[inaudible conversations] military commanders and uscentcom africa command and special operations testified at a senate hearing about the global campaign against terrorism. most of the questioning focused on the fight against isis in iraq and syria. senator john mccain chairs the armed services committee. this is two hours, 20 minutes.

[inaudible conversations] >> good morning. the armed services committee meets this morning to receive testimony on the posture of the u.s. central command, africa command of special operations command in the context of our review on oversight of the fiscal year 2017 defense budget. we are pleased to welcome our witnesses general austen general rodrigues and general votel. we thank each of you for dedicated -- for decades of distinguished service and for your leadership of our men and women in uniform. i would like to extend a special thanks to chairman austen and chairman rodrigues as this may

be their last appearance before this committee. our nation's most distinguished national security leaders have testified before this committee repeatedly and we are witnessing the unraveling of a rules-based international order and nowhere is this unraveling more than the middle east from north africa to south asia. state authority and the balance of power are breaking down. this emerging vacuum has been filled by the most extreme and anti-american forces sunni terrorist group such as isil and al qaeda, shiite extremists such as the islamic republic of i ran and its proxies and the imperial ambitions of vladimir putin. as a result almost every middle eastern country is now a battleground or combatant in one or more wars. to which this morning's wall street "new york times" entitled

pentagon plan to fight isis in libya includes barrage of airstrikes. these are diverse complex and transregional threats to our military confronts every day across centcom africom and socom lines of responsibilities. is this committee continues its review of the goldwater-nichols act we are interested to hear our witnesses views as to whether the current structure best enables us to succeed in the strategic environment of global and transregional threats and the 21st century and what performance we might consider. this is critical because there are already too many obstacles to success as it is. time and again politically driven strategy micromanagement of misguided reductions in defense spending of made our military's job more difficult rate this has been especially true for our special operations

forces. more than 15 years of continuous deployments due in part to to an overreliance on their unique capabilities has led to unprecedented stress on the force. as the threats we face impose greater demands on our special operators and their families, we must be vigilant and provide the necessary support to maintain their vital capabilities not just in direct action but in building partnership for cross centcom and africom. while we marvel at our special operations forces we must remember they are just one part of our force and our strategy. they are not a magic solution to every problem or a substitute for a coherent strategy as the administration's quote light footprint approach to the middle east has demonstrated repeatedly despite temporary relief from the arbitrary spending caps imposed by the budget control act we are still placing an unnecessary and dangerous burden on the backs of our

servicemembers in the centcom and africom theaters. president obama's fiscal year 17 defense budget request does little to relieve that burden. secretary carter has said the military is at that a major inflection point requiring urgent and simultaneous investments in next-generation technologies and in current operations such as a 50% increase in funding for the fight against isil. in view of these needs president obama should have requested the defense budget that reflects the scale and scope of the national security threats we face. instead he chose to repress the lowest level of defense spending authorized by last year's budget agreement and submitted a defense budget that is actually less in real dollars than last year despite the fact that operational requirements have grown. this calms as little surprise from an administration that's for the past seven years has

sought to scale back america's involvement and commitment to the middle east. a moment of consequence iran's green revolution libya after the fall of gadhafi withdrew from from iraq in crossing a chemical red line in syria this president walked away and ignored the lessons of history have power of vacuum. wars don't end because politicians say so but the perils of indecision and inaction office at -- often outweigh the risk of action and while america cannot solve the problems in the middle east american leadership is indispensable to managing them. major policy decisions hanging in the balance right now our nation cannot afford to ignore these lessons again. in afghanistan the president has told our enemies that we will proceed with a calendar-based decision to cut u.s. troop presence in half by the end of this year and he is yet to explain the consequences of

reducing u.s. troop levels from 9800 to 5500 s. significant reductions to isr and close air support capacity, diminished operational flexibility would be less counterterrorism forces and perhaps most damaging of all the end of u.s.. advise-and-assist mission with the highest levels of the afghan military precisely when the support is needed the most. all this translates into the risk, the rest risk of problems and contingencies once addressed in days will be addressed in months that is if they are dressed at all. rest that sudden tactical or operational setbacks would have been in our power to reverse or put afghanistan on a path to strategic failure we will be powerless to stop and risks by the sacrifices of american and afghan troops will be squandered in iraq and syria the artificial

