infected with the disease. so we still have a long way to go in the detection process. we don't have a vaccination available. we don't know all the connections and we will have questions in some direction about where we are going to look at how we can go after the disease, either for vaccination or for treatment. ..

but they do face challenges that would affect certain challenges and they want to make sure that it's available and they want to know where to go next. some of that has been provided, and the state of florida acted in early february and they've been in close contact with local officials which is extremely important. there are some simple things that can be done and we know when they are using insecticides and mosquito repellent staying in the air conditioning and that is where people are getting the infection but if we have the

problem in the united states we want to make sure that people are aware of the risk that they face and the simple solutions to tackle it just like mosquitoes that we have from coast to coast and from border to border. while the cbc remains hesitant we would hear more about that. experts are confident that zika is causing some outcomes that we've seen and the most notable risks are women and pregnant women and they seem to have or they seem to be fairly certain and we will find out about that and other possible links to individuals that may cause them serious health damage. the administration spoke about

3:00 a.m. i had this folder i woke up and finish it last night. i did read the administration last week the president sent a communication to the members of congress asking for a billion dollar request for emergency action. i also read where the chair man of appropriations said we have almost the exact amount left over from ebola and the possibility of using that. i want to make sure that the funds are available, particularly for the research for finding out anything that can stop this either with a mosquito or to keep people safe when possible vaccination, wherever we are going to go but that also needs funding asap, and we want to make sure that

the funds are available asking questions about the money. so as it usually solves most of our problems the situation is rapidly developing into changing americans have concerns that they need to but they need to know that their government at each level, federal, state and local are making certain that the challenge is being met and we want to ensure the public that we are receiving the latest information and coordinating any good fashion so we can do the best. the united states is fortunate to we have the world's most advanced health care system in the united states. it's impressive and we want to keep it that way and make certain that we are well coordinated into the use common sense to be able to contain the spread of the fire and be well equipped for any future threats that may pose.

i look forward to hearing from the panel and i welcome our witnesses. i'd like to turn to the ranking member, the gentle lady from illinois for an opening comment. >> thank you to the witnesses for being here today. today's witness to the hearing is important to examine the efforts to combat the zika virus and ensure that the agency response is efficiently coordinated. there've been 82 reported cases including four cases in my home state in illinois. today the cases are limited to the travelers returning to the united states from affected countries or individuals that have had such relationships with returning travelers. as a new mother i understand the concern over the zika virus. the recent outbreak of this has shed light on a disease of which most americans are not aware and as the head of these others control prevention doctor tom

friedman explained the scientific community has an astounding lack of literature examining the virus. fortunately the public health community is working hard to change this. since the outbreak of 2007, we developed a test in the first week of an illness for a sample taken from an infected child. more recently and they activated the emergency operation center last month in response to the latest outbreak and the world health organization designated the outbreak of public health emergency of international concerns. our system has acted quickly to increase its surveillance and buy it as its capabilities in affected areas and to ramp up what have has been very limited scientific research. i want to thank the the cdc and nih for their active responsiveness in the case however, much work remains to be done so we can better understand the zika virus and develop strategies to treat the affected

individuals to contain the virus spread and ultimately to develop effective therapies and vaccines that would neutralize the threat entirely. further we must work diligently to assess every of able control measure and adopt the most effective is to prevent the virus from entering the mosquito population in the continental united states. equally important in light of what appears to be the zika capacity to cause severe birth defects, we must also provide safe coming effective and affordable contraception to individuals living in areas of risk for zika transmission. this includes taking action to strengthen the service in areas where mosquito populations are already carrying zika such as puerto rico and the virgin islands. zika the pandemic . it, knows no boundaries. the contribution to the efforts in central and south america are first and foremost the right thing to do but also critical to controlling the spread of this disease. that's why i fully support the proposal for $1.9 billion in

emergency funding for domestic and international response. i also emphasize the continued consistent investment in public health remains critical in the periods of crisis and calm. our public health agencies are able to mobilize agility today because they have built on decades of institutional knowledge and capacity and lessons learned to anticipate and better respond to emerging threats which we never even imagined. the emergence should serve as a warning to the world public health infrastructure to defend us against this threat and those that will appear in the future. until we have more answers we must remain vigilant and take precautions so we get the next generation the best chance of a full healthy life. this requires the cooperation of both men and women to prevent transmission to other humans or mosquitoes in the continental united states. i urge everyone to proceed with

caution to protect themselves and their communities and i look forward to the testimony of the witnesses. thank you for holding this hearing today via i yield back. >> think the gentle lady and if no other members have an opening statement, what we will do is with the content, consent, we will hold the record open for five legislative days. did you have an opening statement? we will hold a record opening for members who would like to submit a written statement, and we may be asking the witnesses questions in addition to what is done in this formal setting and they will also be made part of the record without objection. so ordered. we will now recognize the panel of witnesses today. i am pleased to welcome doctor

and, the principal deputy director of the center for disease control and prevention. doctor anthony felt is the character of the allergy and infectious disease at the institute of health. welcome back, doctor. doctor john armstrong is the surgeon general and secretary of health for the state of florida and then the managing director for sports medicine of the united states olympic committee. i want to welcome all of you in person and to the committee rules this is an investigation of oversight subcommittee and i would ask you to stand to be sworn. raise your right hand please. do you solemnly swear or affirm

that the testimony you are about to get before the subcommittee of congress is the whole truth and nothing but the truth? let the record reflects reflect the witnesses answered in the affirmative and while doctor fauci has been here before, maybe others it's customary to give a five-minute statement, and if you have additional data that you would like to make a part of the record of proceedings to ask the chair or a member they be included and we will do that. so, we will start out and welcome again to the deputy director for the center of disease control, doctor schuchat. >> thank you so much, chairman, congressman and members of the subcommittee. the cbc and partners here and

overseas are working around-the-clock to find out as much as we can as quickly as we can and we are learning more every single day. to accomplish this, the cdc is working with others in the department of health and human services including my colleague doctor fauci and we are working with other parts of the society to make sure that we communicate with travelers and healthcare providers can update travel alerts and clinical guidance, develop improved mosquito control methods, and we are coordinating internationally in the world health organization and the american health organization on the zika response. we are all trying to learn more about zika and how it is spread. i want to begin with three points. this is a dynamic situation changing frequently. we are committed to share what we know and when we know it and to revise and adapt to the new

information. they come from nature and they can be challenging. a new syndrome like this can be scary particularly for vulnerable pregnant women that we can and should do more to protect, respond and present these new infectious threats. third, cdc has a unique decades long experience in the core public health functions that are critical for this kind of response. we work on emerging pathogens and work on disease protection, lab capacity, epidemiology and surveillance, response and partnership with state and local governments and with other countries. we've known about this virus for a long time but only in 2007 wasn't out to be corrected by. that outbreak causes a mild syndrome but we've recently learned that it appears to be

asses he did with serious birth defects and possibly others. there may also be links with a neurological problem. it is principally spread by the mosquito a difficult one to control and that is one of our challenges. where is this going? there've already been more than a million cases in brazil and in latin america seeing sharp increases in the virus infections. we expect many travelers returning to the united states to have zika virus infections that we are doing what we can to prevent the severe complications. that's why we issued a guidance for pregnant women to avoid traveling to areas the virus is spreading, because at this time avoiding the virus into mosquitoes that spread it is the best way to protect a pregnancy.

