dempsey again with tom-tom one. the two hardest calls for to the families of ambassador stevens and john smith. and you know, i have to say that they were extraordinary in their responses and understanding and the pride we have both men and gratitude we had for the service. i would quickly add while this was going on that we were trying to understand it , get on top of it however continuing to face protests, demonstrations, violence across the region and as far as india and indonesia. thousands of people were putting our facilities at risk. there were certainly very

determined to do whatever we could about benghazi, relief and we finally got the last of the americans out, but then we were turning around dealing with the serious threats. >> thank you very much. my time has expired. >> madame secretary, i agree with you, when people go into the field to do things they do it knowing the risk. one of the untold stories is the heroic nature of many in libya and what they did to save lives, but i also have to say that there were systemic deficiencies. i want to speak to that to a moment.

to my knowledge no one has been held accountable. the state department officials and i hate to use this word again, but it was nothing short of bizarre. these officials were screaming out for more security, and i am wondering if you might mention one reform that would be helpful so that you would have known of the needs of security that went undone. >> well, obviously i have thought about this almost constantly since that date, senator. i do feel responsible for the nearly 70,000 people who work for the state department and take it very seriously. the specific security requests pertaining to benghazi were handled by the security professionals in the department. i did not see those requests. they did not come to me.

i did not approve or deny them. that is one of the findings i was made. these requests don't ordinarily come to the secretary of state. >> if we could, we have a short amount of time. they did come in to folks. >> that's right. >> we had people on the ground at no cost of the state department who were asked to be extended by the ambassador. someone at the state department turned that down. i wonder what is happened inside to make sure it never happens again. >> several things. not only are we on the path implement recommendations, but we have gone beyond that. we did immediately do a high threat assessment. that has never been done before. we asked congress to help us reallocate funds. the senate has given us that

authority. that way we can get more marine guards, diplomatic security guards, tried to put more money into the maintenance, upgrades, construction that is needed. i created the 1st ever deputy assistant secretary for high threat and then recommending there be a regular process that includes a secretary and deputies in these decisions because no one wants to so i am. you know, to think now about what could have, would have, should have happened in order to avoid this, only to have ever been unclassified, one coming out of the east africa bombing there was full transparency, aa set of recommendations, many of which have been implemented along with recommendations from other ops, but this

committee never had a public hearing about the $17 because they were classified. we are putting into action steps that we think will help the next secretary be able to make these decisions , be part of the decisions, have more insight into what is going on, and obviously welcome the opportunity to work closely with the subcommittee or set of members to make sure that is what is happening. >> thank you. nineteen or 17 have been done. none of them have been implemented. >> that is not accurate. we did a full and thorough investigation. the vast majority have been implemented, and we will give you a report to that effect. to go back to your point, if

there were an authorization process that is the kind of information that will be shared. i see my former compatriot on the armed services committee, there is always an armed services authorization and their needs always to be a foreign relations committee authorization. >> it is my sense that as a nation we were woefully unprepared for what happened in northern africa in general. i think that you share that view and wonder i know you make opening comments regarding us leading in that area, but it seems to me benghazi symbolizes the woeful unpreparedness our nation had as it relates to issues and north africa command i hope you will address that as you move ahead. >> sen.,senator, let me

briefly address one of the key issues for this committee, the administration in our country. when i was here testifying i don't think anyone thought that mubarak would be gone, cut off he would be gone, that we would have such revolutionary change in this region. there were hints, several of us said that institutions were sinking in the sand, as i said shortly before terrier square. there were some feelings out there, but i don't think anyone predicted this, least of all the people in these countries. this is a great opportunity as well as a serious threat to our country. i hope we seized the opportunity. it will not be easy because these countries have no experience with democracy, no real experience among the

leaders in running countries , doing security. yes, we now face a spreading jihadist threat, have driven a lot of the hq operatives out, killed a lot of them, but we have to recognize that this is a global movement. we can kill leaders, but until we help establish strong democratic institutions, and tell we do a better job communicating our values and building relationships we will be faced with this level of instability, and i have thoughts about what more we can and should do. >> thank you again. >> senator boxer. >> thank you very much. you have represented our country with tremendous strength and poise, one best friends, but have always

spoken out forcefully where required. i want to thank you because this is maybe the last time you come before us as secretary. i want to thank you for your advocacy on behalf of women around the globe. he will be sorely missed, but i hope not for too long. as you have said, you were heartbroken by those losses. wewe saw it in your face many times, today as well. you were heartbroken personally and professionally. that rather than pointing to others for their deficiencies, you stepped up and convened and accountability review board to look into this attack in detail and asked them to tell us the ways they saw it , and i want to give you my take on that board. want to go to something senator corker said, the

1st report we got from the intelligence community a week or so after was confusing and not helpful. all of us felt that way, but i wish to speak for myself. the differencethe difference between that meeting and the one we had with the cochairs which was also a classified briefing could not have been more different. they were so impressive, thorough, strong, called it the way that they saw it, and i am grateful that you have unequivocally committed to ensuring that their recommendations are implemented to the fullest extent which brings me to a question, as we all no, the house of representatives urged and voted for a cut of $300 million for embassy security. maybe it is irrelevant, but

i have a message. it costs money to pay for embassy security or police on the beach or military personnel or police at the capitol the protect us, which we are grateful for and pay for. it does cost money. i was not disappointed to hear the cochair say, congress must do its part to meet this challenge and provide necessary resources to the state department to address security risks and mission imperatives. frankly, i think that it is a no-brainer. i hope that we can work together to get the resources we need for security which brings me to a question about working more closely with the department of defense. and here it is.

have you already engaged with the department of defense to provide additional marines at us facilities to fulfill the recommendation that state and department of defense work together to provide more capability and capacity at higher risk posed, and before you answer that could you maybe address the issue right now? when you look, you see a government that is weak, they don't have the best security. are we working on that? >> well, thank you, and you have raised a lot of important issues and i will try to be as quick as i can. let me start with the budget because it is a bipartisan issue. the department has consistently requested greater funding for embassy construction and diplomatic security. with the exception of 2010 congress has consistently enacted less than requested. the department received $340 million less than

requested. over the last two years cuts to budgets were almost 10 percent off as well. now, they're has been a recommendation to increase facility funding of 2.2 billion per year to restore construction levels called for in the 1998 report, the only other one ever public, and i would go back to something the chairman said. consistent shortfalls have required the department to prioritize available funding out of security accounts, and i will be the 1st to say that the prioritization process was imperfect but the funds provided were inadequate. we are asking for funding, for more marine security guards, for refilling the capitol accounts so that we

can begin to do the kind of upgrades and construction needed. the deputy secretary and senate appropriations and authorizing staff, sent letters to leadership to ask for transfer authority language, not new money, but transfer authority language. the senate put it into the version of the sandy supplemental. we are still looking for the house to act. with respect, there was a country that had been making progress on its democracy. unfortunately it suffered a military coup and by low ranking military officers which stir it into the state of instability with the torres, as you know, some groups have been in the employ of qaddafi for years. he used them as mercenaries. they came out bringing huge