limitation on troop levels ties the hands of our military commanders and makes our troops more rollable to attack it much less likely to succeed. the president has inched forward with incremental increases in needed capabilities. this misguided gradualism serves only to allow the enemy to adjust before these capabilities ever make a difference. it's clear to me from my conversations with their military commanders both on the ground and in the pentagon that they have been reduced from considering what will it take to win to what will i be allowed to do and it's our troops and our national security that are paying the price. africa has emerged this next front of the global war on terror with isil al-qaeda boko haram and al-shabaab commanding territory launching successful attacks throughout the continent. most alarming isil now commands an army of 5000 fighters in libya while the threat in asia continues to metastasize about

the threat in africa continues to metastasize our military commanders are being forced to do more with less starved for resources and denied timely and flexible authorities to take advantage of battlefield opportunities and hault the advance of extremism. in the gulf of president is failing to live up to the promises made at the camp david summit in may 2015. for example the president committed to fast-tracking arms sales, excuse me to fast-tracking arms transfers to our golf partners that fighter aircraft sales for qatar kuwait and bahrain that could help thwart iranian hegemony missions are languishing on the shelf gathering dust. once again the american credibility is disintegrating as a malign influence of i ran and russia continues to grow. this administration's great failure to date has not done

that it makes mistakes. it is rather it has failed or perhaps refuse to learn from them. unless we chart a new course it may well be this administration's lasting legacy. senator reed. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. i too want to join you in thinking and commanding general austin and general rodrigues for their extraordinary service and since this is likely to be her last appearance before the committee but having the privilege to work with you for many years your professionalism, skill and commitment to the sailors airmen marines without parallel so thank you both. general votel we appreciate your appearing today special operations commander may well see you again tomorrow i suspect as you have been nominated to be the successor to general austin central command and armed services also. deeply appreciated. earlier this year travel try it

iraq afghanistan djibouti to see some of the challenges we have been talking about. in iraq the diplomatic military official site met universally agreed iraqi security forces successfully taking ramadi in june is critical for providing momentum for upcoming operations. while isil has now lost considerable territory that will they once held in iraq the more difficult military task is still ahead to the coming months the combination of the newly trained iraqi security force enabled the coalition intelligence and airstrikes should be able to make progress in making isil a population center. i look forward to our witnesses assessment of what we can expect realistically in the coming months as the iraqi special forces and security forces turn their attention to muzzle. in addition iraq's political leadership is confirmed long-standing questions to political reconciliation in iraq and general austin i look forward to your assessment of the political atmosphere in baghdad and we believe the conditions are set for a

political dialogue to stabilize the political situation to complement military actions taking place. in syria the cessation of hostility appears to be tenuously holding and tenuously at last. it remains unclear however this incremental step will be sufficient to set the stage for meaningful political negotiations which every side set is the ultimate solution to the issue issue. i saw remains in control most of the -- busted eastern syria with special operations or forces have made gains but the battlefield dynamic continues to present many challenges and his general breedlove discussed this with the weaponization of refugees they were russian activity in syria regime activity present military political and humanitarian issues that we have not seen in an era and i hope our witnesses will provide their assessment of the situation this respect. i ran continues to be a significant concern to the

committee particularly its missile tests and ongoing support to nonstate actors across the middle east. general austin i hope you'll update the assessment of iran's activity in the wake of the joint comprehensive plan of actions implementation. in afghanistan the past year has been one of political transition. the u.s. continues to evaluate how we can enable the government of afghanistan to protect the government's population. the new commander is now conducting an assessment of what capabilities has been associated troop levels will be required to achieve our objective in afghanistan throughout the rest of 2016 and 2017 and as i said before his recommendations must be given most serious consideration since he is on the battlefield and the closest to the issue. general austin general votel your attention to this is deeply appreciated. one of the results of said comes operations against isil in iraq

