. ande recognizes the gentlemanou from florida, mr. desantis for his questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, director. >> good morning, sir. >> and you've been frank about some the incidents in response to the organization of secret service within dhs you said look, these are just mistakes that we made didn't necessarily attribute to that and i appreciate it but i do look and think it is important that we in

congress will conduct oversight of how agencies operate. we also have to conduct oversight over legislative products that we've done because, if you look at hit, congress has created a lot of problems in various different areas. and i think moving the secret service to dhs is something that i've been thinking a lot about since these incidents have become more public. and i think we need to do further inquiry. you did mention that when the united nations operation, protective operation was undertaken, that there was utilization of tsa and coast guard at the u.n. i mean i appreciate that. but you know, if the secret service was in treasury, you would still be able to liaison with other ages, is that correct, sir. >> that's correct, yes, sir. >> so having, being a part of a bigger bureaucracy, does that make the secret service's mission, is it conducted more efficiently as a result of that? or are there bureaucratic

hurdles that the secret service did not have to when they were part of treasury? >> again, sir, it is difficult for me to compare the two because i wasn't in a management role under treasury. i will say the department oftr homeland security is very inclusive. the secretary has had me up there several times to work with the othertr components and meet with the other components. so the good sharing of information. >> what about, in terms of youth mentioned, the competition, or, you wanted to hire and you know, you're not doing that in theou scale you want. is it more difficult, are youu competing for more resources because you're within dhs? i would imagine there are all these different agencies being funded in that? it seems like you probably have less competition in that regard if you were still in treasury, is that accurate. >> again 2 would be hard for me to evaluate compare to treasury. all the agency components within the department of homeland security have very important missions. so we're all vying for those dollars, yes. >> and what, i c know you said u

weren't in a management position. i havear retired secret service agents in my district and they haveyo served in both capacities pre-2003 and after, by and large i get negative feedback about the change. when you're talking with people, other agents who kind of lived through this, is it something that i would say is substantial number of them have misgivings about? >> sir, i think, when we have failures, and what we've had last several years are really our failures. and think -- >> i understand that. you've been frank about that but i think we always have to look at, you know, how are we, you know, we're legislating this stuff. we're funding these different agencies and if we haven't done that in a way that best meets the needs of the american people, i think we always have to gero back and evaluate. so i'm just curious. there are morale issues with thh secret service. you knowof, if you're just, you know, at over the watercooler

with people who had been in the secret service, is it going to be something people will look back, man, that was a great thing congress did by putting ur with dhs or are you likely to man, i liked it better than we were in treasury. >> certainly some people said they liked our time in treasuryt and had good memories of that time frame. butle again, i have to be focusd on, our agency and where our failures are and working with our people and that's really my focus. others can determine whether or not we'reg situated properly in the department of homeland security but i'm really focused on operational needs. >> no, i understand. and as you should be but we need, we need to always look at this stuff. just seemed to me, and again i'i like to do some more investigation in this, but you know, with treasury, obviously there is less bureaucracy. but for congress it is good i think we conduct better oversight that way. it would be easier. dhs has been problematic for us

for oversight of other functions secret service. i appreciate you stepping up to take this position. i know it's a tough job and i wish you all the best. i yield back the remainder of my time. >> i thanks the gentleman for yielding back remainder of his time. we go to the gentleman from east texas, mr. gohmert. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, director, for being here. we've had differentn, hearings. secretary of homeland security has been here a number of times. you know, there was, there seemed to be in the past a feeling of inhave aniability of the white house. that the fences you know, somehow there was bound to be more security there then you see. so it rattles folks when somebody can jump over the fence and get there and, i'm, somebody else was say, oh i think there are two roses of fences. isn't there just one row of fence around the white house?

>> sir, as a result of september 19th on pennsylvania avenue on the sidewalk, we've put bike rack in addition to the permanent fence. realizing people can get over the bike rack. it gives us a little more time to react there. is bike rack in front of the outingnal fence? how tall is the fence there? i'm not asking classified. you can measure it. >> 7 feet six inches. >> seven feet, six inches is there talk about making it higher? has that been discussed?alk >> yes we're working closely with the partners in the region. we have to work with the national park service. the national capitol regional planning commission and fine arts commission. we have already started those discussions to work together to see if there's something that is amenable to all the groups so we keep historic nature it of the white house but also increase security measures at the house. >> i know this was before your time as acting director but you remember late 2009, there were