we expect there may be a little bit of local transmission in the united states because the mosquito that carries the virus is resident in those communities we don't right now expect a lot of local transmission but we need to be ready for it. one of the reasons the governor declared emergency we think that other countries are the place critical information can be learned and that's why we are working side-by-side with our colleagues in brazil and colombia to learn as much as we can and as quickly as we can. the cdc has been very busy. we've activated our emergency operation center to the highest level and we have more than 500 people working on the response not just the infectious disease experts and insect experts but also on birth defects and in communications and travel health we have developed and distributed kits for laboratory detection and we are working

with state and local health departments so that they can deploy those tests. we are working on the ground in brazil and colombia to uncover the mysteries of the links that you were talking about. while we are giving much already come a zika requires a robust all of government response as put forward in the emergency zika funding request. cbc is part of that request to provide support to puerto rico and other areas in the united states, the territories where it is already spreading. second, for the rest of the u.s. where the travelers may be returning and where the capacity of communication will be vital and third for the international partners where we have a chance to learn as much as we can to protect americans in that way this would support the work and

prevention, detection and response. to conclude, we must act swiftly to address the challenges. we are learning more and more every day but there is much more to learn and to do. we will continue to work collaboratively with other departments and congress to ensure an effective response. thank you. >> we will not turn to doctor fauci representing the nih. you are recognized. >> thank you very much, ranking member and members of the committee on want to thank you for the opportunity to discuss the role of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases in the research component of the broad approach towards addressing the virus threat. the institute that i direct has a dual mandate. first we maintain and grow a

basic research portfolio in the disciplines of microbiology diseases and in human diseases. however, despite that long-term commitment we are also prepared in a part of our mandate to rapidly respond to new and emerging disease threats and this is something that we have been doing essentially from the beginning. in fact if one takes a look at the slide is the title of a perspective that i wrote last month for the new england journal of medicine and you see in the title it's a zika virus and america is yet another virus threat and what i was referring to is in the past couple of decades we've seen the virus of the type in the western hemisphere before seen before. west nile from decades ago, and in 2013 and most recently 2015 zika. when one looks at the role of

what we do come at the role of what we do come at the nih is mandated to do basic and clinical research to provide the research resources for the industry and academia with the ultimate mandate to develop vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to select me take select me take a couple minutes to describe these areas when you look at the epidemiology and natural history, we are focusing on looking at symptomatic versus asymptomatic disease. it's extraordinarily important to pregnant women and women who want to become pregnant. what about the cohort studies to actually mail down the cause of the relationship or not between infection and pregnancy and the development of congenital abnormalities such as microcephaly and understanding the path of the disease with regards to basic research it is

very similar to the basic research we've done with other viruses ranging from hiv 30 plus years ago and that is to look at viable structure, the path of the disease looking at the end you response which gives a great insight into the development of vaccines. in addition as you know the cdc takes a leading role to determine the diagnosis of the disease, something they are doing right now. nih contractors are also working on a more sensitive and specific antibody test to determine if in fact someone has been infected because we know now the current tasks have a degree of activity. as we've done for so many of these other emerging threats to

the candidates that you see on the slide are the two that are the most advanced and ready to go to early trial. we are partnering with our industrial colleagues and right now to give you an example of why it's important to have done decades of research and other diseases they give us a head start. years ago we developed a vaccine for west nile virus. we went into phase number one to induce the response that would predict would be protected. we had industrial partners so we never made it to the advanced development but we used the platform to develop now a vaccine that is essentially ready to go in the development of the early preclinical study and it's an interesting phenomenon. we took the dna piece of the gene and we stuck in a gene to express a protein of west nile.

so we took the same platform and right now we are making the vaccine and predicted will be ready to go into the base one trial by the summer of this year and hopefully by the end of 2016 we will have enough information to decide if we can even go further to an advanced trial and i'd be happy to discuss that in the question period. finally when one looks at therapy, we do the screening of drugs of the known activity against the viruses as well as new drugs that have a potential activity. this is a very important issue, and we are now partnering with many of our industrial partners to do this. finally, on the last slide i just want to recapitulate what i said at the beginning. emerging infections have been with us all along and they will always be with us. i call it the perpetual challenge as i did in the review

a few years ago and i would like to thank this committee and the others for the support you've given us over the years to allow us to fulfill this mandate. thank you. >> now we will recognize doctor armstrong you are recognized. >> thank you members of the subcommittee i'm glad for the opportunity to be here with you this afternoon. florida has a long tradition of combating and eradicating mosquito diseases and the department of health was created out of an epidemic of yellow fever in 1889. our mosquito outbreaks of modern times have been local in a short duration consistently at the approach was three fold. first mosquito control, next public information and third perpetual education. and we have seen success with containment of west nile.

this afternoon i will provide an update on the status in florida and an overview of how they successfully apply the guidelines to protect the resident visitors. to date we have had no transmission of the virus in florida through healthcare professional readiness to department has reported 29 travel related cases to the cdc most recently from seminole county. the travel related cases defined as contracted outside of the state prior to the arrival. none of the conference cases in the virus involve pregnant women. we have however identified three pregnant women who traveled to countries affected by zika and who likely had a virus in the countries and returned without any symptoms they have evidence of remote infection and we are

applying the guidelines to ensure that they receive care for the health professionals consistent with those guidelines we've had a 29 cases in the counties and we currently have the laboratory capacity to conduct over 4800 viral tests and over 1200 antibody tests to develop the past infections. we've been conducting approximately 200 weekend reported positive results to the partners and the public daily. recognizing the increase of travel related cases in florida on february 1 governor scott requested a briefing with the cdc on the virus and on the call we confirmed that the mosquito, the carrier of zika is common in florida and there are potential links in newborn microcephaly and disorders. what was most clear in that briefing is that there is

scientific uncertainty about the transmission and beyond the mosquito bite and about the impact of zika after an individual becomes infected. guidance from the cdc should account for this uncertainty while providing actionable recommendations with what is known. based on the information from that meeting and the troubling of the travel related cases in the following weeks on february 3, governor scott issued an executive order directing the needs to declare the public all the emergencies in the counties with diagnosed travel cases and in that same day i declared public health emergencies in the four impacted counties at the time and since added counties to the declaration as i shared. the public health emergency included three directives. one, the notification of the commissioner of agriculture who oversees the office of mosquito control that connects with the local mosquito control boards and next mobilization of local leaders to coordinate the control efforts and public outreach to vulnerable populations with meeting

summaries and action plans reported back to the department of health and family outreach to medical professionals with up-to-date guidance to increase awareness and acts as a diagnostic tool. as a department we established a command team to address comprehensive readiness activities. florida is one of the premier systems in the country with a central laboratory in jacksonville and branch laboratories in miami and tampa. when it was issued governor scott recognized that with over 20 million residents over 100 million annually for the must stay ahead of the possible flood of the virus and the capacity plays in a central role in that effort. they called on hand to have at least 4,000 viral tests which are commercially available and ordered it the next day. governor scott called on the cdc to provide at least a thousand tests so we could test individuals especially pregnant women and new mothers. the antibody tests requires the individual to do for had the

virus into the time we had a capacity for only 475 tests. february 9 the cdc provided florida with 950 additional tests bringing the total to 1425 so with the existing infrastructure and testing resources we are equipped to work with professionals to test patients and associated history to the impacted country based on the cdc guidance. the department of health licenses all medical professionals and has existing channels with with our licensees and we've used channels to share the guidance on the disease treatment and testing protocols as well as recent fda recommendations regarding blood donations from individuals who've been to areas with active zika transmission. healthcare professional safety has always been a fair amount importance and we've emphasized the guidance of universal percussions provide a level of protection. february 12 the cdc hosted a

conference call for the florida medical professionals to provide information on the symptoms, treatments and proper precautions for zika. nearly 600 medical professionals and hope you're facilities dialed into the cold to hear directly from the cdc on the measures they need to take to help patients. strengthening the connection between professionals and the system is essential for tracking and containing the disease and we remain frequent contact with the cdc and fda for the latest guidelines on how to prepare the communities in florida. finally public outreach we work to keep the public informed of some of the best ways to calm fears and educators for action. we've established a zika virus information hotline for florida residents and visitors as well as anyone planning on traveling to florida in the near future. we won't florida residents and visitors to have access to an open line of communication for the update and find the steps they can take to protect their