amounts of weapons from the stores of weapons that he had that insurgents liberated as well as others, and they came into northern mali. at the same time there was a move to establish a base in northern mali. they came in and at the same time there is a move from al qaeda to establish a base in northern mali. we have been working to try to upgrade security around northern mali among countries. algeria is the only one with any real ability to do that. most of these countries do not have the capacity to do that. we are not trying to help put together an african force so that african soldiers will be at the front of this fight. the molly and sass the french to come in, obviously rance is one of our oldest allies. we are are

trying to provide support to them. this is going to be a very serious, ongoing threat. if you look at the size of northern it is not only does her but is caves, it sounds reminiscent. we are in for a struggle but it is a necessary struggle. we cannot per minute northern mali to become a safe haven. people say to me all the time that a qi am has not attacked the united states. well before 911, 2001 we hadn't been attacked in our homeland sense i guess the war of 1812 and pearl harbor. you can't say because they haven't done something they are not going to do it. this is not only eight terrorists indicate, it is a criminal enterprise. make no mistake about it, we have got to have a better strategy and i would hope we

have not only a strategy that understands making it possible for these governments to defend themselves better for people to understand and agree with us that these terrorists are not in any way represented of their values but that we can bolster democracy and try to give these arab revolutions a chance to succeed. >> thank you. >> mdm. sec. thank you for your service. thank you for the kindness you have shown this committee over the time you have been there. i appreciate your facilitating the meetings. moving to the interest at hand, this morning the national midi reported a number of the attackers in algeria are people who participated in the attack in benghazi. can you confirm that force this morning?

>> senator, i cannot confirm that. i can give you the background i was able to obtain. this information is coming from the algerian government related to the questioning of certain tears they took alive. we don't have any way to confirm it as of yet. i can certainly assure you we will do everything we can to determine that. you may know that dir. mueller was just in the region meeting with leaders. he is very well aware that we have to track every one of these connections, this will be a new thread that will be followed. >> i appreciate that. only one person has been arrested regarding the attack on benghazi that has been released. can you tell he was one that participated in the l jerry and attack. >> we have no information about that a fact. i think you are referring to the tunisian who appeared in tunisian court upon his release, i called the tunisian prime minister. a few days later we met with the

prime minister. we have been assured that he is under the monitoring of the court. he was released because at that time, and dir. mueller mueller and i spoke about this at some length, there was not an ability for evidence to be presented yet that was capable of being presented in an ape open court. we ate our checking on it all the time. >> you just testified in your prepared remarks he said quote, the very next morning, which would have been wednesday morning, i told the american people that quote heavily armed militants assaulted our compound and vowed to bring them to justice. i'm assuming that you have rocksolid evidence to make such a bold statement at that time. >> well we had four dead people.

we had several injured, one seriously still in walter reed. while we do not have the chance yet to meet with any of our returnees, our team in tripoli had received them, gotten medical care for them and send them on. >> a mac. >> .. and i think we all realize that this happened at a politically charged time here in the country as we approach an election. thethe american people are still entitled to be told the truth. did you select ambassador

rice to deliver the message? >> no, i did not, senator command let me take this opportunity to address this. even though i have not had a chance to testify, i have seen the resulting debate and concern. you are right. it was a terrorist attack. i call that an attack by heavily armed militants which is clearly what happened. secondly, the harder question is what caused it. that we did not know. third, after months of research the picture remains still somewhat complicated, and i say that because in the unclassified are it is key questions surrounding the identity, actions, and motivations of the perpetrators remain to be determined.

i recommend they all read the classified version which goes into greater detail. there were a variety of potential causes and triggers. there is evidence that the attacks were deliberate, opportunistic, and three coordinated. and 4th, i would say that i personally was not focused on talking points. those focused on keeping our people safe. ii have a very serious threat environment and human we have people getting out of the wall in cairo doing damage. we had a serious threat. taken to send reinforcements, which he did to finally save our embassy, which could have been a disaster. i was pretty occupied for

keeping people safe, doing what needed to be done. i don't think anyone in the administration was focused on that so much is trying to figure out what we should be doing. i was not involved in the talking.process. as i understand it, it was a typical interagency process or staff all participated to try to come up with whatever was going to be made publicly available, and it was an intelligence product and is my understanding that the intelligence community is working with appropriate committees to explain the process. >> thank you. i gather you still stand by the statement you made that heavily armed militants assaulted our compound and

he vowed to bring them to justice. >> absolutely. >> thank you, mr. chairman. congratulations and thank you for your extraordinary service to our country during these past four years i believe the world is safer today because america is better understood around the world commend you have been instrumental in integrating diplomacy. it has paid off heavy dividends for the american people and i want to acknowledge your leadership. acknowledge the gender equity issues. corruption with transparency. benghazi was a tragedy.

we have also acknowledged the bravery of those people on the ground. we want to make sure we acknowledge that. we thank you for that. i want to follow-up on one area. algeria is a reminder of the global security concerns. we do not know, the individuals who may have been involved in libya may have been involved in algeria, but there are reports of the united nations and others that weapons of gone from libya to algeria which points out our need as we look at transitions occurring in that region, syria, a side

won't be there much longer. a lot of weapons in syria. julie have a strategy to make sure the weapons are mindful that they could end up harming us interest and it needs to be part of our strategy to make sure as we support alternative government and the rebels that there is a strong priority and protecting the source of these weapons not ending up harming americans are our interests. >> you are absolutely right. one of the reasons that we and other government agencies are present in benghazi is exactly that. we had a concerted effort to try to track down and find and recover as many dangerous weapons as possible.

libya was awash and weapons before the revolution. obviously there were additional weapons introduced, the vast majority came out of qaddafi warehouses and as they were saying, liberated and then went on the black market, were seized by militia, other groups, and have made their way out of libya into other countries in the region and it may their way to syria, we believe. it is a coordinate closely witha

number of like-minded nations, neighbors and partners to be able to work to try to prevent those from falling into the wrong hands, jihadist hands, hezbollah hands but also to try to work with the internal opposition for them to understand the dangers that are posed. so this pandora's box if you will of weapons coming out of these countries in the middle east and north africa is the source of one of our biggest threats. there's no doubt that the algerian terrorists had weapons from libya. there is no doubt that the remnants of aqim have weapons from libya so we just have to do a much better job. the final plan would say about

this is we stood up 10 years ago i think a lot of people at the time wondered why would we have another in the world then why in africa? i think we now need to pay much more attention to africom and its capacity. it's based in stuttgart germany for complicated list just to go reasons. a dedicated leader during his time there but we are going to see more and more dependent -- demands on africom and that's something the senate and the house will have to address. >> senator rubio. >> thank you madam secretary. we all wish this had never happened so this hearing would have would have never happened but we are glad to see you here and wish you all the best. secondarily i want to share the tremendous respect for the hard work and service you have put in