christmas party crashers, the salahis that got in there that r were not on the list? >> yes, sir. >> there was a hearing up here on the hill bit, and it turned out that actually, it really wasn't so much the secret service'sn fault. that there was a social secretary of the white house who is always supposed to be there and if somebody's not on thee list, gives the ultimate yes or no. and she had told someone she didn't care about having to be the one to say no. and it left the secret service in a terrible bind. but what was obvious to those of us who would go over to the white house regularly was that it was all about appearances after the christmas party crashers. that even o though it really wasn't so much the secret service's fault as a breakdown in the white house leadership. the secret service, who wore

plain clothes suits were made to start wearing uniforms so it looked like there was a lot more security there. and in fact, we went from just having the one check point you had to go through there at the southeast corner to adding another there near the monument and then adding another down on 15th street. so it pretty clearly it was all about appearance to make it look like gee, it was the secret service's fault. we have tripled those up, add ad bunch people there when really it wasn't necessary that anymore need to bef done other than just make sure white house gave proper direction. so, my concern has been, that there has been too much about appearances and not as much about actual pretext shun.

is there thought i am eliminating the fence around the white house? has secretary napolitano talk about that, having a virtual wh fence or electronic fence? s that that been discussed at all? >> sir, i'm not aware of any o discussions in that regard. >> would you be in favor of removing the fence around the white house or having virtual or electronic fence around it? >> sir, my knee-jerk reaction that, no, sir, partly because of the number of tourists coming up pennsylvania avenue and coming up to that area to take picturep and what not. >> secretary said number of times, secretary napolitano, the fence was worthless. you put a 10-foot fence up, somebody will build a 12-foot ladder. i would think if the administration will be consistent it is now time to remove the fence from around the white house, because if it isn' good enough for our border, it shouldn't be good enough for the white house. so i ask you to consider that

consistency and also consider the fact that maybe there really is some real virtue in having a fence that slows people down, and with that, i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman. anybd director, as originally scheduled we'll take a short recess. give you a chancews to maybe hap just a short bite of lunch. is 12:30 okay to reconvene. >> yes, sir,ll that is perfect.m >> we'll have the room made right and be back in 12:30. we stand in recess.

>> earlier this year c-span's q&a spoke with the author of the age of ambition. he described the rising conflict between the individual and the chinese government. osmos spent eight years living in china as a correspondent for "the new yorker." tonight we'll have a on core airing of that q&a interview seen at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. all next week on c-span we'll show you interviews with retiring members of congress. on monday, wisconsin republican tom petry and new york democrat carolyn mccarthy. here is a look at what

congresswoman mccarthy has to say about the future of her party's leadership. >> we have a lot of talented younger members. not just by the way mrs. pelosi. i think she has been a great leader. she is really good at raising money. that is not one of my fortes. he. i was never good at that but, they have to start training younger people and bringing younger people into the caucus, to become hopefully the future leaders. one of the things that i certainly believe with all my heart and soul, you have to know when to leave and, nancy obviously does not feel this is the time to leave. many of us thought that she might stay for, you know, maybe this coming year and hopefully turn the reins over to someone else but when i look around, is anybody really ready to replace her? i mean it's a hard job and i

give her a lot of credit for what she has been able to do. but, i think it is time that the leaders, you know, start looking at who is going to fill my spot? we're all replaceable. there might be some bumps in the road but, i do always believe it is time for younger people to take our spots, with fresh ideas and new ways of doing things. i see nothing wrong with that. that is progression. that's a normal progression. >> see congresswoman mccarthy's full remarks along with our interview with republican tom petrie. monday, 8:00 p.m. eastern on the companion network c-span. >> c-span2 providing live coverage of the u.s. senate floor proceedings and key public policy events. every weekend, booktv, now for 15 years the only television network devoted to non-fiction books and authors. c-span2, created by the cable tv industry and brought to you as a

public service by your local, cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. now an update on the west africa ebola outbreak from representatives of several african aid organizations. members of this house foreign affairs subcommittee focus questioning on the international ebola response and the need for trained health care workers. this is 90 minutes. >> subcommittee will come to order. the world community has known of the ebola virus disease more commonly called just ebola, since it first appeared in a remote region near the democratic republican of con grow in 1976. in previously outbreaks ebola is confined to remote areas where