homes and families. we issue a daily press release on the account and tips on how to protect themselves trade we've established a webpage with links to guidance and public information on meetings. we've developed infographics to explain what the virus is into the best practices for the mosquito protection into these materials have been requested for branding by other states and we've made presentations available to the 67 county health officers as an integrated department of health to inform the community's decoders and partners. we are sharing messages about the virus. one from anyone who's pregnant or intends to become pregnant or might become pregnant should not travel to a country with active zika virus transmissions as determined by the cdc. number two can't contract were from the countries should have protected sex for at least a month upon returning to the united states due to the lingering presence of the virus in various bodily fluids and number three, the best way to

prevent other mosquito borne viruses is through the mosquito control that includes individual responsibility to eliminate any sources of standing water where the mosquito can breathe, to use mosquito repellent and cover with proper clothing and ensure the window and door screens are in place and impact. the residents play a role helping prevent the spread of the virus's and we want them to have all the information they need to join in the effort. in florida we developed a seamless model to take the cdc guidance in the federal government and get it to the residents, visitors, health professionals and partner organizations to protect them from the emerging diseases. i'm confident our history as a department has prepared us to address this issue. in the past we have success containing other viruses with systems that mirror the level of preparedness we currently maintain. we've made it a priority to stay ahead of the possible spread of the virus and we will continue

to do all we can to keep flirty and safe -- party -- floridians safe. >> you are recognized. stack thank you chairman, ranking member and the other members of the subcommittee for holding this hearing. the usoc recognizes the zika is a serious concern and issue that we are proactively addressing with team usa. the u.s. olympic committee is a sport organization. our mission is to support the u.s. olympic and her olympic activities in achieving sustained competitive excellence while demonstrating the values of the olympic movement thereby inspiring americans. every two years we bring team usa to the olympic and the paralympic games and in between the work very closely with 47 national governing bodies to

build a team usa. the safety of the athletes and staff is the number one priority is the managing director of sports medicine for the committee, my mission is to build and coordinate a complex network of medical doctors cut healthcare services and academic experts across numerous medical fields. the u.s. olympic committee is not an organization with a focus on the specialty of infectious disease. we rely on the tremendous expertise of the centers for disease control and prevention and public and private infectious disease experts to address and help us to understand the threats that viruses such as zika pose for the athletes. the experts for months continue to provide a sound recommendation based on the information available to date. we have supported these recommendations and developed a protocol to mitigate risk and

provide this information to all potential athletes and support staff likely to travel before and during the games. i've submitted the most recent communications to the athletes with this testimony. working with the cdc and other experts, they've developed a protocol to mitigate the risk posed by zika. let me walk you through that right now. we are continuously communicating the latest information to our athletes, staff and other state code or us. we are steadily communicating with partners such as the international committee the cdc, the department of defense and infectious disease specialists. we are monitoring evidence-based sources with information regarding viral pathogens and we are following the mosquito bite precautions as provided by the cdc and we are filling insect repellent selection as recommended by the dod regarding

the new interventions as they are identified and we are training our medical team regarding the early recognition and the intervention for viral infections such as zika and we are stalking the formulary with the best support of medicine interventions. we are providing deep containing insect repellent for personnel prior to the additional supplies on hand we are considering pre- treatment for all personal clothing and we are also considering providing bed nets for all personnel and we are identifying locations for additional support regarding viral pathogens. in conclusion, knowledge of the zika virus is growing at an almost daily basis. we are following all of the developments and incredibly pleased with the support and collaboration that we have received with the dod and others

and we are indeed indicated to them for sharing this information so that we can provide the best most accurate information to the athletes and staff who most directly serve and support our athletes. we will continue to work close close the width of the cdc, the dod and other infectious disease experts throughout and we will continue to follow the cdc recommendations. thank you again for the opportunity to address this important issue. thank you to each of the witnesses for their testimony we will turn to questions. the cdc confirmed earlier that we have not had a case of zika infection from a mosquito in the united states everything is coming in so far from another

source is that correct? >> we do have cases in puerto rico in the territories. the virgin islands. 50 states not yet. >> the next thing, and i just became more concerned as i heard doctor armstrong revealed the issue with pregnant women and we think that there is a link putting it with some birth defects and this is a transportation oversight subcommittee along with other things that these people are coming in mostly from latin and south america by air. are there warnings warnings out to people coming is everyone getting a warning comes in particularly women because when

i read all this testimony it seems like the women are the most at risk but are they getting a warning? >> we've been working very closely with air travel industry and other partners. >> i think that again it would be good to send out something and the air lines that cooperate always cooperate. we've had the bird flu and others that i think we need to get a warning and it's not as many coming in. we know where they are coming in from the affected areas that there would be some kind of a warning to the passengers. we do know that there is -- i am not technically qualified but the period of vulnerability from 21 to 30 days is pretty much agreed on?

you said stop having sex for 30 days or something like that. >> you will clear the virus within seven days usually and therefore for the rest of the time generally accepted it has been demonstrated in a number of individuals. we don't know how long. we don't know it's been in some as far out as 62 days. one in 62 days. that may be an outlier. but again the first thing is getting the warning out. these are people coming into the united states from infected areas, so that would be my concern at what we and what we need to work within the aviation industry to get these warnings out there particularly among women and then advise them of the risks we know so far.

>> i have at least from the governor's office a couple minutes ago to 27 asking the centers for disease control for another 252 test for zika virus. are you able now you've already cooperated, you've already been there and the requests were brought in. everything has been done in a timely fashion. are we able to meet this request, and where are we in the stockpile making sure we have the test kit? >> we've been working to develop even better tests and one of the reasons for the emergency request is the volume we estimate about half a million pregnant women will be traveling back and forth to affected areas this year. 35,000 in puerto rico alone and

so keeping enough volume for the state support is one of the reasons for the emergency request. >> do we have the test kits now were ordered you just said there may be a big fee. >> here's one small additional order and can we meet additional -- >> we produced about 30,000 we will have about 90,000 shortly so we are working around the clock. >> we will alert people coming. we want to make sure that we have test kits available. what startled me was the blood supply because this is in the blood. we shall also have a warning

that there also ought to be 60 or 90 day warnings people should not donate blood. they've been to a country where they've been exposed when they are coming back. >> the fda has voluntarily done that for the month. self difficult within a month in the institute formally. there is also efforts now in puerto rico to import blood because they can't assure that it will be okay. >> are they getting proper warnings? they should have some transparency in the blood supply. >> there is an accelerated effort to develop the test so that blood can be assured to be safe in the league. >> okay.

identifying the course forward we have a couple of quick questions. you are trying to get more and more advanced, and a lot of that evil is around the presidents request they just read where is my presidents request here from the white house to the speaker and all the members. he asked for about $1.8 billion. now, incidentally, and i didn't know this but i had a bladder back from the chairman of appropriations there is about $1.8 billion available with leftover money from ebola. do you have the ability to move money into where we need it? >> i will ask both of youfor the cdc, the nih. >> a couple of key points, the

outbreak is out of the headlines, but there is still substantial efforts (-left-paren >> but you still have a balance of about 1.8 or $9 billion. >> the cdc doesn't have that large. our resources are either committed to -- >> the administration does have from mr. rogers, the chairman of appropriations as saying that as an unexpended dollar. there is some money available to do have money to address this now, are you sure? >> the resources are committed. >> do you have resources now? in a nano second you could see the president or the administration shifting money to some cause.

do you have that ability to get the test kits come and i want to ask doctor fauci, you've got the whole bunch of things, research, and it was fantastic news to hear the trials and you were showing us how you were doing that. but in assuring these members do you feel you have the resources and support from the administration to move forward? >> all the proportion of the money -- >> i will explain to you what we are doing. our proportion of the money was spent from $89 million, so we obligated almost all -- the sources right now is moving out of doing other things. we have money that we have been investing in contractors and guarantees who do research both

in the united states and in brazil. we directed them to switch over and added on to the contract to address. >> but they have to not do other things in order to do that. >> you have people under contract. >> of the commitments have been made to the countries in africa where it's very vulnerable for exactly what happened with evil. -- ebola. stick is that now 17 countries that you're talking about? spinnaker resources are for african countries. >> for what, ebola or other diseases? >> to prevent, detect and respond to threats including -- >> so it could be zika. >> in those countries they aren't having zika.