by both members of this chamber and the role you have. one of the things that i'm most interested in exploring is how the donations flow within the state department and looking forward how we can prevent this from happening. i was curious about a number of things. first of all were you ever asked to participate in any sort of internal interagency meetings before this attack with regards to the deteriorating security situation in libya? >> senator again i appreciate your kind words and i reiterate my taking responsibility and as i have already said the specific security request they didn't come to me, i had no knowledge of them. with regards to situations in libya not just eastern libya across libya there were a number of conversations and meetings to try to see what we could do while libya went through this transition from traditional

government of interim government to election to try to get in there and help them with security. it was clear that would be one of their highest needs once they finally got stabilized so there were a number of meetings and i personally went to libya in october of 2011. i spoke with the then leadership trait i met with them in an international setting. we sent teams out those civilian and military experts to try to help them. until recently while they were going through their transition it was a very difficult conversation because they didn't have the authority they thought. we have a long list of ways we are trying help improve security in libya. >> afterward 2011 meeting to this issue come up with regards to the inability of the libyan government to protect our diplomatic institutions, to that

issue come up in that conversation? >> we obviously talked a great deal about the deteriorating threat environment in libya. one of the reasons we had our own people on the ground and why we were looking to try to figure out how to better protect benghazi and how to have understanding with those in the annex is because it's the host country responsibility that they were not in a position to do what we would expect from an organized country but they did have the militias and the february 17 brigade had proven to be responsive in the past prior to 9/11. other militias in tripoli had proven to be responsive. when i landed in tripoli i was met by the militia. that was the welcome i had.

these guys in completely in black holding ammunition that was my welcoming party. we knew that we were piecing together what a host nation was not yet able to do. >> then there was another meeting in march of 2012 so just to be clear in october 2011 and again in march of 2012 here with the prime minister and neither one of these meetings was there a specific conversation between you and them with regards to concerns we had not just the deteriorating security situation but the inability of the host country to meet their obligations to provide security? >> of course, absolutely. this was a constant conversation senator. what i found with the libyans was a willingness but not capacity. you know in tunisia as i told you they had capacity but i had to call and tell them we had to get that capacity out there because they are still trying to figure out how to be a state

without being a security state. with cairo we had to call and tell the egyptians get your people out there so with libya it was different. the libyans were very responsive , very willing but no levers to pull in but we have been trying to do and we need your help to help us pay for what we are trying to do, we are trying to help them build a decent security force to try to reign in the militias as best they can. this was a constant conversation. >> report attacking benghazi benghazi what have you done specifically to help them build their security capacity? >> is theirs along with and i'd be happy to provide that to you because it is filled with training, with equipment, with the kind of planning that they have not done before and i'm happy to send you the details on that senator. >> senator casey. >> adam secretary thank you for being here today to provide this

testimony. i'm going to ask you a question that relates to the implementation of the accountability review board recommendations but before i do that i want to express what i think is a widely shared sentiment today both in gratitude and accommodation for your work. we don't have time today to do a full listing of all the achievements that you should get credit for but i will mention maybe two or three and might of the work you have done in some of the work we have done together. it's terribly difficult challenge in dealing with and reducing the flow of calcium ammonium nitrate which finds its way into the roadside bombs that kill our troops and more popularly as iuds. i want to thank you for the work the work by senator boxer and others on behalf of women throughout the world but also

women and girls particularly in afghanistan and maybe thirdly even though we are still in the throes of responding to the challenge in syria the great work you have done and humanitarian assistance and other elements of that strategy that we have worked together on and also not just the approach that the word she spoke today about not retrenching and retreating when it comes to getting that allen's right between engagement and also security are both high priorities. i was struck by and i'm glad you were so specific on page three of your testimony about the specific implementation. 29 recommendations by the board which now has found its way into or i should say which now is a set of 64 specific action items.

you said in your testimony quote only 85% are on track to be completed by the end of march with a number completed already. i would ask you one question about that one follow-up. what if any impediments to implementation do you perceive right now and are their impediments to meeting those deadlines in this committee and the congress can help you by way of meeting that deadline and implementation. >> thank you senator and let me thank you for those three topics he covered and particularly your very clear focus on the ied problem and they ammonium nitrate problem in pakistan. you and i have gone there and i thank you for making it an issue. let me say we need your help. we need your help number one to hold us accountable, to keep

asking whoever sits in his chair or anybody else in the department who have responsibility in the area of what you are doing and how you were doing it and it will help to clear up misconceptions like none of our recommendations have been fully implemented which i know is not the case but will also help drive change. i really believe and authorization process will dramatically change the dynamics and i strongly urge you to try. again i go back to the armed services committee experience with senator mccain over those years. we had subcommittees. we took it very seriously. we held hearings and we brought people in. we had a three-day markup that was sacrosanct but we also had the quadrennial defense review, qdr for the defense department submitted that it helped provide

a framework so when i got to the state department i said there's nothing like that at the state department so i started the first-ever quadrennial diplomacy development review, the first-ever qddr. you can help me continue that and how have the department ask the hard questions. secondly you can help by making sure that they need to come to you with like water the training needs, the budgetary needs, the bureaucratic changes that are needed that you help support that. and certainly we talked a little bit about the budget and getting that transfer authority to help us with 1.4 billion marine security guards attaching 153 million. we have been closely coordinating with dod. historically marine security guards do not do personal

security. they only protect classified material so we are working through what with the guards will do and how we can get more of them and secondly more diplomatic security personnel. 130 million with an additional 155 with related equipment and facility upgrades of 736 million. we are going to have periodic reviews. i started the interagency security assessment team. we are going to start a high threat review by the secretary which had not happened before. we are going to strengthen the mutual security agreements between the state department and other government agencies when they are not co-located. we had a very good relationship with the annex in benghazi. we help them. they helped us but there wasn't anything -- it was more on the ground working together. it wasn't part of an overall template so they are is a lot

that i think we can take from this because i told ambassador pickering and admiral mullen's to put it out there. i want to know more than anybody what happened. don't hold any punches. tell us what the facts are but now we have to act on that. >> thanks very much. senator jones. >> thank you mr. chairman and madam secretary is like to join my colleagues in thanking you for your service sincerely and thank for testifying and glad to hear you are in good health. were you fully aware in real-time and i realized how big your job is and everything was erupting in the middle east at this time. are you fully aware of -- in real time? >> i was aware of the ones who are brought to my attention. they were part of our ongoing discussion about the deteriorating threat environment in eastern libya.