and syria has been the isil's metastasizing into libya and other places as we talked about. your command is undertaken a number of operations against isil in libya. a lack of a functioning government in tripoli or more unified military makes it difficult to stamp arbison i hope you will give us your insights on this issue. while in djibouti i was a familiar with the operations in somalia and as you know general rodrigues the amazon african union mission's has been functioning but is coming under increasing pressure. we interned have been helping them recently there was a significant airstrike by u.s. forces to help support their efforts so i would like your assessment of the situation there and as we go forward what we can do. there's one issue that cut across all the areas and that was we seem to be losing the information war of messaging, of getting our message to the

people of all these countries about our support for legitimate government for a reasonable government. that is ironic to say the least to your comments about how we can reverse this tide and in fact point to the population to our site would be appreciated. again and general votel finally as the chairman has noted your special operations forces has sustained extraordinary operation before for but for the last two years. we know what they have done extraordinary work and we appreciate your leadership but we would also like you to commend them personally and their families for what they would have to do would be remiss if i didn't address the senior personnel that are here. thank you for your leadership. general austin, priddy at morning turmeric and ranking member reed this in which members of the committee want to thank you for the opportunity to appear here today to discuss the

current posture of the united states central command. i'm pleased to appear here this morning alongside general david rodrigues and joseph votel predebate global security environment is incredibly complex. most of the challenges that we face transcends borders and i could not ask her for two better teammates and the gentleman beside me to work through these challenges on a daily basis. ladies and gentlemen as pastors and especially challenging one for the governments, for the people of the central region. we have seen an almost unprecedented level of turmoil and conflict from regional state and nonstate actors along with increasing involvement by external stayed at her such as russia and china. at the same time many of the countries that make up the central region are under growing economic pressure and of course a the combination of these and

other factors makes this strategically important region vulnerable to conflict and to increased instability. presently the united states central command is involved in or supporting multiple military operations and they include the campaign to counter isil in iraq and syria and are resolute support mission in afghanistan. we are providing limited support for the saudi led coalition in yemen and we continue to prosecute the fight against terrorism and extremism throughout our area for sponsor ability. we are also dealing with them is to please have seen throughout the region that is caused by a ram. i will talk briefly about a few the situations in particular as we continue to demand a large portion of our attention and our resources. i will start with the fight against isil. ladies and gentlemen we are defeating this enemy in iraq and syria. we are pressuring isil on more fronts than in any other point

in time since they march into mosul 18 months ago and we are doing so by degrading the enemy's military capability by taking back territory, by diminishing its economic resources and by removing its senior leadership from the battlefield. we are also slowing the flow of foreign fighters. all of these actions in combination are contribute contributed to a force that is less capable and increasingly demoralized and paranoid and prone to defection. while we are defeating isil in iraq and syria we see increased efforts by this enemy to expand into other areas of the globe namely north africa the iranian peninsula and south asia. and he is expanding into these and other areas in part because he knows he is losing in iraq and syria and finding other ways to maintain his legitimacy. holding the suspension will require a concerted effort by

the international community going forward to in the meantime iraq security forces are performing better with time there are capacity building efforts. if notes the kurdish peshmerga remain critical to our efforts on the ground in the northern part of the country. they are irreplaceable and we must do all that we can to support them. in syria we continue to work with indigenous forces including syrian arabs, turkoman and others as they take the fight to the enemy. together they are achieving tremendous results including securing more than 18,000 square kilometers of territory previously held by the enemy. ladies and gentlemen the fight against isil in iraq and syria remains incredibly complex and while the defeat of isil will take time and it will not be easing you can rest assured that we will get it done. meanwhile in afghanistan and the security forces continued to hold their own.

they have come a long way over the past 14 plus years and we want to ensure that they maintain momentum going forward. this past year the afghans underwent multiple transitions that together have shifted the operational environment. i still assessed that the afghan security forces are capable of holding their gains against the taliban however like with any plan changing emissions on the ground may require a reevaluation of our planning. we have invested a great deal in that country. it is an important country for a number of reasons and we want to do what's necessary to help the afghans be successful long term. finally with respect to i ran while we are hopeful that the implementation of the agreement and results of the recent elections will lead to more responsible behavior by the uranium we have not yet seen any indication that they intend to pursue a different path.