there was little contact outside the villages which it appeared. unfortunately this outbreak, now an epidemic spread to village to international center for regional trade and sped to urban areas in guinea, sierra leone and liberia, crowded with limited medical services and limited resident trust of government. the unprecedented west african ebola epidemic is not only killed more than 5000 people with more than 14,000 others known to be affected. this situation has skewed the planning for how to deal with the outbreak. in our two previous hearings on the ebola epidemic an emergency hearing we held on august 7th, then a follow-up on september 17th, we heard about the worsening rates of infection and challenges in responding to this form from government agencies such as usaid and cdc and ngos operates on the ground such as samaritan's purse and sam. today's hearing is intended to take testimony from

non-governmental organizations providing services on the ground currently in the affected countries especially liberia, s, we can better determine how proposed actions are being implemented. and in its early stages ebola d manifests the same symptoms as less immediately deadly diseases such as malaria. which initial health care workers have been unprepared for theat deadly nature of the disee they have been asked to treat. this meant that too many health care workers, national and international, have been at rick in treating patients who themselves may not know they have, ebola.na hundreds of health carel, workes have been infected and many have dieesd m including some of the p medical personnel in the three affected countries. what we found quite quickly was that the health care systems of these countries despite heavy investment by the united states and other donors remain weak. as it happens there are three countries. these are three countries either coming out of very divisive

civil conflict or experiencing serious political divisions. consequently, citizens have not been widely prepared to accept recommendation from their own governments. for quite some time many people in all three countries would nom accept, that the ebola epidemic was real. even now it is believed that despite the prevalence of burial teams throughout liberia, for example, some families are reluctant to identify their sufferings and dead loved ones for safe burials. which places family members and their neighbors at heightened risk of contracting this often-fatal disease when patient are most contagious.ht the porous borders of these three countries allowed people to cross between countries at will. this may facilitate commerce which is a good thing but also allows diseases to be transmitted regionally. as a result the prevalence of ebola in these three countries has ebbed and flowed with the migration of people from one p country to the other. cou liberia remains the hardest hit

of three countries with more than 6500 ebola cases officially recorded, probably a significant understatement. the number of infected and dead from ebola could be as much as three times however than official figure due to underreporting. organizations operating on the ground have told us over the past five months, that despite the increasing reach of international and national efforts to contact those infected with ebola there are remains many remote areas where it is difficult to find residents or gain sufficient trust to obtain their cooperation. consequently the ebb and flow in infection continues. even when it being loose like the battle is being won, one place, it increases in a neighboring country or region. then reignites in the areas that look to be successes. the united states is focusing on liberia. the u.k. is focusing on sierrath leone and france and european union are supposed to be focusing on guinea. of both sierra leone and guinea

the anti-ebola efforts are behind the pace of those in liberia. this epidemic must be brought under control in all three if our efforts are to be successful. last week i along with congresswoman karen bass and congressman mark meadows of this subcommittee introduced hr-5710, the ebola emergency response act.ea this bill lays out steps that needed for the u.s. governmente to effectively help fight the west african ebola epidemic, especially in liberia. the worst-hit of the three countries. this includes recruiting and training, health care personnel, establishing fully functional treatment centers, conduct education campaigns amongfu populations in affecteds, countries and developing doing no, sir ticks and treatments an vaccines. hr-5710 confirms the u.s. policy incc the anti-ebola fight and provide necessary authorities for the administration to continue to or expand participated actions in this

regard. the bill encourages u.s. collaboration with other donors, to mitigate the risk of economie collapse and civil unrest in the three affected countries. furthermore the legislationnd authorizes funding of international disaster assistance account at the higher fy-2014 level to effectively support these anti-ebola efforts. i would like to turn my friend and colleague miss bass for any opening comments you might have. efforts. i'd like to now turn to my friend and colleague miss bass. >> as always, thank you chairman smith for your leadership, and also for taking the lead on the legislation that we hope to have marked up soon. i also want to thank today's distinguished witnesses, and prominent ngo organizations. providing critical medical, nutritional, and developmental assistance in the most adversely affected nations in west africa. i look forward to hearing your updates on how your respectively organizations continue to combat this deadly outbreak, what

trends you're seeing both positive and negative, and what additional support is needed as you coordinate with the government -- the governments of the impacted countries and the international community. i appreciate your efforts and outreach to help keep congress informed of this evolving crisis. the current crisis, as has been stated, has been the largest and most widespread outbreak of the disease in history, creating a particular burden on the countries that are involved. since the beginning of the outbreak, u.s.-based ngos have made a significant and sustained effort to support the three countries as they fought the disease. the united states has committed nearly $1 billion to build treatment centers, train health care workers, and burial teams, supply hospitals with protective gear, and ensure the safety and humanitarian support. i would, in particular, like to hear from the witnesses what you think about the assistance that has been provided. and then i have a particular interest in your thoughts around when we are past this crisis