we certainly were very conscious of them. i was assured by our security professionals that repairs were underway, additional security upgrades had taken place. >> thank you. did you see personally the cable on i believe it was august 12 pacific league -- specifically asking for basic reinforcements for the security evacuating or leaving in august? >> d.c. that personally? >> no sir. >> okay when you read the aarp it strikes me how certain the people were that the attack started at 9:40 in benghazi time. when was the first time he spoke to or have you ever spoken to the evacuees? do you personally speak to those folks? >> i've spoken to one of them but i waited until after they had done their best to geisha because i didn't want to be any

issues before they conducted their investigation. the numbers are a little bit hard. >> approximately. >> approximately 25 to 30. >> to anyone in the state department out of those folks shortly thereafter? >> there was discussion going on afterwards but once the investigation started the fbi spoke to that before we spoke to them so other than our people in tripoli which i think you're talking about washington. >> the point i am making is a simple phonecall to these individuals would have ascertained immediately that there was no protest. this attack started at 9:40 p.m. benghazi time and i time and it was an assault and i appreciate the fact that you call that an assault but i'm going back to ambassador rice purposely with

misleading the american public. why wasn't that non-and i appreciate the fact that the transparency of this hearing. why won't read transparent at that point in time? >> first evolved senator i would say once the assault happened and once the gutter people out our most immediate concern was number one taking care of their injuries. as i said i still have an agent at walter reed seriously injured getting them into frankfurt ranch dine and taking care. the fbi going over immediately to talk to them. we didn't think was appropriate for us to talk to them before the fbi conducted interviews. i think this is accurate sir. i certainly did not know of any report that contradicted the talking points at the time that ambassador rice went on the tv

show. you know i just want to say people have accused ambassador rice and the administration of misleading americans. i can say trying to be in the middle of this and understanding what was going on, nothing could be further from the truth. the information developing and was the situation fluid, would we reach conclusions later that weren't reached initially and i appreciate -- the. >> madam secretary t. disagree that a simple phonecall to those evacuees to determine what would happen were ascertained that there was no protest? that was at these events are made -- information that could have been easily obtained within hours, not days. >> senator when you are in these positions last thing you want to do is interfere with any other process. it's a fact. number two i would recommend

highly to revoke what the aarp said about it and classified aarp because even today there are questions being raised. we have no doubt they were terrorists and they were militants and they attacked us and killed our people about what was going on and why they were doing what they were doing. >> again we were misled that there were protests and something sprang out of that. and that was not the fact in the american people could have known that within days. >> with all due respect the fact is we had four dead americans. was it because of protests over some guys out for a a walk when i decided they would kill some americans. what a difference at this point does it make like it's our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from happening again senator. honestly i will do my best to answer questions about this but the fact is people were trying in real time to get the best

information. ip has a process going with the other committees to explain these talking points but you know to be clear from my perspective it is less important today as to why these militants decided they didn't tend to find them and bring them to justice and maybe we will figure out what was going on in the meantime. >> thank you madam secretary. >> thank you very much secretary clinton that i want to echo the praise for my colleagues for your extraordinary service and i want to thank you for your leadership on benghazi, for taking responsibility for what happened there for initiating an investigation so we would understand what happened, for moving forward to a address another high-risk area and for all of your efforts to implement the recommendation of the

accountability review board. thank you, that's the kind of leadership we want to see across our government. i want to first go back to what i thought you had said about still looking for the funding to be transferred, the 1.3 billion 1.3 billion. >> four. >> 4 billion to the oh account to address security threats not just in libya but around the world and do i understand that we still have not had that money transferred and so that means the 553 million former marine security guards and diplomatic security, 691 million for security installation that is all on hold and so we can't move forward until that has been improved? >> now we have to start over because it was in the senate version of sandy. it was not put in the house

version of sandy so no we cannot move money we are to have to address the needs and efficiencies that the arp has recommended we do. >> well i would just echo the comments have been made already by this committee and by you that this is action we need to get moving on immediately because we still have people at risk around the world and we need to take the action that's going to ensure their security. i would certainly urge the chairman and ranking member to move the committee to do everything we can to make this happen. i would go back to something that the secretary said at the hearing on september 20 because i asked him about the cooperation between the department of defense and state and what the situation was on the ground before the benghazi attack in terms of the placement

of our military in the region. he talked about the unprecedented cooperation between state and defense in the response to benghazi but i wonder if you could talk about how we ensure that this is a standard way of doing business and that we are acting in cooperation when we are looking at the threat facing us particularly as we look at northern africa and across the middle east. >> senator that's a really important and timely question because certainly our cooperation around this crisis was exemplary. the president told the secretary and the chairman to do everything they possibly could to spare no effort or resource and we had a very good interagency response that the arp found that the fact is we have to look closely now at what

more state and dod can do together to prepare for contingencies such as this. i think it's a challenge that needs to be taken up because in iraq and now in afghanistan are diplomats and our military work closely together. as we saw in iraq the military, that was putting a lot of burden on our civilians in iraq that are difficult for us to be able to address because we were lied on our dod colleagues were so much. similarly as we are starting to look at the drawdown in afghanistan what kind of civilian presence are we going to be able to leave there and what can deal with d. do to help us to try to determine what that can and should be and i think you get a sense of the challenge of this from a statement that admiral mullen made. he said and i quote on the night of the attack benghazi in

tripoli and washington coordinated effectively with each other. they looked at the military runway. the interagency response was time inappropriate but there was simply not enough time for u.s. military forces to admit a difference. having said that admirable -- admiral mullen goes on it is not reasonable to tether u.s. forces at the ready to respond to protect every high-risk post in the world. we have to look at this from the state department and the dod perspective and we don't have assets of any significance right now on the african continent. we are only building that up and so what do we need in africa? what country will welcome us there, give us our military and civilian teams a good safe base out of which to operate so if we are focusing just on africa and particularly north africa right now there's got to be a great deal of planning and

coordination between dod and africom in the state department and the rest of the administration. >> senator flake. >> thank you madam secretary. thank you for your testimony and thank you for your service. traveling over 1 million miles in more than 100 countries those of us who haven't done it can now appreciate how difficult that is and the commitment that you have had to it over the years and i thank you. with regards to the appearance of dr. rise on the morning shows you mentioned you did not select or. were you consulted in that decision? >> no. it would not be in any way unusual for ambassador rice to represent the administration on a foreign relations issue. >> i don't think so either but after she testified it was clear that what she testified to was a variance with a lot of

medications from the state department and a lot of the information that had been gathered and things that have been said by yourself and others at the state department. can you enlighten us a bit on the discussion that went on at the state department after that testimony? these are professionals that you oversee that do a lot of hard work to give analysis in this kind of an assessment. what you said was clearly a variance with a lot of the research and analysis that had gone on about the nature of these attacks. what discussions were had at the state department after this testimony? >> i cannot speak to any conversation i specifically had because the conversations were ongoing before and after ambassador rice's appearance on

the sunday talk shows and we did not conclude finally that there were no protests at all until days after the attack. maybe it was in abundance of caution. maybe it was trying to make sure we didn't step on anybody's toes while we were gathering information. maybe it was because the i.t. was still looking at all of their sources and having different threats coming in but as the arp said then today the motivation, the actions before they went on to the compound all of that is not nailed down. i think we were trying very hard to provide information and maybe may be one of the lessons learned here is just withhold. don't say what you don't know for sure until it's finally decided that that's not who we are as americans and public