>> it is different -- >> exactly -- >> do you intend to redirect that money now that we have this? >> but be terribly dangerous in light of the outbreaks. >> what i'm trying to do is make sure you have the resources, and if you don't have them, we need to know. we need to know that also the things that need to get under contract for the test kits and research for the vaccine and for moving this little protocol forward, doctor fauci. >> mr. chairman, just so i can qualify, we need to get a jumpstart we took money that we have allocated for things like this and we moved it over. i will not be able to proceed with the trial that i described to you without an additional money. that's what we need to know. i won't be able to do that. at the request the president

gave it to us last weekend we will have to work on the leadership. we want you to have the funds available. one of the reasons i voted for the omnibus is the head additional money and research and some other to rob peter to pay paul. >> it depends on the supplement. >> well again i have other questions like that of notifying the person out. are there official notices coming on now with the rest of the warnings? >> we have been working. >> we will come back because we have plenty of time as you can see what the new members that are here. i will yield to you. thank you.

>> doctor schuchat, i want to build on what the chairman was talking about a notifying the travelers coming back to the united states. i'm wondering about travelers that might be on their way out or what information is being provided. what has been provided to the community in the continental u.s. regarding zika? >> we've been working closely with the community including obstetricians we developed joint guidance and used the obstetricians websites that have distributed the guidance broad and we have the calls and sessions for the questions and answers. we are very keen and the signage at the outer reaches in both direct commission channels and the consumer groups as well. i did a scary mommy blog and we've been working with the social media as well as

professional groups so that when men and their families know what to expect. we know the most trusted source is the doctor and we want them to know the answers to the questions with a breaking syndrome like this come information is updated frequently so it's not just a one-time ongoing guidance but update. >> is that similar but some physicians or groups who if i've are traveling i would need to give to another disease and if i were planning href i would be going to get those. it's zika his zika being added as a part of the conversation? to make it as the most popular and we work closely with the clinical community and the special travel health industry to make sure people know what to expect and where they are going and what to eat and drink and and what was shocked they might need before they travel so it

has been added to those messages. >> i'm a big fan of the work that you do and we should be funding you for higher levels because it is a savings investment. do you know if there is a specific stage of pregnancy when zika is more likely to cause microcephaly? >> is because congenital abnormalities? whether or not those that might get infected have a degree of adverse events with the pregnancy is not entirely clear. i wouldn't be surprised if there were some outliers that you can have late effects later on but when you think about this the first trimester is always the most honorable. >> -- vulnerable.

we have any idea what causes this variance or is it all a part of the learning process we are in right now? >> it is with regards to zika that you use other models like rubella, cmc and others into there isn't just one size fits all you have a greater degree of variability and you might have something as severe microcephaly to the plaintiffs and surviving or you might have birth with some abnormalities in division or perhaps mental issues so it goes from one hand to the other and it's the penetration of the virus through the placenta to the db. >> do those also include mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder? >> there've been reports in the past of infections that mothers have to ring early parts of pregnancy and what is apparently

an increase in the incidence of certain types of disorders. there is controversy about that but there's enough information to suggest it would be an impact on an aspect of brain function that might include things like psychiatric issues. >> you might be with the -- what about women that are being deployed especially i served in operation new horizon multiple times with missions in latin america. what are we doing with military men and women who are going over? >> we've been working with the military and the department of state so that our guidance for americans traveling abroad can be consistent with the military that are serving abroad as well as the state department employees. so there is right now

particularly in latin america the ability to that it's not good for pregnant women to be there and if they are interested in deploying elsewhere i think the departments are working with them on that. >> is there a plan to do any type of testing or monitoring of troops that are assigned as most of these will be reserved in the national guard troops so they are planning and they are going to go and do there three weeks or one month but it is a nice population that you can track who will go and come back. >> one of the aspects of coordination is the intergovernmental leadership calls that's very actively participating in that they do enormous amounts of research and monitoring readiness so i'm not personally aware of whether there is any deployment tracking in terms of the covert studies going on but that's the kind of thing they are able to do.

>> i yield back, mr. chairman. >> thanks to the ranking member for this hearing and first off, congratulations to all of you. i always proud of the fact that the system in the united states and i've worked in local and state government when nobody notices that in this global economy, v. pandemics always something we have to be cautious about my question is two lines. doctor fauci how much do you characterize the role in the global pandemic preparedness backs we've looked at both americans that travel a lot but because of the infrastructure as a leader held to be interact in the community to make sure that we are using the resources in an effective way given the position? >> it's getting better and

better. every time we have a challenge, there are lessons learned that are important everything from responding to a pandemic influenza or the threat of a pandemic influenza to the global response to which there were several lessons learned and even now all of us are experiencing and we were very much involved in the issue with evil ebola and we already see the differences in how the global community has responded in a much more robust way than we did before. we've done well all along that we are doing better now because of the experience. >> to the the global preparedness is going up exponentially. >> we have a global health security agenda that we are part of which is also a part of that preparedness issue. >> from the cdc prospective?

>> people are taking the issues very seriously and the importance of being able to prevent that response everywhere is idle so the u.s. is a leader in that but we now have other countries joining in the process and of course they didn't jump on this a lot quicker than they did previously. >> a question similar to the ranking members i am told that you were involved in the aids epidemic began and even as we were dealing with in places like this many of whom are still practicing the miscommunication was a huge struggle the things people would say both politically and in terms of the effectiveness is now all these years later you still have that antisocial media so just curious you spend a lot of spent a lot of time i would imagine correcting misinformation and

what you are learning about and how we communicate in the social media and what time you have to expand correcting what's out there and has this changed over time? stick in the department of health and human services which is a dominant agency involved is that we try very hard to get out of there publicly with the media but the classic and the social and myself and tom friedman during the media all the time to get the information out and what we learned all the way back from the years of hiv aids is that we want to get corrective information out and when we don't know the answer to something we say we don't know the answer and that's the reason you are hearing us be cautious. we be leaving think there is a direct causal relationship between infection of a pregnant woman and microcephaly but we

haven't done the study and the reason we don't want to say anything definitive is because there may be other cofactors involved that we don't know about and if we come out saying something and then it turns out not to be the case we lose credibility so we are careful to only talk about evidence-based as opposed to guessing what we think the answer is. >> the changes in the communication have both benefit and harm so it is easier to reach a lot of people but that means it is easier for everyone to reach a lot of people so the credibility of the public health folks doing the talk is critical and we want to protect that. >> we are aware of the benefits and the curses of social media. i will yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you very much.

>> i have a few more follow-up questions. people in the united states that were infected were infected outside. right now it is winter that we will get more into the mosquito season transmitted from a mosquito biting an infected person? dr. fauci, do we know? >> we are gaining in the number of infected people in the united states. it's in their blood, and a mosquito bites them. then we, in fact, the mosquito population. >> that certainly can happen.