the fact remained in i ran today is a significant destabilizing force in the region. ladies and gentlemen some of the behavior that we have seen from i ran of late is certainly not the behavior you would expect to see from a nation that wants to be taken seriously as a respected member of the international community. and so we will continue to keep a close eye on i ran going forward for you today despite the many challenges that exist in centcom we do see progress being made in a number of areas. if not her decades of investment are paying off and we are seeing our regional partners assumed a greater share of security responsibilities in the region. they are dealing with extremist threats in our own countries while conducting military operations as a part of a counter isil coalition in iraq and syria. and so we are encouraged by what we are seeing and we remain committed to working with our partners in support of our shared goals and objectives.

ultimately we want to see the strategically important central region moving in the direction of increased stability and security and we must be properly resourced to do what is required to actively protect and promote our interests. we do appreciate this committees strong continued support. in closing chairman mccain and ranking member. members of the committee want to thank you must import me for the strong support that you continue to show to our servicemembers are civilians and their families i'm incredibly proud of them and i know that you are as well. thank you again for the opportunity and i look forward to answering questions. >> thank you general rodrigues. >> chairman and a member distinguished members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to update you on the efforts united states africa command. for the past three years i've been honored to command the men and women of africa and the man. africa africa is an enduring united states and it's important

important -- it's important is to grow as african economies populations and influence growth small but wise investments in africa security institutions today offer disproportionate benefits to africa europe and the united states. african solutions to african problems are in the long run in the best interest of africans americans and indeed the world. and the most trouble spots of the continent africans have an understandable fear and distrust of the government's security forces which are charged with promoting and guarding the welfare of other people. predatory practices correction in political and economic exclusion of portions of the population as well as inconsistent adherence to the rule of law combined to crush the hope of a better future. these conditions create an environment ripe for the expansion of violent extremism and represent a threat not only to africa but to our european allies in the united united states. the effectively addressing the threat before it or after a

military crisis requires eight conference of approach employing development events to address the root causes of extremism and replace fear and uncertainty with trust and confidence in african institutions. this approach must seek improvements in governance to assess assist adherence to the rule of law and society. african command contribution of this broad solution relies primarily in encouraging and enabling the professionalism of the african security institutions which was secured national populations, cooperate in addressing regional security concerns and increasingly play a role in sustaining global security. our military strategy articulates a long-term regionally focused approach to enabling our african partners. our operational proceeds -- seeks to disrupt and neutralize transnational threats like

building defense capabilities and capacity to what we have achieved our present several areas" person and coordinate with our partners and allies in interagency partners threats and challenges remain. in east africa where helping to set the conditions for the eventual transfer from the african union mission in somalia amazon to the somalia national army and the federal government of somalia. however al-shabaab remains a continuing threat and is conducting almost daily lethal asymmetric attacks in somalia against troops. in north africa libya's insecurity has negative consequences for its people its neighbors, europe's southern flank inner peace and security objectives in africa and the middle east. an international coalition to support the libyans to counter the islamic state of libya would support a functional government of national core and reduce the risk of the expansion of isis.

further instability in north africa and the emergence of a direct threat to u.s. interests. stability and that is a long-term proposition that will require inappropriate long-term strategy. across west africa are partners and allies are countering terrorist organizations like oh rom for the multinational joint task force two troops from cameroon chad nazir and nigeria the multinational task force is a collaborative regional effort to address boko haram's lethal attacks aimed at destabilizing governments and terrorizing civilians. in central africa to the combined efforts of the civilian agencies non-governmental organizations and military forces the resistance arming the longer threatens regional stability and capacity to harm civilian populations has diminished greatly. today we estimate less than 200 lra fighters a minute local communities are better prepared

to protect themselves. elections in transition of power remain a source for political instability in many african nations. despite a decline in violent attempts challenges to the electoral process and the peaceful democratic transfer of power threaten new and established governments. currently our requirements are increasing faster than our resources both in the command we seek innovative ways to mitigate capability by refining our priorities and deliberately approving the alignment of our resources to our strategy. success however requires be on the command itself. "praise him with their afghan partners aloys interagency non-governmental organizations and international organizations will over time strengthen democratic institutions, spur economic growth in advance african peace and security to a degree the u.s. military efforts alone cannot achieve. together we can help the people of africa achieve their potential on the global stage.