officials. we get out there and we say here's what we think happened and i think we all wish that nobody had ever and anyway raised doubts but certainly ambassador rice and all the other administration officials were speaking of what had been determined where the most acceptable talking points. >> i think we know now that the talking points we don't exactly know where they were changed or how they were changed but they were changed or altered and i think we can all concede that we were not given a clear picture of what went on. >> but senator we didn't have a clear picture. i wish i could sit here today and tell you within a day or within a week of september 20 became a peer and we had a clear picture. we did not have a clear picture and if you wish to fault the administration it is that we

didn't have a clear picture and we probably didn't do as clear a job explaining that we did not have a clear picture until days later creating what i think are legitimate questions. i understand. i've been on the other side of the table. i understand trying to figure out what was going on and why we were told this, that in and the other but i can only assure you that as the information came to light and as people thought it was reliable. >> in the remaining seconds left you mentioned many the recommendations have been put in place and there are protocols to make sure that security is not adequate that we mubarak diplomats and others to where they are more secure or whatever but let me just say they were protocols in place before this. there were tripwires that we tripped and the actions that were outlined to be taken were

not taken. how can we be assured here that the new protocols that are in place with these new recommendations being implemented will be followed or adhere to because they clearly were before. >> well senator i want to make clear that no one in the state department, the intelligence community, and the other agency ever recommended that we close than dotsie. we were clear-eyed about the threats and dangers as they were developing in eastern libya and in benghazi but there was no decision made and nothing that prompted such a decision. now sitting here today we have probably at least 20 other posts that are under a serious threat environment as i speak to you. we are working with the other

agencies in our government some of whom are the co-located with us, others nearby. we are constantly assessing. and sometimes we get it wrong but it's rare that we get it wrong. this is one of those terrible tragic times when you know there was an assessment shared by the ambassador and shared by others that turned out not to take into account the militants attacking that night. so i could tell you there are things like tripwires but what we are going to try to do is elevate the discussion in the decision-making so there's not any doubt that everybody is on the same page, that we are not dissing information. we are not husbanding resources and thereby making less than optimal decisions. that's what we are going to try to institutionalize going forward. >> dinky.

>> i want to thank senator menendez for chairing this critically important hearing and thank you secretary clinton for testifying today. i deeply regret you work able to appear before because of her illness and i'm thrilled to see you have made a recovery. we share jointly to a trip to library and they gave me an opportunity as a freshman senator to see up close your remarkable skills and stamina in your determination. my view your leadership restores america's credibility builds bridges for international partners and on the hill where your leadership is seen perspective on both sides of the island has been widely praised. well senator kerry has my full confidence. he said in her opening statement you are determined to leave the

state department and our country safer stronger and more secure and in my view because of your leadership they are. today we continue consideration of the recommendations of the advisory viewport which found security was quote grossly inadequate to deal with the attack but did face in benghazi. the mistakes that were made were simply unacceptable and i'm pleased that the state department has begun to properly implement the board's recommendations thinks your leadership rate i know you agree massive security failures have cost the lives of more brave americans. it simply cannot happen again and i look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee and a review of the resources needed and state department structure to ensure that we do better to protect our diplomats and other americans who rely on us each and everyday. i'm particularly pleased to have drawn the links between the tragic incident and in benghazi the recent terrorist incident in

algeria and the unfolded challenges in mali. i chaired a hearing on molly december 5 and i've been impressed with your engaged leadership on angela -- algeria and i welcome your testimony today on how you see the regional threats from aqim and how you see the consequences of this recent incident in algeria and what role you think there is in the united states in supporting the current actions among different somali military and the need for our ongoing insurance investment to restore democracy in mali and restore development in some prospects moving forward and how you think we can ensure state and defense are coordinated through africom in west and north africa going forward? >> senator i appreciate greatly your attention to africa and i

think you are going to be viewed as quite the prophetic. it will be at the leave a continuing set of challenges. you mentioned some of them but by no means we got to boko haram and nigeria closing the threat of instability to one of the most important oil-producing nations in the world something that's very important to our country. we have got other unrest and challenges coming down the west coast of africa but we also have a success story, at least a hope for beginning success story in somalia and what did the united states do there? when i became secretary of state i resubmitted america money to the amazon forces and we work to train ugandan tempera descend others and we worked with the kenyans. we worked with the djibouti's.

it took time. there were no shortcuts that we had the boots of our american soldiers in the boots of american diplomats on the ground break i visited one of the training camps in uganda and what we have to do is recognized we are in for a long-term struggle here and that means we have got to pay attention to places that historically we have not chosen to our had to. so i would hope that this committee can make the case to the rest of the congress. we are now looking at troops coming from other neighboring african countries. we can't just send them into him molly. they don't have the training to do that. we are going to have to wk with other parties to train them and equip them and sustain them just like we did with the troops in somalia. four years ago al-shabaab was one of the biggest threats not

only to east africa but to the united states. we have a chance to really continue on a positive track there but it didn't happen by accident. american money american know-how american experience and we have to make the decision we are going to do the same and north africa as well. >> thank you madam secretary and i certainly look or to continue to get your advice direction and encouragement as i work with my colleagues here to ensure the same sort of success going forward in west africa. thank you for your testimony. >> thank you madam secretary. wonderful to see you in good health. we thank you for your outstanding and dedicated service to this nation and we are proud of you. all over the world that i traveled you are viewed with admiration and respect. months after they have been

gussied tragedy where four brave americans died there of many questions that are unanswered and the answer is frankly that you have given this morning are not satisfactory to me. were you in the president made aware of the classified cable from chris d. vinci said the united states consulate in benghazi could not survive a sustained assault. numerous warnings including personally for me about the security were unanswered or unaddressed. it took a "cnn" reporter looking for a consulate to find chris stevens last -- when were you made aware of that cable? when you -- when rieu i made aware of the assassination attempts and the closing of a consulate there? and what actions were taken?