survey that's the way it is spread out into areas where there's local transmission in south america, the caribbean. we have those mosquitoes in the united states, particularly in a certain region in the south eastern part along the gulf coast. one of the things we are preparing for is that we have as you heard, dr. schuchat and others, considerable number of imported cases that got infected elsewhere and come home. we will see more of those. what will not be surprising is that sometime in the future we would see local transmission, where just you're saying happens. where someone comes back, they get bit by a mosquito and -- >> the way you stop that is you stop the mosquito. we had west nile right here. spent its enhanced mosquito control. >> okay. that's mostly a state and local issue. i don't know if we are helping

the local entities or if they can use their funds. we have cdc funds. we have, what is it, community block? >> quite a bit of emergency request is to be able to support state and local mosquito control. ask you to control is very patchy right now and there are not -- >> sort of we are damn good at it. we've had mosquitoes. most of the coal coast region -- gulf coast region. i've worked along the gulf coast to texas. they a pretty good at it but again there are places that are not as good at it. the reaction that florida has taken, florida sent a model already for the united states. but what we want to do is make certain we are coming to rest. it sounds like we had a little damage in puerto rico, the virgin islands and the caribbean

region. >> yes. the living conditions in the caribbean are such that mosquitoes are very intense to circulate but rather in areas that could mosquito control in the u.s., the typ type of mosquo we're dealing with here is a typical. the argubright a specie speciese transit of mosquito as a daytime biter. it inside and outside -- aedes mosquito. >> the folks in the content united states, you've got to use insect repellent, the local authorities and state have to do more spraying. i've seen some of the recommendations already even small amounts of standing water are breeding ground for the coming spring and summer. >> it just may need to be more intensive mosquito control because this one is quite difficult, take as i mentioned in puerto rico. >> you didn't mention this but i read about it and didn't think about it. did you mention the games are

being held in brazil in their winter? teacher mentioned that ?-que?-que x it might've been in your written testimony. but folks don't know that. which means that you've got the best chance of not getting infected in brazil where your olympics are being held. isn't in july or august? >> august for the olympic games sprint that some of your coldest months down there. you got your least likely time of being infected. for folks who want to go, we want our u.s. team to participate to be protected what our visitors also cannot. draft a. every time you get a chance, be detail folks that they've got the least chance of being bitten or infected during that period of time because it's the opposite of the northern hemisphere.

dod has already done a lot of work. how do we, how have we been coordinating with dod, the department of defense? can you tell us? >> maybe i can begin. there's quite a bit of intergovernmental coordination across the leadership to do the planning, both for protection. there's a lot of research that dod does and they are part of our countermeasures -- >> so we are not duplicating? >> no. same with ebola research. one of the promising vaccines was developed originally for military work. i would say the coordination is good. >> what which is a? >> i totally agree. in fact, we worked with dod on a number of issues, the most recent of which was ebola which we will be doing to do. we have good coordination and it comes essentially. we coordinate within hhs but we

coordinate among all the agencies. >> at this point with your permission, i'll enter into record and we are trying to get everybody who's involved here their testimony. we ask dod who is not a witness, with testimony from the department of defense, testimony from u.s. agency for international development, and testimony from the american mosquito control association. and the gentlelady moves at this been a part of the record. without objection, so ordered. so we will put that in the record at this point. i can i've got three, well, two federal agencies here and a state witness association here for our olympic committee. and we need to know that we have a word needed, seamless connect with all of our agencies.

did you want to comment anymore on dod? okay. i just saw here that there's research outside the united states, the british technology company, i don't know the name, currently testing genetically modified mosquito named -- famous mosquito name. are you aware of this? over do anything with these folks speak with yes, we are. he idea of genetically modified mosquitoes, which you make a male sterile and released into the environment, something -- >> they released some of these -- >> they have. their release of genetically modified mosquitoes in order to prevent the procreation of other mosquitoes this something that has been tried in the local ways where you go into a relatively restricted geographic area.

it seems to be rather effective at a local level. the challenge with genetically modified mosquitoes in addition to somewhat of a societal pushback about anything genetically modified being released into the environment is that it's difficult to scale it up on a countrywide basis. that's one of the problems we have with that. >> again on destroying to find out, -- i'm just trying to find out, covering all of our bases here. i'm learning more as we go along. you recommended, cdc, some of the insect repellent. and i just don't outcome i didn't know they had this. this is insect repellent for clothing and gear. and are all knowledgeable ranking member who knows about dod said yes, they have this, but they also about it causes

cancer. this seems like a good product, and i go down to like puerto rico all the time. one of my favorite places to visit, just came back after the holidays. it is of this stuff could be used? are you guys recommending that? cdc, tell us if the cure is worse than the disease. >> we worked really closely with the epa who registers insecticides and rebalance and so forth. and so our website has a link to what is okayed in what is not. so there are many rebalance come and then there's different treatment for the clothing which some of the products are fine and i can't -- >> the staff said you said this is okay. i'll also be conscious of the warning of my very knowledgeable ranking member. she said they use this on the can and will. i've never heard of it but it's just interesting. and 18 getting information out to people how they can protect

themselves is so important, so we have covered some of the. i was kind of shocked the first time i've heard your 62 days, at least for the males could possibly be infected, pose some risk. i've not seen that before. is not the first time you have announced it today? >> that report has been out for a few weeks now. >> i've not heard it publicly. keifer 21-30 days advisory. -- i've heard. which is a different situation but i think we need to be aware of that. i appreciate you making it known publicly. dr. armstrong, you have been neglected and we appreciate you coming here. you're at the other end of the spectrum. we've got a good report from our local health officials, and the quick response from the governor.

the quick response from you, the state level. tell us, i know it's awkward having cdc and nih here, is there something we're missing? is it something you could recommend that we should pay attention to from the state level? you are on the frontline. >> thank you for your question. we have to manage the situation in the state and locally with what we know. and what we have appreciated is guidance from the cdc now that is acknowledging uncertainty and what we don't know, and helping us to really provide insight for people out of an abundance of caution so that we keep them safe. and i think that's been a key change from ebola to zika, that there is acknowledgment by the

cdc that just because they don't have a definitive and to do something doesn't mean something doesn't need to be said. we still need a guideline. we again are leveraging all of the cdc guidelines to protect the people of florida and our visitors. >> question, a follow-up to my question, dr. fauci, about the genetically modified organisms. i guess there was some efforts in florida to curtail the mosquito borne threats, using that approach. are you aware of that? >> yes, i am aware of that in the past, and i think that -- >> that's a route we should take? >> i'll have to get you the specific virus against which we were using a mosquito approach. i would echo what dr. fauci says. i think there needs to be a great deal of public awareness and education before doing that. we need to be aware of

unintended consequences from producing genetically modified mosquitoes. >> you at the state level, you at the federal level. when i spoke with our local, one of our local health directors, he said we get these cases, he says, we also responsible for monitoring the individuals who are infected. he says, well, we have very limited staff and i need people then to be the monitors. and as you get multiple people you need multiple staff checking up on them. some other resources to the local entities to actually monitor these folks, it appears it migh may be putting a strainn them. do you have a way of dealing with that, do we have emergency funds at the state level to make certain that folks who are infected are monitored? >> at this point we are applying what we've learned through

monitoring for ebola virus. we had a very aggressive program. >> they told me actually, this and come listen to this. he said one way, he said they would come with a sign and what your temperature, he said because she did want to come in contact with them. that was a different situation but you have to modify your approach to the risk, even for the worker. but my concern was the funds to make sure the of the workers who can go out and monitor these folks. right now these are very limited numbers. we will have to make certain the state level or on an emergency basis if we see when we got to additional personnel, that need is met. i think those are the major questions. again we have some serious issues. you all have done, we have done

nothing, but you've done a great job in staying ahead of it. usually this committee is very harsh on folks, and we have some tough times with the start of ebola and some other issues. but i'm very pleased with where we are right now. we just want to keep it under control and go forward. did you have anything else, ms. duckworth? again, we'll keep the record open for additional questions for our witnesses and any responses part of the record today. i want to thank each of you for your good work, for testifying today and look forward to working with you. we will try to pledge ourselves to get the resources that are necessary in a timely fashion. there being no further business before this subcommittee, this hearing is adjourned. thank you. [inaudible conversations]

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>> new jersey governor and former republican presidential candidate chris christie has endorsed donald trump for the republicarepublican nomination. he said today mr. trump is the best person to beat hillary clinton in the general election. he joined a trump campaign at an event in fort worth, texas. tax is seen as a stronghold for texas senator ted cruz. south carolina holds its democratic primary tomorrow, tonight democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton is holding a get out the vote rally. c-span love-life coverage for a bit at south carolina state university in orangeburg this afternoon starting at 4:45 p.m. eastern.

her opponent for the democratic presidential nomination vermont senator bernie sanders is also in orangeburg this afternoon. he is holding a rally at claflin university. that is live at 5:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> c-span's campaign 2016 is taking on the road to the white house and saturday as a south carolina democratic primary. our live coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. eastern with results in speeches on the democratic candidates. we will get your reaction to your phone calls and tweets. join us saturday for live coverage on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> booktv has 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend on c-span2. here's some of the programs to watch for this weekend.