i want to thank you all for you continued support to our mission into the soldiers sailors airmen marring coast guard and civilians contractors and their families as we continue to advance our nations defense interests in africa. thank you very much. and thank you general votel. the morning general can make a general can recommend breed and establishment of the committee thank you for the opportunity to appear this morning alongside my teammates general lloyd austin and general dave rodrigues to discuss current posture of the united states special operations command. on any given day nearly 10,000 soft men and women are deployed to over 80 countries around the globe and fill combatant command requirement that. >> a range of congressional might delay needed core activities of behind-the-scenes information gathering and party building to high-end dynamic strike operations are it every success they achieve reinforces what we argue no our people are our greatest asset. they are adaptive and innovative

through persistent presence in harm presence in harm's way they allow us to see opportunities early and they have routinely deliver strategic impacts with the smallest of footprints. perhaps nothing makes this point more clearly than the stories of two operators you have likely heard about in the past days and weeks. navy s.e.a.l.s senior chief petty officer ed tires and was awarded the congressional medal of honor last week for his courage and heroism above and beyond the call of duty in rescuing an american citizen held hostage in afghanistan in 2012. more recently army green beret first class matthew mcclintock provided immediate medical care to wounded american teammate before leaving an afghan almond under intense fire to secure landing zone for that aircraft. this courageous actions cost him his life to save a place of his teammates and ultimately turned the tide of engagement. while the stories of these two american heroes are publicly known if the stories of thousands of soft operators from

all of our services aircrews acquisition specialist intelligence analyst communicators logisticians and many others that underwrite our enduring soft value information quiet professionalism and absolute excellence in accomplishing our most challenging military mission so allow me to emphasize my strongest point this morning, thank you for your devotion to the well-being and resilience for the men and women of socom and their families. their emotional social psychological and physical health is in good hands thanks to you and we are very grateful for the enthusiastic support. while the command priorities remain a change for my testimony last year u.s. socom continues to learn evolve and adapt to meet the current operational requirement. an environment characterized by rapidly shifting power with competition conflict in state and nonstate actors, actress of increasingly ambiguous trans-regional and multidimensional. as a result this past year we

focused on gaining a deeper understanding of today's gray zone challenges and we restructure operational rhythm to focus on the trans-regional violent extreme organizations. the demand for sauce demand for soft skills as remains understandably high. therefore your support for socom is more important than ever. it is a truth that's often not been mass-produced and consistent batsmen are peopling capabilities is very important. as good as the men and women in socom are we remained extraordinarily dependent on service provided capabilities and capacity to perform our mission mission. i asked for your strong support for them as well. we simply could not perform our mission without service provided capabilities infrastructure and institutional programs could alongside her colleagues and the services we are grateful for the budget ability forged out of last year's agreement and remain hopeful for similar stability

beyond 2017. in closing i'd like to once again thank the committee in congress as a whole for your outstanding supporting funding authorities and encouragement. your oversight to our efforts to man train equipped and employed remains critical as we confront increasingly complex security environment really look forward to continuing this great relationship and i pledge to you we will remain transparent engaged in responsive to their main humble command of special operations support a in the world but i'm certainly proud of each and every one of our team members and their families as they continue to serve our great nation could it look forward to your questions today. >> thank you general. general austin general nicholson a new commander in afghanistan testified before this committee in no uncertain terms that the sense of security situation in afghanistan is deteriorating. do you agree with that? >> sir as you heard me say in my

opening statement i do think the environment in the country has changed because of the number. >> he said the situation was deteriorating general. what i really would like is a straightforward answer. i only have a few minutes here. you said that the situation is deteriorating. do you agree with that assessment? >> in part i agree. i think that the taliban has become more active and the ansf have been challenged over the last year. san thank you. would that argue for not having further reductions in troop strength there in afghanistan would you think? >> sir as i mentioned earlier you start with a plan, the plan is based on facts and order to continue planning. when the situation changes so