what was the president's activities during that seven hour period? on anniversary of the worst attack in american history, september 11 we didn't have department of defense forces available for seven hours. two brave americans died. with all these warnings we didn't have a single department of defense asset apparently available to come to the rescue. i categorically reject your answer to senator johnson about well we didn't ask these survivors who were flown to ramzi and the next day that this was not a spontaneous demonstration. to say that an investigation was going on, the american people deserve to know answers and they certainly don't deserve false answers. the answers that were given to the american people on september 15 by the ambassador

of the united nations were false in fact contradicted by the classified information which was kept out of the secretary of the united nations report and by the way in the president's words had nothing to do with benghazi which questions why it was sent out. why is it that these administrations still refuses to provide the full text of e-mails regarding the deletion of references to al qaeda and terrorism in the talking points? why do we care clinics the classified information had been included it gives an entirely different version of events to the american people. go to the american people and tell them what happened and you ought to have your facts straight including the ambassador said quote al qaeda is decimated and our consulates and embassies are secure. so here we are four months later

and we still don't have the basic information. if you want to go out and tell the american people what happened you should at least have interviewed the people who were there instead of saying no we couldn't talk to them because an fbi investigation was going on. and by the way as i said at the time i just happened to be on one of those talk shows people don't bring rpgs and mortars to spontaneous demonstrations. that's a fundamental. of course the president continue to say days afterwards, september the 12th made a reference on "60 minutes" too early to know september 20 on the division we are still doing an investigation september 24 on a few we are still doing an investigation. the president of the united states as late as september 242 weeks later did not acknowledge that this was an act of terror

conducted by people who were at least somehow connected to al qaeda. finally madam secretary i strongly disagree with your depiction of what we did after gadhafi fell. we did not provide the security that was needed. we did not help him with border security. we did not give them the kind of assistance that would have been necessary to help dismantle these militias that still to this day remain a challenge to democracy in libya and freedom. you knew chris stevens very well and i knew him very well. i knew him on july 7 when i went to libya to observe the elections and at that time on july 7 he expressed to me his deep and great concerns about security particularly in benghazi and he continued to communicate with the state

department and i don't know who else were in those cables of his deep concern about the security and the need for additional assistance. i will argue with facts that after that event took place after the fall of gadhafi he saw the footprint was partially to some degree responsible for the tragedy that took place. the american people and the families of these four brave americans still have not gotten the answers that they deserve. i hope that they will get them. >> senator i understand you're very strong feelings. you knew chris and you were a friend of chris. you were one of the staunchest supporters of the effort to dislodge gadhafi and tries to give the libyan people a chance and we just have a disagreement.

we have a disagreement about what did happen and when it happened with respect to explaining the sequence of events. we did get to talk to the agents will make got back to this country. we did so and it was not before september 15. we have no access to the surveillance cameras or weeks which help to answer a number of questions but with respect to helping the libyans and that also goes to the question senator rubio asked we will provide a list of everything we were doing and were attempting to do but i will also tell you that since march 2011 congressional holds it in place and programs for many months for eight to libya. we had frequent congressional complaints, why are we doing anything for libya. it's a wealthy country. as oil and disagreement from

some sources that we should never have sent part of any u.n. mission in libya. currently the house has holds on bilateral security assistance, on other kinds of support for antiterrorism assistance so we have got to get our act together between the administration and the congress. this is a priority and if we are serious about trying to help this government stand up security and deal with what is a very dangerous environment from east to west than we have to work together. so i hope that we can have the kind of discussion where we can agree on certain approaches that will make a difference. again i would urge you look and read the classified and unclassified versions of the arp to try to do with the very questions that you and senator johnson are raising, the timing

of it and the like but i also hope we are looking forward because right now libya is still dangerous. it is still in a very unstable status and whatever we can do for them i would agree we need to do it and get out there and start delivering. >> thank you madam secretary. >> madam secretary i want to try to keep you in a certain timeframe and you have to go before the house. i want to have an opportunity for every member to ask questions so i appreciate your thorough and thoughtful answers but to some degree it will dictate your own timeframe. >> madam secretary, thank you for being here. it's a little more than four years ago a number of your colleagues myself included encourage you to take on this responsibility believing you would have a profound impact on the world and the diplomacy in the united states and you have. thank you so much for all you have done.

i also want to say a word on behalf of ambassador rice and extraordinary individual who has served this country well. i think some of the criticism that was heaped on her was unfair and not reflecting the fact that she was reporting the best information she had available at the time. as you said more information came available and it was dutifully reported. they do want to make one point for the record here about whether the american people are told everything right away, in the right way so that they can be fully informed and i would like to refer to five words for them to reflect on. iraqi weapons of mass distraction. we were told by every level of government here there were iraqi weapons of mass distraction that justified a war. invitation of the united states.

we are still searching for those weapons. they didn't exist. thousands of americans lost their lives. we could have a hearing on that. the point i'm trying to get to is to extraordinarily talented individuals admiral mullen and maybe one of the best diplomats of our time ambassador pickering did a thorough review here and found shortcomings in our protection of our people overseas and reported them honestly. you not only initiated that review committee accepted its findings in their totality. no coverup, an attempt to be totally honest to make sure tragedies like this never occur again. the second planet like to make is this. some on the committee have criticized the notion that this is about money. they might argue you can't solve a problem by throwing money at

it. madam secretary they problem by throwing money at it unless the problem is lack of money and what i understand he did testify as to how testify as you have fast as congress for the authority to transfer existing funds to protect ambassadors and diplomatic personnel around the world and you have been refused by the house of representatives. they will not give these the authority to even take existing funds. if i'm not mistaken in a few weeks or department is going to face sequestration and they not only want additional funds we will cut some $2 million when it comes to construction of facilities to protect people who represent the united states overseas and cut money for the individuals necessary to protect those same diplomats. so i would like you to comment, how can we keep our commitment to be a leader in the world and the area of diplomacy, statecraft, to avoid the necessity of war if we don't get

the most basic resources to your department which commands as i understand it 1.5% of the federal budget. >> actually is less than one but let's not quibble. look i am well aware that there are deficiencies and inadequacies in the department. i went about doing what i could in the four years i had through the qdr process, through creating some additional incentives and changes in culture to try to assist everybody in the state department and usaid to do as much as they could with what i there they had. we were never going to reach parity with the defense department. we were always going to be one 12th or less of the budget and that was fine but to do what we can but at the same time we have

asked for the funds we think we need to be able to fill fill the mission you have described senator durbin. we need the help of this committee. i am one who believes that we have to both walk and chew gum at the same time. we have to deal with our own economy and our fiscal situation. that is a given because that is the source of our strength in our capacity but we also have to be smart about making the right investments in policy and development to try to solve problems and prevent them. i have outlined what should be a no-brainer to let us have the permission to take money we are to have, we are not asking for more money and put it to work with what the arp told us to do and look at the budget as we move forward. sequestration will be very damaging to the state department

and usaid if it does come to pass because it throws the baby out with the bath. other programs that we could reduce, make more efficient? >> guest: and that's part of what i've been trying to do is to push that forward and that's what the qdr process was about but there are also a lot of very essential programs for security of our personnel in dangerous places that we can afford to cut more of so i hope we get the transfer authority and have a sensible budget discussion going forward. >> thank you. senator barrasso. stan thank you mr. chairman and madam secretary want to thank you for your incredible commitment to this country as first lady and a member of this body as secretary of state and i have seen you work yourself to exhaustion. not to your own benefit but to the benefit of this country in and the country is grateful for that. i agree we need to make sure

that something like this never happens again and i've looked at it like the challenger explosion where we lost the severn -- seven astronauts. we didn't see it coming that we could have seen it coming and should have seen it coming. as you said you never saw the security requests. vice president biden in the presidential debates said no one told us. ..