>> metadata is little of the outside of the envelope for electronic communications. as you said, american law enforcement traditionally has been able to look at the outside and a little. the supreme court decided that the fact of your phone call, who you called, when, for how long, also was essentially the outside of the envelope. >> watch booktv all weekend and the weekend on c-span2, television for serious readers. >> president obama gave an update yesterday on the fight against isis.

's remarks at the state department came after meeting with his national security council. he spoke for about 15 minutes. >> good evening, everybody. i just met with my national security council as part of our regular effort to review and intensify our campaign to destroy isil. i want to thank secretary kerry for hosting us and for his leadership of american diplomacy, not only in the middle east but around the world. secretary carter and chairman dunford updated us on our military campaign, and brett mcgurk, my special envoy to our coalition, helped lead a review of our overall strategy. at the outset, i want to say, again, that this remains a difficult fight. the situation in syria and iraq is one of the most complex the world has seen in recent times. isil is entrenched, including in urban areas, using innocent civilians as human shields. even in places where isil has been driven out, it leaves behind utter devastation, communities in ruin that need to

be stabilized and rebuilt, which will take years and tremendous international resources, because, certainly in iraq, they're hard-pressed to come up with everything that they need to rebuild, and in syria, the regime there still is not constituted in such a way that it is investing in civilian populations. countries, communities and groups that agree on fighting isil in the short term often don't agree on broader, long-term goals. indeed, the fight in syria is not only a civil war, but it's also a proxy war between regional powers, reflecting deep sectarian and political rivalries. russia's intervention and airstrikes have reinforced the assad regime and made a humanitarian catastrophe even worse. and the entire world has been horrified by images of starving syrians, including children, reduced to near skeletons.

so this is a tough situation with a lot of moving parts. and as a consequence, i want to thank john for his tireless efforts, along with his team, to reach a cessation of hostilities in the civil war. none of us are under any illusions. we're all aware of the many potential pitfalls, and there are plenty of reasons for skepticism. but history would judge us harshly if we did not do our part in at least trying to end this terrible conflict with diplomacy. if implemented, and that's a significant if, this cessation could reduce the violence and get more food and aid to syrians who are suffering and desperately need it. it could save lives. potentially, it could also lead to negotiations on a political settlement to end the civil war so that everybody can focus their attention on destroying isil.

and that's why the united states will do everything we can to maximize the chances of success in this cessation of hostilities. at the same time, i want to make totally clear that there will be absolutely no cease-fire with respect to isil. we remain relentless in going after them. about two months ago, at the pentagon, i said that we had to squeeze isil's core in syria and iraq, its heart, to make it harder for these killers to pump their terror and their propaganda to the rest of the world. and over the last two months, the good news is we've done exactly that. we've continued to intensify our efforts, and we're seeing results. today, i directed my team to continue accelerating this campaign on all fronts. our 66-member coalition, including arab partners, continues to grow stronger. over the past two months, thanks

to secretary carter's good work, just about all of our military partners have agreed to increase their contributions, buying into our conception of how we ramp us the pressure on isil. dutch aircraft are now striking isil targets in syria. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates are expanding their role in the air campaign. canada is tripling its personnel to help train and advise forces in iraq. every day, our air campaign, more than 10,000 strikes so far, continues to destroy isil forces, infrastructure and heavy weapons. isil fighters are learning that they've got no safe haven. we can hit them anywhere, anytime, and we do. in fact, isil still has not had a single successful major offensive operation in syria or iraq since last summer. and we continue to go after isil leaders and commanders, taking them out, day in, day out, one after another after another. with coalition training,

equipment and support, including our special forces, local forces continue to push isil back out of territory that they had previously held. after intense block-by-block fighting, iraqi forces recently succeeded in pushing isil out of ramadi. isil has now lost a series of key iraqi towns and cities, more than 40% of the areas it once controlled in iraq. and today, we discussed the next phases of this fight, including moving against isil in the city of hît, and the resources needed to retake anbar province and mosul. and as we approach the g7 this spring, i'll continue to work with the international community so iraq gets the financial support it needs to sustain this campaign, rebuild communities that have been devastated by isil presence, and pursue critical economic reforms. meanwhile, in syria, a coalition of local forces continues to push isil back, including out of

the strategic tishrin dam area. now they're battling isil at al-shaddadi. and they're continuing to squeeze isil's stronghold of raqqa, cutting off highways and supply lines. raqqa is not the capital of a growing caliphate. it's increasingly under stress as isil territory shrinks. thanks to our wave of strikes against its oil infrastructure, tanker trucks, wells and refineries, isil's oil production and revenues are significantly reduced. we're destroying the storage sites where isil holds its cash, its money is literally going up in smoke. as a result, isil has been forced to slash the salaries of its fighters, which, increasingly, diminishes their morale. we continue to hear reports of defections, and executions of those who try to defect. at the same time, thanks to the coordination of many nations, including turkey's continuing work to tighten its border, the

flow of foreign terrorist fighters into syria finally appears to be slowing. the bottom line is there are fewer isil fighters on the battlefield in syria and iraq, and for those who are there, it's harder for them to recruit and replenish their ranks. as its finances shrink, isil is also imposing more taxes and fines on those under its brutal rule. that, in turn, stokes even more resentment among local populations. more people are realizing that isil is not a caliphate, it's a crime ring. it's a criminal gang pretending to be a state, said one syrian refugee. they turned out to be thieves, said another. isil, said one syrian, has made an enemy of almost everyone. so they're not winning over hearts and minds, and they're under severe pressure. but as we've said all along, the

only way to deal with isil in a way that defeats them in a lasting way is to end the chaos and the civil war that has engulfed syria. that's how isil was able to thrive in the first place. the cessation of hostilities that's scheduled to take effect at midnight tomorrow is a potential step in bringing about an end to the chaos. it's going to continue to fight everybody knows what needs to

happen and that is all parties that are part of the sensation of activities that need to end attacks in the department. and it must be allowed to reach areas under siege and a lot of that will depend on whether the regime, russia and their allies live up to their commitments. the coming days will be critical and the world will be watching. more broadly, this will be a test whether the parties are committed to the negotiations. the process agreed to is clear. the transition towards a more inclusive representative government, a new constitution followed by three elections. i will say it again, such a future i'm convinced cannot include bishara lessard. it's clear after years of war against his people including torture and seizures and starvation, many will never stop fighting until he is out of power.

there is no alternative to a managed transition away from assad. the only way is to unite the people against terrorists. now, this is an area there's still significant dispute between us and the russians, between us and some of the other players on the ground. and the question is going to be whether the hostility is all the parties concerned to reflect and assess what impact will be required in order for us to see the end to the fighting syria. beyond syria and iraq i want to point out we continue to go after isil wherever it tries to take root. working with partners from nigeria to afghanistan. as we showed last week with the strike on the camp in libya which targeted a senior operative, we will continue to use the full range of tools to

eliminate isil wherever they are. meanwhile, the united states will continue to support the people as they worked to form a new government and regain control of their country as we've seen in recent days with the libyans celebrating in the streets when isil was driven from parts of benghazi. even as we continue our military and counterterrorism efforts, we also recognize it's not enough to defeat isil on the battlefield. we have to defeat its ideology which radicalize us, recruits and inspires people to violence. the united arab emirates, malaysia and saudi arabia are stepping up their efforts to discredit isil propaganda. here in the state department, our new global engagement center will do more to lift up the voices that show them as they are, killers of innocent muslims, women, men and children. and my administration is working with high-tech leaders in silicon valley including