that those facts are no longer longer -- or this decision she made her no longer permit you have to go back and visit your plan so i would agree with a review of the plan is in order. >> do you agree with general breedlove that putin is quote to liberally weapon icing migration and attempt to overwhelm european structures and break european resolve? >> i think what we have seen with the use of barrel bombs and the massive number of refugees and displaced personnel i think it's absolutely awful and again there is no logical reason that he would choose to employ this kind of weapon over and over again. again i think the fact that we have a cessation of hostilities

on the ground right now has enabled us to get some humanitarian assistance to some of the disadvantaged people and that's a good thing but what he has done with his barrel bombing is awful. >> actually he is not barrel bombing. assad is but he is indiscriminately bombing targets without regard to precision weapons are precision targets. isn't that true? >> i misunderstood you. i thought you said assad. >> general breedlove said that putin is deliberately weapon icing migration in an attempt to overwhelm european structures and break european resolve. i'm sorry if i didn't make that clear. >> i misunderstood you chairman. clearly the approach that the russians have taken is irresponsible. they are using bombs and they

have inflicted extraordinary numbers of civilian casualties and again it is indiscriminate so a really poor approach. >> again general breedlove said it's an attempt to overwhelm european structures and break european resolve including breaking up -- do you support the sale of fighter aircraft to qatar kuwait and bahrain? >> i do chairman. >> you think putin's $8 million in advance arms sales to iran increase risk to u.s. forces and operations in the region? >> certainly that will enable him to have greater capabilities and their adversaries excuse me but i would say at the same time

the gcc countries have spent some $10 billion in military hardware during the same time period. >> general rodriguez there's a "new york times" "new york times" story that says pentagon plans to fight isis in libya includes a barrage of airstrikes by 30 to 40 targets in four areas of the country. it would deal a crippling blow to the islamic states affiliate outside of iraq and syria. it's a quote from the story. would you recommend a barrage of airstrikes as just described in "the new york times"? >> sir that answer would be better put in a classified setting and i will get that to you and your leadership. >> do you believe rigorous action should be taken in the in response to the matassa station up by this? >> i think in the international community has to take action to

hault the expansion to grade and defeated. >> do you think we are doing enough now to stop the spread for kids -- particularly the expansion would be a? >> the spread in libya continues to be a challenge because the lack of governance as well as the breakup of the military and the multiple militias on the ground and we continue to develop our situational understanding. >> my question was do you think we need to do more? >> i think the international community --. >> i'm not asking about the international community. i'm asking about the of america. >> yes we is part of that international community have to do more sir. >> senator reid rays thank you very much mr. chairman general austin one of the issues in iraq is potential consequences of failures. it's not often in the headlines but it's a potentially serious consequence.

can you give us a status of the situation and also the planning that has gone into the consequences of the failure to them? >> yes sir we remain concerned about the status of the dam since the conflict started here. as you know when da'ish captured the dam the employees initially left and it sees. we have encouraged the iraqi government since the dam has been back in the hands of the iraqis to make sure that they are doing the right things to go about repairing the dam to ensure that it doesn't fail. most recently they have hired an italian company to perform maintenance on the dam.

it may be several weeks or months before that company is up and running so there is a time period that we are concerned about where there will be limited to no maintenance on the dam. if the dam fails it will be catastrophic or there will be thousands of people downstream that will either be injured or killed and certainly displaced. the damage could extend all the way down to close to baghdad or into baghdad. we have worked with the iraqi's to ensure that they are doing the right things to inform people about this than in the event that it does fail what actions they should take to get to safety, and we certainly have placed measures in place to ensure that u.s. citizens, u.s. personnel are accounted for and able to be evacuated in the case of the dam failure.

>> thank you. general rodriguez when i was in djibouti refocused on research and shabad and some of the african allies we have in place. i presume you are taking this very seriously and you are beginning to try to disrupt their ability to attack and also to support djibouti and ethiopian forces on the ground. is that fair? >> yes it is senator. >> is there a any indication that our african colleagues djibouti and ethiopia and dashed ethiopians are committed or wavering to the mission? >> they continue their activities that they have been doing for the last several years and right now because of the

adjusting tactics that al-shabaab have taken they need to start making adjustments. >> very good. and general ortell and general austin given the years suggesting encouraging the pakistani forces to take action along the border recently have but one of the consequences they have driven a significant number of terrorist elements into afghanistan which actually seems to have increased counterterrorism demands on the forces there. is that a fair assumption in terms of the ground? >> sir i think it isn't certainly been pushing into afghanistan has not been in coordinate with our forces so while it has increased the turbulence is also provided us an opportunity to address that threat as well.