what the u.s. can leave in place. and your thoughts on how we move forward. so we know that the reason why this hit so badly is because of the weak health infrastructure in these three countries. so out of this terrible crisis, is there a way for us to begin to think long-term about the future, how do we support the infrastructure of countries? and your thoughts on that would be appreciated. ed administration has asked congress for over $6 billion in emergency funds in order to sustain the progress that has been made and to ensure an end to the crisis. this request will expand assistance to contain the epidemic, safeguard the american public from further spread of the disease, and support the development of treatments. sustained u.s. financial support and involvement is essential to support the stable governance of these nations which is jeopardized by the current

crisis. i also don't think that we have given much time to -- much time and attention to the fact that we're dealing with countries that could actually be moved quite a bit backward, especially countries that have recently, you know, gotten past civil wars. so i look forward to your testimonies, and i'm interested in hearing from you about what we can do to assist your efforts. thank you. >> thank you. i'd like to now welcome our three very distinguished witnesses who are extraordinaryly effective and informed and will provide this subcommittee i think a real insight as to what has been happening and what needs to be done. beginning with mr. rabih torbay, who is a senior vice president for the international operations and oversees international medical corps, global programs in 31 countries and four continents. and its staff and the staff volunteers numbering well over 8,000 people. he has personally supervised the expansion of imc's humanitarian

and development programs into some of the world's toughest working environments, including sierra lie yoen, iraq, darfur, liberia, lebanon, pakistan, afghanistan, haiti, libya and most recently syria. as the organization's senior representative in washington, d.c., he serves as imc's liaison with the united states government. we'll then hear from mr. brett sedgewick who is a technical adviser for food security and livelihoods for global communities. he previously served as vice president for the nascom foundation for whom he built stakeholder relations with government entities, donors and ngos and oversaw business development. prior to that he served as liberia's country director for chf international where he oversaw programs designed, implementation and monitoring for a range of donors. he also served as technical adviser to -- on a similar basis. we'll then hear from dr. darius

mans who is the president of africare where he is responsible for the leadership and growth of that organization. previously he fulfilled a number of roles at the millennium challenge corporation, including acting chief executive officer and vice president of implementation and managing director for africa. in these positions dr. mans was responsible for vast and diverse program portfolios in mcc, exact countries. he also has experience managing 45 country programs around the world, as director of the world bank institute, working as an economist, teaching economics, and serving as a consultant on infrastructure projects in latin america. we're joined by mr. weber, vice chairman of the committee. >> thank you for being here. let's go. >> thank you. thank you i turn to mr. torbay. >> chairman smith, ranking member bass, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, on

behalf of international medical corps, i would like to thank you for inviting me to testify today to describe the ongoing fight against the ebola virus outbreak from the ground level. i have already submitted a lengthy written testimony to the subcommittee. my remarks this morning will highlight key observations, and offer ten recommendations for our ebola response experience. international medical corps is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives, and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. we work in 31 countries around the world, and we've been working in west africa since 1999. our response to the ebola outbreak has been robust in both liberia, and sierra leone. more than two thirds of all ebola cases and over three quarters of all ebola related deaths have come from these two countries. by the end of this month, we anticipate having a total about

800 staff in those two countries, and by year's end, we expect this number to exceed 1,000 working in four ebola treatment units, two in liberia and two in sierra leone. i would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge dedicated and courageous international and african national staff working in our treatment centers. they are from liberia and sierra leone as well as many parts of the united states, europe and other states. our staff is compromised of doctors, nurses, technicians, specialists in water sanitation and hygiene, logisticians, mental health professionals, custodial workers, and burial teams. in addition to the treatment units, we have established several services for groups just now arriving to combat the outbreak. one example is a training center on the ground in liberia. it will teach and train staff from all organizations engaged in the fight to contain ebola,

and show them how to treat patients and stay safe in a potentially dangerous workplace. we are also responding to the upsurge of ebola cases in mali. we will be setting up an ebola treatment unit and developing health worker training program to help the country fight the outbreak. our robust response to the ebola outbreak has one overriding objective. contain the current outbreak at its source in west africa. to succeed several key factors must be in place. one of these is building and safely operating ebola treatment units, staffed by well-trained health professionals. another key factor is using training programs to transfer into local hands the skills and knowledge necessary to respond effectively to the ebola outbreaks. we must also assure effective coordination among all actors involved in the fight to contain the virus, including the u.n., international and national governments, and ngos.