>> >> we obviously had a strong security presence obviously there was a significant security presence and i believe that was not the case. i would estimate you believe we had a significant strong presence in libya at that time perhaps we want that for all of our ambassadors. >> senator, we had a security presence that was naturally reinforced with the index - - with the and next with previous instant

-- incident with the red cross and others what we have done is even though there was the back and forth with the cables and the discussion we had five with the unprecedented attack with the regional security a officer testified it was not expected even though that night there was the requisite number we can get my eric in the of back-and-forth to prevent future tragedies and attacks

they does want to look at the facts to do an excellent job then tell all of us that is our highest responsibility. >> the president vowed to bring to justice to kill the people in benghazi but we ask the question to perpetrate the recent attacks in algeria and how are people brought to justice? i don't know that i would assume about the progress of their investigation just a

few days and then go from the director from the north africa and they are following promising leads to put together cases but what they're trying to determine the president said they would respond but that we have some very good examples does not divert attention. >> in light of those terrorist activities in north africa would you characterize that that al qaeda has been decimated?

>> it has been. in afghanistan and the borders area and has taken now to zero whole cadres of leadership now we see those who have migrated back to other parts of the world for they have come from poorly with the jihadist syndicate like al qaeda other issues different names they are terrorists from extremists, to overthrow existing governments with the pakistan and afghanistan

region we do have to content with the wannabes and the affiliate's going forward. >>. >> eidenshink you have been n a dedicated server for the country if your travel around the world the 1 million miles you have visited with they have a secretary of state and i have seen firsthand the difference it makes to have you there on the ground so first of all, the key for that and it does take a toll the you are incredibly dedicated to that. it is good to see you here in good health and smiling

and engaging with all of us. i will add to the list with the senators coming down the line to talk about your accomplishments and though previously i talk about cookstoves which i know is one of your initiatives mitt is an example to pick something where people round the world with the up-to-date cookstove you could make a difference on their health so i would add that to the list that has been given here today with thoughtful policy-making on your part. one of the findings the board made, the total elimination of risk is a

nonstarter for diplomacy for the government to be present were stability is profoundly lacking with host governments support is sometimes minimal or nonexistent. and this underscores the difficulty to find the right balance between engagement and security. with the idea we should reprogram to get back together but my question here revolves around a the high rest post you use the term to have 20 is this how many we have around the world?

>> it is a sliding scale. it is constantly evolving. >> can you give us a range? >> i would like to give you that in a classified document title think it helps us 2.0 the ones that we think better of the west at risk and perhaps in a secondary category so we operate in places where we have custody until stream landed is a difficult decision if that mission continues.

we rely on the security professionals to implement the procedures and protocols and and i have to say they do a tremendous job. the vast majority of cases of assassinations stopped or the daily efforts the depp diplomatic security professionals are engaged in. i have a lot of confidence that we will do what we can to make sure they get the support within our bureaucracy they deserve on the ground to protect our diplomats. >> i want to obey that time in its the because you have to go to the house but could you answer for the record, does it make sense in some of these hybrids -- high risk areas we

consolidate with more secure areas and then be in a situation rare our personnel would be safer? and asking you to answer that now i want others to question but if you to give us an answer for the record. >> i will do that and one of the recommendations out of east africa was to do that ended is done in the vast majority of cases what is called colocate but we're looking to see what we can do. >> thank you for appearing secretary clinton glad to see your health is improving but what disappointed me the most about the original 9/11 nobody was fired peyser dash errors in those need to be replaced and fired and no motor in a position to be in these judge recalls so we

have a review board that finds 64 things to change a lot were common sense and should be done but it is a failure of leadership they were not done in advance with four lives cost. and let your accepting responsibility ultimately leading you except culpability for the worst tragedy since the 11th and i really mean that i found you did not read the cables from ambassador stevens and benghazi i would have relieved you for riposted is inexcusable. we can understand you're not reading of every cable may be or not aware from the ambassador in vienna that asks for $100,000 for the electrical charges station or maybe your department spent $100,000 going to indy on a promotional tour but you might be aware of the

80 million spent on the consulate that will never be built and it is inexcusable you did not know about this or read these cables but anybody's estimation with the house to have been one of the hottest of hot spots of the robot to know the request for security cost these people their lives. they could have been saved had someone ben available or more on top of the job. i don't suspect you of bad motives the board said there were not willfully negligent and a suspect your motives to serve your country but a failure of leadership not to be involved. the failure of leadership not to know these things would is good or accepting responsibility because no one else is. there is a certain of the culpability to laugh when ashley worst tragedy to send 11.

is the u.s. involved with procuring of weapons or transfer to buy or sell to turkey out of libya? >> to turkey? i will have to take that for the record. >> it has been in news reports ships are leaving from the dna have weapons so is that aniks involved in ruth they transfer to any other countries? >> you'll have to direct it to the agency that ran the annex. >> you say you don't know? >> i don't have information on that with respect to personnel, a first, that is why we have independent

people who review the situation in all four individuals had been removed from their job to be placed on the ministry did leave what we go through the personal process ambassador and admiral lot highlighted the reason it is complicated because under federal statutes unsatisfactory leadership is not grounds for breach of duty they did not find the four individuals breached their duty so i have submitted legislation to fix this problem. >> but the review board has one -- all these recommendations that has set this up that never should have been sent in there without the military guard issue be an embassy like

baghdad in a war zone under military guard significantly under defense department command and of think the state department is capable to be in a war zone another tragedy could happen around the world. somebody needs to make an executive decision and take leadership you should not send them in without marines to guard records not people or the same type of the embassy's staff that you haven't paris is inexcusable. >> today i am here to answer questions the best i can. i am the secretary of state made the level of responsibility for the failures was at the assistant secretary level and below.

the administration send officials to the hell more than 30 times we have venice transparent as we can't obviously we will continue to brief you any and all questions going forward. the reason we put the review board to take it out of politics and partisanship and accusations to put into the hands the people who have no stake in the outcome. tell the world might open is that i believe in transparency in to take responsibility and i have done so and i hope we can see a good working relationship going forward. >> secretary clinton i

approached during with some degree of sadness my firsthand your last the live appreciative of your service you have done such credit to this nation and i am sorry to see you go you will continue to give as good counsel and advice in the coming years. some people that want to call the worst tragedy since 9/11 misunderstands the nature of 4,000 americans lost under 10 years of iraq fought under false pretenses also because we had a misunderstanding of what we could do or manage in the region in what was under our control. so my question is whether

the expectations going forward in north africa? you reference this of what is under our control. one of the criticisms we didn't have a full understanding of a complicated set of allegiances between the jihadist group's and i worry during this retrospectively we give the impression we can know all and see all and control all to stand up to what we may need. it is an open-ended question as we move forward that will be spending a lot more time on africa or north africa twitter the exhortations as