>> general austin your comments? >> it has increased opportunities and demand on the special operations forces. >> final question general austin and moving back to syria there was indeed a train and equip program and it was terminated. it was deemed policy objectives. the reality is and you may check or dispute this is that in order to hold ground once we capture we need indigenous forces not just kurds but arabs and syrians are we revising and trying to clip a smaller scale to provide that kind of support? >> we are senator. i have asked for permission to restart the effort by using a different approach. as you mentioned we were being

effective but we were slow in getting started in generating the numbers that we needed to generate. part of that was because we were trying to take large numbers of people out of the fighting keep them offer training for long periods of time. we have adjusted our approach as we look to restart her efforts and really focus on smaller numbers of people that we can train on specific skills and as we reintroduce those people back into the fight he will be able to enable the larger groups that they are a part of. the training would be shorter but again i think they would be able to greatly enable the forces once they are reintroduced reintroduce. >> thank you very much. thank you mr. chairman. >> i want to thank all of you for your distinguished service and leadership to our country. general austin in your opening testimony you talked about iran

and he said they are having a destabilizing effect in the region and in fact there's no indication that they are following a different path than they had previously. we know in press reports just this week in fact tuesday that iran the revolutionary guard corps testfired several ballistic missiles from silos across the country and to find recent u.s. sanctions and of course this follows on after the jcpoa was signed to a stick missile test they did in october and november this year. dni clappers testified before this committee that there would either preferred method for delivering a nuclear weapon and are you concerned about the continuing its pursuit of testi? >> i am senator. stack what are the implications of that? >> certainly hope the jcpoa will prevent iran from obtaining a

nuclear weapon in near to midterm and forever hopefully but this is something we will continue to watch watch. stack clearly the jcpoa is not continuing to train them on the ballistic missile program. would you agree with me on that? >> i would agree senator and what i would say is what we in the people in the region are concerned about is barely have an over match with numbers of ballistic missiles. the people in the region remain concerned about their cybercapability and their ability to mind the straits and certainly that to the other quds forces which we seem aligned activity not only throughout the region but all around the globe as well so there are a number of things that lead me to personally believe that their behavior, they haven't changed any course yet. this is something we will continue to watch. >> i would argue that clearly the sanctions the administration

did put in place what i've said from the beginning are pathetic and weak are having absolutely no impact given that they are not continuing to test ballistic missiles and i would hope that we would up our game and impose real tough sanctions on iran on our ballistic missile program. i want to follow up on an important question general rodriguez and general votel. this is something that the i asked of their predecessors about in my concern is if we capture zawahiri are al-baghdadi tomorrow where will we detain these individuals under long-term detention and most importantly and interrogate them so we can find out all that we need to know about al qaeda and isis. as i asked her predecessor going back to 2011 i asked general hamm your predecessor in africom

will put happen if we tomorrow captured a member of al qaeda in africa and do you know what he told me? he said i'm going to need moral help on answering that one. i also asked the same of admiral mcraven your successor general votel and he said to me it would be very helpful if there is actually a that would designate as a long-term detention and interrogation to my question to both of you as tomorrow for capture these individuals given the phenomenal work the men and women who serve underneath you do every day where we going to interrogate them, do you know what you would do with them especially if they want to have a long-term interrogation of them? >> senator in my experience as we have looked at operations where we are actually going to detain somebody we have had a plan in place before we conducted the operation for how we were going to potentially detain them and what their legal disposition would be whether