to turn the tide of this epidemic we must all work together to maximize the strength of all involved. finally we need to conduct expansive data collection and rigorous data analysis to build an accurate picture of ebola containment, and spot any need for new responses. once we succeed to contain the current outbreak, we must remain vigilant to assure that there's no resurgence of this epidemic. the fight to contain ebola and future -- and prevent future outbreaks will require substantial investment. i would like to thank the u.s. agency for international development, particularly its office of foreign disaster assistance for the funding it has provided to international medical corps for our ebola response, as well as the support of the u.s. military, particularly in setting up a laboratory near our ebola treatment unit in bonn county. we welcome the president's emergency request to congress to

combat ebola in west africa. and based on our on-the-ground experience in fighting this epidemic, we would recommend that the 1.4 billion allocated for international disaster assistance be increased by an additional $200 million to a total of $1.6 billion. and we recommend that an additional $48 million be added to the economic support fund for a total of $260 million. mr. chairman, i conclude my tell by offering ten recommendations for effective treatment and eradication of ebola virus. one, ensure the availability of adequate number of well-trained, well protected health workers. one of the most critical lessons learned from this response has been the importance of having sufficient human resources prepared to address an outbreak of infectious disease. two, ensure that construction of new ebola treatment units fit

the local loads. the work must be well coordinated and well trained staff ready to work in each facility. we need to remain flexible and nimble and adapt quickly to changing remand to response of breaks in rural areas. three, ensure the necessary quantity and quality of personal protective equipment that is available. four, improve data collection. surveillance that will help individuals receive treatment faster. five, ensure that fear and understand the lines of communications and divisions of responsibilities are established understood and maintained among coordinating bodies operating in the region. a smart and efficient coordination system at the national level is critical for an effective response. six, we welcome the advances made over the past few weeks in establishing procedures to evacuate and treat expatriate health workers who might contract ebola. we recommend that the systems be

put in place now, be institutionalized and made part of the global preparedness planning future -- for future epidemics. seven, we recommend that commercial air space over ebola countries remain open that personnel and resources can move quickly. eight, accelerate and support the production of vaccines. nine, invest in emergency preparedness in west african regions to ensure that these countries have the needed resource, proper training and systems in place to respond themselves to possible future outbreaks of infectious disease. and ten, finally, mr. chairman, basic health services need to be re-established in west africa. people are not just dying from ebola. they're dying from malaria. they're dying from water-borne diseases. women are dying from the lack of facilities where they could go for safe delivery. and this needs to be done as soon as possible. we cannot wait until the ebola

outbreak is done before we restart these activities. thank you, mr. chairman, and ranking member bass, for the opportunity to present this testimony to the committee. i would be glad to answer any questions you may have. >> thank you very much, mr. torbay. mr. sedgewick, if you would proceed. >> chairman smith, ranking member bass, members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the ways we are working to stop the ebola epidemic in west africa. the following is an abbreviated version of the written testimony provided to the committee. my name is brett sedgewick and i'm technical adviser at global communities formerly chf international and i'm currently on the ebola task force. from 2010 to 2011 i worked as global communities liberia country director and i returned to the u.s. ten days ago after spending three weeks in liberia helping to lead our response on the ground. global communities has worked in liberia since 2004. in 2010 we began a u.s. aid

funded water and sanitation project working closely with the ministry of health and social welfare. through this program we began to combat ebola in april by providing community education, protective equipment, and hygiene materials to communities at risk. in august we partnered with usaid's office of foreign disaster assistance to have been excellent partners in this fight to scale up our response. today we are also working in safe burial and body management, contact tracing, and ambulance services. safe body management is of the highest priority in stopping the spread of ebola. the bodies of ebola victims are extremely contagious. in liberia it is often customary for the family of the diseased to say good-bye through traditions that involve touching and washing the body. the cdc estimates that up to 70% of ebola infections are originating from the -- from contact with the deceased.