facebook, youtube and twitter to help counter a isil isil online and to empower more people, especially young people to use their talent and technology to push back on isil . propaganda. finally, we had an opportunity to discuss the importance of staying vigilant here at home. lone actors or small groups of terrorists like those in san bernardino are very hard to detect, and they continue to pose a serious threat. so, at every level, federal, state and local, law enforcement needs to be working together, 24/mac seven come sharing information and connecting the dots to prevent attacks. as we do we will continue to partner with communities to help them stay strong and resilient and that includes upholding our values including the freedom of religion so that we stay united as one american family. so, to summarize the fight against isil will remain

difficult but we will continue to draw on all of our elements of national power military, intelligence, diplomacy, homeland security, homeland security, law enforcement and the strength of our communities and i'm confident we will prevail. we are in a better position now than we were last month in a better position last month than we were three months ago. in the end, it was no match for the earning of millions who want to live in security and dignity. i think of a series and returned to his home in the city that was in ruins but liberated from isil. it would be tougher come of elections to come back. and i think of the tens of thousands of people in iraq and returned home and gloating students back at the university, focusing on a better future. the road ahead will not be easy, but our coalition continues to

grow stronger. the isil in syria and iraq continues to shrink, with allies and partners and the service of our dedicated personnel, our diplomats, civilians, and our military. we will destroy this barbaric terrorist organization and continue to stand with people across the region to seek a better and a safer future. thanks very much, everybody. >> senior intelligence officials went to capitol hill this week to testify before the house intelligence committee about global threats.

witnesses included the director of national intelligence, james clapper, cia director john director john brennan, and fbi director james comey. this hour and a half hearing was led by intelligence committee chair devin nunes. [inaudible conversations]

the committee will come to order. today the committee will examine threats. i would like to welcome the witnesses. director of national intelligence james clapper, director of the central intelligence agency john brennan, director of the federal bureau of investigation james comey, director of the national security agency and the director of the defense intelligence agency, lieutenant general james dan stewart and director of national counterterrorism center. thank you all for being here today. i recognize the challenges associated with discussing sensitive national security issues in public but i hope you agree this forum is critical to helping explain to the american people the serious threats we face and also to highlight the efforts of the brave men and women of the intelligence community to keep us safe. i speak for the entire community when i think you for your

service, sacrifice and dedication. director clapper, this is your last worldwide threat hearing with the committee. i would like to thank you for your 55 years of service to this great nation. director clapper, i recall from last year's testimony that you were concerned about a vast array of threats, remarkably the number seems to have grown since then. generally i share your assessment of the current threat environment. the truth is the united states is the highest threat level since the 9/11 attacks. the american people don't need a security clearance to understand the threats now facing the western world. they only need to read the headlines out of paris, brussels, san bernardino and boston. al qaeda, isis and other groups are expanding. with more access to safe havens, recruits and resources than ever before. without u.s. leadership this trend will continue. we have discussed syria in iraq at length come in close and open

sessions. i believe the response to those conflicts is among the most mismanaged in history. after consistently failing to block isis expansion, we have to accept a new reality. isis is in dozens of countries and has demonstrated the ability to reach our homeland. instead of focusing on isis as if it were confined, we urgently need an aggressive comprehensive and antiterrorist strategy that stretches from morocco to southeast asia. at the same time, our adversaries are becoming more diverse. throughout the next decade, the united states must be prepared to check out counter the resurgent russia, defend against cyber threats and manage geopolitical forces in the middle east, including the growing schism between sunni and shia muslims. how does the president respond to these enormous challenges? his hallmark policy has been to strike a nuclear deal with iran that greatly relieves pressure on the iranian regime.

the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism. he also failed to prevent russia from propping up the scenery and dictator, assad come in and the president himself said must surrender power. meanwhile some of the closest allies are fighting terrorism, the kurds, israelis and egyptians also find themselves and concerns downplayed or dismissed within the administration. our partners around the world want to work with us but they cannot rally behind american leadership if they don't understand what the foreign policy is trying to accomplish. although i disagree with the presidents policies, the committee will continue to drive the intelligence community with the resources it needs to provide the nation with particular emphasis on preserving capabilities with the next president. because the community is being stretched thin and is overwhelmed by the complex threats h. rex, we must prioritized investments throughout the entire intelligence community.

our committee's mission is clear to help the intelligence community protect the american people by providing oversight, direction and resources to enable effective, efficient and constitutional intelligence activities. additionally, amidst the growing threats we face it is critically important that we ensure the intelligence community act as a careful steward of the tax payers dollars. over the next year, our committee will focus on making progress in the following five areas. first, encouraging efficient investment in areas such as space and which complex programming capability requirements routinely drive up cost and adopt new technologies including data analytics, encryption and technical training specifically in community wide projects like cloud computing, data security and tool management. second, reassessing the effectiveness of the community's human intelligence enterprise and synchronizing the community

resources especially at a time several intelligence community agencies are implementing the real organizational plans. this particularly applies to the recruitment and training of the next generation of cyber experts and analysts to operate the nontraditional areas and deliver intelligence on hard to reach target. third, reducing objectives and unbiased intelligence analysis, particularly in the department of defense. where there is a multi-committee efforts to determine whether there are systematic problems across the intelligence enterprise and centcom or any other pertinent intelligence. in this context, it is vital that this committee protect and seriously consider the testimony of the many whistleblowers who provided information to us. for example, we've been made aware that both files and e-mails have been deleted by personnel at centcom, and we

expect that the department of defense will provide the ease and all other relevant documents to the committee. fourth, improving the efficiency of intelligence support to combatant commands including efforts to curb facilities and personnel costs. it's alarming that this committee identified up to $15 million in annual savings for the defense intelligence agency, and more than $300 million of unneeded construction disguised as space consolidation. in total, this is $1.5 billion of savings for one project. the response we received can only be described as the way the denial and deception. this has led the chairman of the armed services committee and chairman of the defense appropriations committee and me to ask to conduct a full investigation. furthermore, whistleblowers have provided the committee with documentation showing the department department of defense provided false information to

congress. the committee will conduct another round of interviews and will turn over our findings to the house committee on oversight and government reform which already has an ongoing investigation into this matter and to the department of defense inspector general. finally, we've asked for data on all intelligence personnel and major support contractors at the combatant commands. this was made in december, and this is information that should be readily available. informants need the committee aware that the significant cost to the taxpayer are being determined to maximize pay and benefits of small groups of individuals. this includes both the department of defense civilians and contractors. this brings into question hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts that are being awarded annually. fifth and finally, migrating cyber threats and improving cyber defense in light of the rapid pace of technological

change to address these problems the committee helped pass the cyber security act of 2015. while the director of national intelligence is establishing a cyber threats of information center, we need to ensure that the new law is important to properly properly and that the new center operates effectively. additionally, the latest challenges the government has met getting access to the iphone used by one of the san bernardino service is emblematic of the growing problem posed by encryption. finally, we need to educate members of congress on the importance of the reauthorization of section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act. i look forward to hearing what the witnesses have to contribute on these five focus areas and with that, i would like to recognize my ranking member for any comments that he would like to make. >> thank you mr. chairman. i want to join you in thinking the witness's director clapper,

director brennan, director comey command deputy director we are very grateful for your efforts and those and the men and women of the intelligence community. the threats we face today are incredibly diverse and bonding from cyber to terrorism, russian aggression to the north korean belligerence to threats from space to below the sea we are living in a very dangerous world. because of the technologies some of these threats are new. the internet of things for example presents unique for abilities to the most advanced nations like us as does the rise of artificial intelligence. other threats are more traditional. still, potentially devastating. north korea's january test at its recent space launch, russia is intervention in ukraine and its threats to the baltic states, china in the south china sea and regional power struggles in the middle east are a reminder that traditional state-based threats have not received it far from it and they are getting worse.