to what we can control or what changes we need to make to have a more solid footprint for those are willing to help us and intervention with this complicated landscape. >> you'll make an excellent member of this committee on the question of will depart question of a raise is now part of the challenge that we face. we're in a new reality. trying to make sense of changes nobody predicted that we have to live with. i cannot do justice to the important issues you have highlighted but first, be honest with ourselves avoided turning to read into

a political football but to say this is unprecedented, and we don't know what will happen in the new revolutionary environment across north africa and the middle east east, let's see what lessons we can learn, what is applicable and bring people together who have the open discussion that used to be the hallmark of this committee in the senate. people used to have hearings did and does have a mission led dash officials, and go on fidel into what works and what doesn't bring in the outside experts. over the last week's high poll ratings from very conservative in liberal

commentators who have reached the same conclusion we have to approach with humility but we have some assets of redeploy them right to helping to rebuild security is the central. it took a decade in colombia who didn't directly end as a partner in somalia. let's be smart and learned what to be transferred and with the new chairman and ranking member conversations we could play a role to answer your questions to put forth a policy going from administration to administration but it would be steady with colombia or the cold war we have more

assets than anybody in the world but we have gotten off track figuring out how to utilize them. >> madam secretary i also regret our overlap will be so brief the country is at its strongest when we balance military with economic strength and moral example i cannot think of a person to exemplifies that balance as well as you do and i appreciate that. a few detailed questions in the unclassified version fabrics comment december 2011 the undersecretary approved a one-year continuation that

was never a consulate or never formally notified. why wasn't this mission notified? is that a common practice to that lack of notification had any connection with the week response on the 11th and are there any changes to the idea of special missions not notified to the host government? >> congratulations to you and welcome to this committee. united states notified the specific names of those serving in aaa end benghazi that did not that was not the ruling is but the capacity for the first time chris stevens arrived he

replied not on an the libyan government will security but the february 17 brigade with private security contractors. there was no affect on anything from a libyan government related to that but we do think it needs to be looked at going forward. the arb made an important point the temporary nature did prove to be confusing to people down the chain responsible reading those cables i have to confess i do not read all of them that come in and that is why we have a huge work force of people letter given responsibility and expected to carry that forward.

to designate it as temporary in the arb findings did cause an extra level of uncertainty. the chairman said there has been the husband resources to try to be as careful to spend money as possible but then add to that it was temporary probably did the to confusion we lot -- relator saw played out but not the status for the libyan government. >> cal, is it to rely on non-governmental security as it was with the brigades and thank god the? >> it is very common. we employ private security guards at a high number of

post the go to the embassy in baghdad or call or any high for a places you'll see private security guards. because of problems with the contract that came to light there were private security guards protecting experts many countries put very stringent requirements and in libya of the transitional government unless they approve them they approve this company that was joint libyan british organization but we use private guards because historically the marines do not direct

personnel. their job is to take care of classified material and destroy that we did not have that at benghazi it is unfortunate we evacuate the americans and other classified the material that we had no classified material. there will be an effort because of the work to sort this out so everybody knows the protocol in the rules to act accordingly. >> madam secretary thank you for your thorough and forthright answers. i understand we can welcome you one more time tomorrow as introduce senator kerry to the committee.

there are several tech -- takeaways that are incredibly important. we have to look at the totality of the threat environment rather than a single credible threat with the protection of the foreign service personnel moving in that direction. those that have responsibility for security matters as a there looking and a horizontal nature. we do forget about resources the secretary gates used to argue more people in military beds and in the entire foreign service surely we can find the funds to protect our diplomats that serve on the front line and i am concerned when the arb says the state

department has been engaged for struggle to carry on his work that has conditioned the thinking of some it is imperative for the state department to be mission driven particularly in risky parts of the world. i look forward to really working with the ranking member to get that transfer authority within the budget is about taking money that is already appropriated you have the ability to start working to protect our people as robust as we can and failure is up for judgment on this congress if we cannot transfer authority. a lot has been made about the question what was said

or not but i think about that in the context there are lessons to be learned there as well to learn about the tragedy or an incident you want to get an aberration as quickly as possible but what we don't know is equally as important maybe we should know before we speak is important that would have been important when we were told their weapons of mass destruction in iraq as someone who voted against the war, i look at benghazi as a tragedy. as you lose those lives in iraq thousands have been injured to increase the

influence of iran i think for my own personal perspective was truly a tragedy so there are lessons to be learned if there are questions for the committee for answers by close of the day tomorrow. thank you for your parents and your service. >> i want to add three more takeaways alluding to the issues at the state department and the white house deal with i think this committee will be useful to set up a long-term explanation of our national interest looking long term term, we have talked extensively the importance to have a full authorization

would be very helpful for people like you to come in for a short period of time to set those priorities. so that you embrace and that this committee has never done and we live in a world where al qaeda will be a threat in the north africa for years to come and we have to have a policy to realize that. cannot nice things to be set tomorrow but thank you. >> we are entered. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations]times r role. [inaudible conversations]

this afternoon. i want to thank united nations for hosting today's even to put the challenge of gender equality front and center on the international agenda per crime especially pleased to have some new leaders year from the private sector going shoulder to shoulder with advocates. 20 years ago this was so lonely struggle today we mark the progress made since the community gathered in beijing to declare with one voice demonstrates for women's rights. because of legal protection we can say there has never ben a better time in history to be born female but as the comprehensive report makes clear when it comes to the

full presentation of women and girls we're not there yet. this remains the great unfinished business of the 21st century in my passion burns as brightly today as it did 20 years ago. i want to comment on the matter regarding iran. the president and his team in the midst of intense negotiation to close off the pathways to a nuclear bomb to give us unprecedented access and insight into the iran nuclear program. reason all people can disagree exactly what it will take to accomplish this objective and we must judge

any agreement on its merits. but the recent letter was out of step with the best tradition of leadership what was the purpose of this letter? either they were trying to be helpful or harmful to the commander in chief in the midst of high-stakes international diplomacy. e there does discredit to the signatory. there have been questions about my e-mail so i will address that directly that i will take a few questions from you. there are four things the what the public to know. first when i got to work as secretary of state i opted

for convenience to use my personal e-mail account which was allowed because i thought it would be easier to carry one device for work and personal e-mail instead of to. looking back it would have been better if i used a second even accounting carried a second fall but it didn't seem like an issue. second, the vast majority of my work emails went to government employees that their government addresses which meant they were captured and preserved immediately on the system at the state department. third, after i left office the state department announced former secretaries of state for our assistance for copies of work-related emails forum will dash from our personal accounts.

i responded right away and provided all emails that possibly be work-related which totaled roughly -- roughly 55,000 printed pages even though i knew the state department already had the vast majority of them. we went through a thorough process to identify all emails and deliver them in the end i chose not to keep one a private personal e-mail flight planning chelsea's wedding or condolence notes or my mother's funeral arrangements were family vacations or the other thing is to find typical know it was their emails to be made public and most understand and respect the privacy. i took the unprecedented step