global communities is working in every county of liberia, supporting 47 burial teams and 32 disinfection teams. we work in close partnership with the ministry of health. the ministry employ the burial team personnel and we provide training, vehicles, logistical support and equipment. the work of burial teams is both back breaking and heartbreaking. i have accompanied burial teams to -- and seen the incredible professionalism with which they operate. these men and women were covered in impermeable materials in high temperatures, hiking hours through thick jungle, taking canoes or assembling makeshift bridges over bodies of water. they enter communities stricken with grief and fear and carry out an incredibly sensitive task with the greatest care for their health, and for that of others. these men and women are heroes of this crisis that deserve our gratitude, and for assuming great risk and social isolation in order to stop this epidemic.

while risky, this work can be done safely. not once of our more than 500 team members, have contracted the virus. this work is not without challenges. many resist identifying their dead as infected. they fear they will not be able to mourn their loved ones, and they themselves will be stigmatized. this is why the work of safe burial goes hand in hand with community engagement. many burial rites are safe. and the teams let communities safely and respectfully say good-bye to their loved ones. another challenge is cremation. in montserrato county which contains monrovia cremation became official policy during the height of the outbreak. however this practice is counter to traditional practices and has met with strong resistance. the idea of a deceased loved one being burned, in their vernacular, upset many, and increased the stigma and contributes to bodies being unsafely buried or the sick being hidden.

to combat this, global communities, usaid and the liberian government, are exploring safe burials in montserrato through identifying land that can accommodate a large number of burials and has space for families to safely gather and mourn. despite the challenges, safe burial is proving highly effective. we began burial team support in august for bong, lofa and mimba counties. by the first week of october we expanded to support teams in every county of liberia and last month they were able to collect 96% of bodies within 24 hours. we were also able to directly reach over 1500 communities through meeting and dialogue sessions. bringing together senior government officials, county health teams, traditional chiefs, religious leaders, community health volunteers, and other local leaders. indeed it is now being widely reported that we are seeing the rate of infection slow

throughout liberia which is cause for optimism. however it is not yet time for celebration. we must maintain the level of vigilance that is proven effective in beginning to control the spread of the virus. significant longer-term investments must be made in the health systems of the country. in closing, global communities would like to express profound gratitude for congress, particularly members of this committee for your continued support of this work. the worst ebola outbreak in history can be stopped, and will be stopped. i look forward to your questions. >> mr. sedgewick thank you very much for your testimony and your recommendations. and really some of the good news, at least somewhat optimistic perspective that you have provided the committee. dr. mans, please proceed. >> thank you mr. chairman. let me start by thanking you and members of committee for you strong commitment to this issue. i also really want to applaud my colleagues here for the tireless work that they are doing on the ground. i'm honored to be here with

them. if i may, i'd like to start by describing what africare is doing on the ground in the fight against ebola. and then describe to you what we at africare believe are the most important steps that need to be taken in order to win this war. it will be won by africans on the ground who time and again have demonstrated that they can overcome disease and adversity. and finally i'd like to conclude with what we believe the united states can do to stop ebola in its tracks. when the ebola crisis began earlier this year, africare immediately swung into action. we mobilized more than $2 million in private donations to help break the chain of transmission. we shipped personal protection equipment and essential health supplies to all three affected countries through partnerships with direct relief and others. in addition, we've been help going front line health workers do contact tracing. throughout the crisis, we have

been very focused on community mobilization and behavior change. that's at the heart of what africare does across the continent. we believe while aid from foreign governments and from organizations like ours is vitally important, it will be africans adopting changes in behavior that ultimately will win the war on the ground against ebola. so far, we have trained more than 300 local community health workers. they, in turn, have educated more than 150,000 liberians about ebola prevention, detection, and care. in addition, our team of nearly 100 staff on the ground, all liberian, are joined at the hip with liberia's ministry of health to keep health facilities open, to treat nonebola related diseases. and that includes safe deliveries of babies. we are taking in to our maternal waiting homes women who have been turned away from hospitals, that are just overwhelmed by the ebola crisis.