still others are shifting even as the coalition bombing halted the group's expansion for example isis has thrown off into places like libya and sought to incite attacks as we saw in paris and inspire attacks here in the united states as we saw in san bernardino. many of these threats are also interrelated. isis is compounded by its use of technology particularly social media and encrypted communications. russia has ambitions and china's naval designs are supported by the desire to counter the u.s. predominance in space and the greatest cyber capabilities are also our greatest for abilities. to navigate through these, we look to sounded the alarms as marketing today is to find and enable solutions. after the senate version of the hearing earlier this month, many were saying that the world was going to hell in a handbasket, and i can certainly understand why why giving them a read of challenges that we face.

but i want to emphasize here that we are highlighting the threats we can discuss how to counter them and we have faced and overcome greater challenges in the past. to that end we've begun receiving and reviewing submissions and look forward to many sessions so you have what you need and in a way that is lawful and protective of civil liberties, cost-effective and in keeping with the highest of american values. some solutions particularly when it comes to the debates surrounding encryption are not going to come easily. the fact is exemplified by this month's case involving apple. one thing is clear the courts ruling even if tailored to the particular facts of the case of the ripple effects will significantly impact the law-enforcement community and intelligence community, the business community and all individually. this and others like it implicates policy questions that can't be decided by the courts alone. congress through inclusive discussions with tech companies can interest groupsof the global community, law enforcement and

the white house must carefully weigh out of the policy the policy considerations and arrive at a sensible solution. as a first step, we need facts to be that's why several months ago the chair man and i asked the national academy of sciences rate report on this issue that will be completed this year. it's also why i supported the commission on encryption and the broad cyber security commission. a hard look at the most commonly advanced claims on all sides of the debate would move us further from abstractions and solutions. as a second step we need to honestly acknowledge the complexity and not engage in absolutes. as the committee has shown on the surveillance reform insider information legislation, privacy and liberty must exist. there is no doubt that they have cheap and widely available technology to do us harm and they will continue to do so. at the same time there is no doubt our cyber security and privacy are under relentless

attack from nationstate and criminal hackers and greater encryption provides a key defense. we can all agree to law enforcement and the intelligence community have an obligation to investigate crimes and prevent harm to americans. similarly there is no doubt the companies have obligations to their shareholders to maximize profits and increase in the world to their customers to safeguard privacy. our job in congress is to reconcile these obligations in the priority is. it is our job to draw a line. i'm not advocating a mandate on the decryption but nor do i favor the law enforcement is completely shut out of the communications when they have a court approved warrant. but i'm operating for is a fact based approach on this problem commerce can pose the solution as it must but it would be better to arrive at a resolution for the negotiation with all the stakeholders that sets the standard for the best practices that we can live with that home

and champion with around the world. yes we are living in a dangerous world as well as a complex world. make no mistake about it but it's a world of great opportunity. some of the challenges we have today presented by encryption are born with incredible talent, creativity and innovation with businesses that are solving problems every day. we also have the best intelligence community in the world working to make sure these advances are not used to propagate hate, violence and terror for channels beyond reach. for challenges and the answer to these challenges lies in finding solutions together. thank you mr. chairman and i will yield back the. >> the gentleman yields back. i believe you have an opening statement and you are going to speak for the entire panel. i want to again thank you for your 55 years of service. i don't believe this is your last hearing but if it is, i'm sure you are happy about that. [laughter] >> and with that you are

recognized. >> yes i am red chair ready to chairman dennis, ranking members, we are here today to update you on some, but certainly not all of the pressing intelligence and national security issues facing the nation. in the interest of time to get to the questions i will cover some and as you indicated line will be the opening statement. we will be back next week on the third of march to address budget and management issues that you raised. as i said last year, unpredictable instability has become the new normal, and the trend will continue weaving for the foreseeable future. violent extremists are operationally active in about 40 countries. seven are experiencing a collapse of central government authority coming in 14 other states and stability. another 59 countries face a significant risk of instability through 2016. the record level of migrants,

more than a million arriving in europe is likely to grow further this year. migration displacement will stream countries in europe and asia, africa and the americas. some 60 million people are considered displaced globally. the most since the end of world war ii when the united nations started keeping such records. extreme weather climate change, environmental degradation, the demand for food and water, poor policy decisions and inadequate infrastructure will magnify that instability. infectious diseases and vulnerabilities in the global supply chain for medical countermeasures will continue to pose threats. for example, the virus first detected in the western hemisphere in 2014 has reached the united states and is projected to cause up to 4 million cases in this hemisphere. with that preface i want to comment on both technology and cyber. the technological innovation during the next few years will have an even more significant impact on our way of life.

this innovation is central to our economic prosperity, but it will bring new security vulnerabilities. the internet of things will connect tens of billions of new physical devices that could be exploited. artificial intelligence will enable computers to make autonomous decisions about data and physical systems, potentially to disrupt labor markets. russia and china continue to have the most sophisticated cyber programs. china continues cyber espionage against the united states and whether their commitment moderate its economic espionage remains to be seen. iran and north korea continue to conduct cyber espionage as the enhanced or attack capabilities. nonstate actors also pose cyber threats. isil used it to their great advantage not only for the recruitment and propaganda that the release of information about the u.s. military personnel. as a nonstate actor, isil

displays unprecedented online proficiency. cyber crumbles remain the most pervasive cyber threat to the financial sector. the use cyber to conduct extortion and other criminal activities. turning to terrorism, there are now more sunni violent extremist groups and safe havens than anytime in history. the rate of foreign fighters driving to the conflict zones in the cbi in iraq is without precedent. at least 38,200 foreign fighters including at least 6900 from western countries have traveled to syria from 122 countries since the beginning of the conflict in 2012. as we saw in the terrorist attacks returning foreign fighters with first-hand battlefield experience pose a dangerous operational threat. isil has demonstrated sophisticated attack tactics and trade craft as we saw. isil including its eighth established establishing several more emerging branches has become the preeminent global

terrorist threat. isil has attempted or conducted scores of attacks outside of iraq and syria past 15 months. isil's strength exceeds the globally of al qaeda. isil's leaders seek to strike the leader's homeland beyond inspiring homegrown violent extremist attacks, although the u.s. is a harder target, isil internal operations remain a critical factor in our threat assessment in 2016. al qaeda's affiliates also have proven resilient. despite counterterrorism pressures that largely decimated the core leadership in afghanistan and pakistan, al qaeda affiliates are positioned to meet games in 2016. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and the al qaeda chapter or two of the most capable al qaeda branches. the increased use by the violent extremist views in the internet and mobile-based technology enables terrorist actors toko to

work and serve to undercut intelligence and law enforcement efforts. iran continues to be the state sponsor of terrorism and exert its influence in the regional crises in the middle east through the revolutionary guard course, the cubs force, and hezbollah proxy groups. iran and hezbollah remain a continuing terrorist threat to the interest of the partners worldwide. we saw first hand the threats posed in the united states by the homegrown violent extremists in the july attack in chattanooga and the attack of san bernardino. in 2014, the fbi arrested nine isil supporters and in 2015, the number more than increased fivefold. moving to weapons of mass distraction, north korea continues to conduct terrorist activities and concerns the united states. earlier this month, they conducted a satellite launch and claim to the claimed the satellite was successfully placed in orbit. additionally, in january, north

korea carry out its fourth nuclear test explaining it was a hydrogen bomb, but the yield was too low for it to have been successful of a state thermonuclear device. the continuing produced fissile material to develop a submarine launch of a ballistic missile. it's also committed to developing a long-range nuclear armed missile capable of posing a direct threat to the united states. although the system has not been flight tested. despite its economic challenges, russia continues its aggressive military modernization program. it has the largest, most capable foreign nuclear and ballistic missile force. it has developed a cruise missile in the nuclear forces treaty. china continues to modernize its nuclear missile force, it is striving for a secure second strike capability. it continues to profess a first use doctrine. the joint comprehensive plan of action where the jcp provides greater transparency into the fissile material production.

it increases the time that they would need to produce enough weapons grade uranium for a nuclear weapon from a few months to about a year. iran probably be used as a means ..