and since we believe that measurement is absolutely critical, we are also working with technology partners to find ways to embed data capture within our delivery systems. so that we can provide good metrics to gauge our performance, and realtime information about what we're doing to contribute to the war against ebola. and i should tell you, we're doing all of this without any funding from the u.s. government so far. but let me describe what we believe, in addition, needs to be done in the face of this challenge. progress is being made, but much, much more needs to be done. we certainly strongly support the president's emergency request and hope the rest of the g-20 countries will step up to the plate and do more. but it's not just more money that is needed. it's important how that money is used. there's a need for better coordination and planning of these emergency treatment centers. we believe we clearly don't need

as many etcs as were morningally planned in liberia for example. very important to take the efforts to control ebola to the community level. that's where the bulk of care is provided by family members, by neighbors, by local health workers, who really are the first responders in this crisis. we also hope that usaid will be given the flexibility to allocate its resources as needed to ensure there will be an agile response to what we've seen as a rapidly evolving epidemic. in addition, very important, we believe that it's essential that civil society in the affected countries be given the support and space needed to help ensure the best use of, and accountability for ebola funding. finally, mr. chairman, let me say a few words about what more we believe the united states can do. one of the big lessons of this crisis is that donors need to move beyond the old approach of vertical programming, of

targeting resources to specific diseases, like malaria, and hiv/aids, as important as those are. we need to invest in strengthening public health systems, especially community-based management of diseases. we also need to take advantage of this crisis to build a health infrastructure thats affected countries will need for the future. the investments being made now during the crisis need to help them build more robust and resilient health systems. as the liberian president has said, we must ensure that everything we do now is not just with the aim of ending the outbreak, but to ensure that we come out with a stronger, efficient, health care system. and finally, mr. chairman, it's my hope that u.s. government will commit to support long-term economic growth in the region. i hope you will join me in urging the millennium challenge corporation to quickly finalize its programs in liberia and in sierra leone.

its significant investments in the key drivers for growth will be what's needed to help these countries get back on the higher growth path that they were on before the ebola crisis. thank you, mr. chairman. >> doctor mans thank you very much again for your extremely valuable work you're doing but also the insights you provide our committee. let me ask you a couple of questions, all three of you. you mentioned dr. mans, that you have 300 local volunteer community health workers that you've trained who, in turn, have educated some 150,000 liberians about ebola prevention, detection and care. in your statement mr. torbay you talk about to ensure the availability of adequate, well trained, well protected health care workers. how close is liberia, guinea and sierra leone to having an optimum number of health care workers who are adequately

trained? what is the deficit? i mean this is excellent information and very encouraging information. are you finding people have been scared away because of the fear of contracting it themselves? so if you could provide that information to us. secondly, mr. sedgewick, which i would point out parenthetically, we're both from new jersey. welcome. let me just -- which is where i'm from. let me just, you talked about the safe body management is of the highest priority to stopping the spread of ebola and you pointed out the cdc number of up to 70% of cases originating from contact from the deceased. i think a lot of people are not unaware but they have not known how stark the transmission is at that period of time when somebody has passed away. and yet you have very good information about your teams reaching 96% of bodies within 24

hours over the last month. how many of the folks that should be reached are not being reached? just to fry to get a sense of the unmet need? and what is the role that clergy and church are playing? obviously when somebody passes away, we all turn to our faith. you know, the church plays a key role, obviously, in funerals. what role are they playing from the pulpit? and any other way of getting that message out about the contagious nature of someone who is deceased from ebola? i also, with regards to personal protective equipment, mr. torbay, that's your third point that you made, how available is it? especially to those volunteers, and those indigenous individuals who might not have access to it like some of the ngos might going in? if you could just speak to that. are we where we should be?

anywhere close to it? because obviously that's one way of protecting. and then dr. mans, you had mentioned, and rightfully so, the deep concern dr. or president sirleaf spoke, her concern here today about other diseases that continue to take a devastating impact on people in three affected countries, including liberia, and congratulations and good work on the safe delivery aspect to help a mother and baby have a venue where they can give birth safely as possible and as, you know, if you might want to expand upon that, how many women are we talking about who have gotten help through your work? i have other questions but i'll ask those first and then my friend and colleague and then come back for a few others.

>> thank you mr. chairman for your questions. i will start with the health workers gap. what we're doing at international medical corps is focusing on training health workers that will be working in ebola treatment unit. and that training is a 14-day intensive training that includes hands-on training, actually treating patients in an ebola treatment unit. and as you probably know, when you work in an ebola treatment unit you cannot work for more than an hour or maximum two before you get out, because of the heat, because of the pressure, because of the stress. and we want to make sure that those workers go out before they get tired and dehydrated because this is when mistakes happen. so we're extremely careful about that. in terms of the health care gap, we're coordinating with agencies that are doing community work, such as, you know, global communities, africare and other groups and samaritan's purse and other groups as well. and the idea is to combine and

coordinate the community-based approach with the treatment-based approach. because one cannot work properly, or be effective, without the other. as you know, liberia and sierra leone even before ebola had very low doctor per patient ratio. we're talking about one for 100,000 in liberia. one doctor for 100,000 in liberia. and that's before 324 health workers have died from ebola. so you can just imagine the gap. one thing that's critical to the health gap, we cannot be only reactive. any time there's an outbreak, this is when we decide to train. we need to build a stronger health care system. we need to build a stronger preparedness system. and all of these countries, and we need to focus on workforce, health workforce development. because, again, it's not just the infectious diseases. it's the malaria. it's the safe delivery. it's dee rhea. it's vac teen preventable diseases that children are dying

from. i think we're on track in terms of training health care workers for the ebola response. but, what we're doing in our ebola treatment or ebola training facilities is that we will be turning it in the next couple of months to an infectious disease academy. that covers much more beyond ebola. and this is a sustainability aspect that we're encouraging all of our colleagues to look at. what comes beyond ebola. >> thank you for your question. to address your second question on unmet need, i'd like to point out that the 96% of bodies that are collected within 24 hours, that's within 24 hours of the death of the individual. not of the phone call. so much of that 4% is regards a delay between the death and the phone call. and the assignment of the team. and so that's -- that's a big

effort that we're working on in terms of our social mobilization and the social mobilization that all of the other partners are doing to ensure that that phone call happens very early on. ideally we're hearing about the status of the individual well before -- well before they pass. and as much as possible, our success is -- is made significantly easier by our colleagues like imc running etus and having the volume and the beds available to treat those individuals. it's much better for the individual to get to the etu, to get first community care, and then get to the etu, and that make makes that allows our teams to do a lot less work which is a great situation to be in. in terms of the larger question

of unmet need, it's very difficult to understand. we do a lot of work with the communities trying to understand if there are people dying that are getting hidden. and it's -- it's all anecdotal. i know that the african union and the cdc have been working on doing some studies on this. and they've found limited volumes of people hiding. but any are devastating. so we're really working on making sure that the stigma goes down which would encourage everyone to call, and to reduce that unmet need. in terms of volume we are completely mobilized.

and we are able to respond very quickly. we've mobilized new teams within a day. so we're able to make sure that as hot spots come up, the teams are positioned and available, and responding immediately. on your second part of that question regarding clergy, and faith based leaders, they're a core part of how we interact with the communities. our kind of historical interactions in liberia have been focused on bonn and mimba counties. we have really strong relationships not just with the religious leaders but with the traditional leaders and health leaders. that made our initial entry with burial teams fairly straightforward. you can't drive one of our vehicles through those counties without getting stopped and having them ask how so and so, and what's the -- how is so and so's baby.

and they're so -- they're so engaged there. that it made it very, very straightforward. when we moved to other counties, especially in the southeast where we have less of a historical presence, we very quickly realized we had to do extensive interactions with the sure that communities know why we're there. that we're there for a good reason. that we're helping and that we're able to do our work respectfully and closely and rapidly. and so that's been a core part, the religious leaders have been really helpful and traditional leaders who, who also serve very important rolls in at thead community level have been very important for making sure that our teams are able to operate rapidly and safely. >> on personal protection equipment, no, we're nowhere near where we need to be. there are shortages of all kinds of equipment.

including gloves for medical personnel to use. so what africare is doing is working with the private sector here in the united states. the big suppliers of equipmentg like j&j and some others, to be sure that we can get a steady supply of consumables into all health facilities in liberia, working with all of the ngo partners because we are a big believer in collaboration. that no one of us can do this alone. and second on save motherhood you may know even before the ebola crisis liberia had one of the highest rates of a maternal mortality in the world and headed in the wrong direction, increasing. so ath big focus for us has been building more and more of these maternal waiting homes, working with the private sector in liberia, to raise the money to do so. and sew far i think we're up to about 20. in these facilities that the

point is to bring access to communities because women who were expecting, were not able to get to these health facilities which are so few and far between. and that is something we intend to do, continue to do postcrisis. . .risis. >> miss bass? >> i will, again, want to thank all of you for your testimony. i think it's been extremely helpful, and i have questions for each of you. mr. torbay, pronounce that correct? in your recommendations, the second one says you wanted to make sure that the construction of the etus are appropriate for the needs of each country and so i was wondering if you find what is going on now is not appropriate? are you saying this in response to something that needs to be improved?