that was. >> general which is recently capture someone and isis and as i understand it they are being held short-term and then they are going to be turned back to the kurds so what about long-term detention place he would agree that long-term interrogation was quite helpful for example in gathering the information we needed and that is what worries me. what are we doing in a long-term setting? >> i would agree there's a requirement for long-term detention. >> do we know where that would be now? >> i don't know that. that is a policy decision that i think is being debated. >> i think it's a policy decision that's basically never been made under this administration and one that's been left up in the air which means if left up in the air in a way that i think undermines our national security interest and i think that you will need to know what would happen tomorrow given the great work that the men and women who serve underneath you. we hope they capture these individuals and we interrogate

them only find out what they know so we can prevent attacks on this country and continue to dismantle the terrorism networks. thank you all. >> thank you all for being here this morning and for your service to the country. general austin i want to follow up on some questions about afghanistan because there's a reporter who weakened the president donnie claimed that isis had been defeated in the eastern part of the country following a 21 day operation by afghan forces. do we agree with president ghani 's analysis of what's happened there? >> i think we have had good initial effects editor but i think there's more work to be done in that area. >> so do we expect the afghan national forces to follow up with isis in that area? are we working with them directly on what's happening there? can you elaborate a little bit on what's going on? >> as you know senator we are advising and assisting the

afghan special operations forces on a daily basis and yes we are helping them to identify these threats and also advising them on the best means to go after these threats. >> so if in fact they are performing well with respect to isis what does that mean for the continued fight against the taliban? i so recently reports of that. having had the opportunity to visit their backend 2010 and 2011 we visited lashkar which is the provincial capital and saw some really amazing work that had been done by isaf forces to engage the local population to get kids in school to do positive things. it's very distressing to see what's happening now in helmand

and the fact that the provincial capital may fall to the taliban under threat from outside can you talk about whether there is is -- whether there are benefits from the effort against eyes as they carry over to the fight against the taliban? i don't want to use the word propaganda but is there messaging there that is helpful in terms of the taliban's recurring activities in afghanistan? >> as was mentioned earlier senator the environment in afghanistan this last year has been a very challenging environment to work in because of the number of transitions. transition of power for the first time in that young government history and a new government standing up. we have reduced their footprint. mullah omar's death was

announcement caused the taliban to begin to fracture a bit but it also gave rise to a new leader who has yet to prove himself with increased activity and soul of this work together proved to be very challenging for the afghan security forces and there were some setbacks. those setbacks were due to a number of things, leadership and appropriate techniques and general campbell and now general nicholson are working with the afghan security forces to address those setbacks and put measures in place that should improve the performance there. the president mr. ghani has embraced the suggestions and they are moving out and making corrections. we expect to see some improved performance. there is more advising and assisting that needs to be done going forward to it one of the key things that has transpired here recently is that because

the afghans in some cases were overextended they have adjusted their footprint to give them more flexibility. a smaller footprint that allows them to project combat power at will and places that they need to project combat power to. >> thank you. general votel senator reed raised the issue of counter messaging in his opening statement and i know that in 2016 the ndaa provided resources for technology to support our information operations and communications that to these so can you elaborate on what you are doing in this area to improve our counter messaging efforts which i think are really critical both to what's going on with isis but also to putin in russia. soon russia. >> thank you senator. i agree with your assessment. that's the critical and must be an integrated aspect of all of

our operations from start to finish. it can't be something we think about afterwards. i am grateful for this war we have gotten from ndaa. in uso, it looked a publicly available information how we develop the tools and the tech takes in the procedures to use that information to help us understand the threats that we are dealing with. so we are looking at how we can experiment in that area, the different things we can do for our forces so to publicly available information and being able to work in that is an area in which we hope to improve our capabilities in the future. >> thank you. my time is up that i would be interested in hearing what we are doing to work with other agencies within the federal government so that we are coordinating our messages across all of our activities. thank you. thank you mr. chairman.

>> thank you mr. chairman. gentlemen thank you for your service. general austin with regard to the challenges surrounding the retaking of mosul and harakah by december this year and coming up up -- raqqa coming up you have to think about 4000 ground forces available if i am correct. is that enough? do you have enough right now to assist in your plans to be able to retake mosul and raqqa? >> the approach that we have used and will continue to use senator as you know is to use the indigenous forces to conduct the operations on the ground and enable those forces with our aerial fires and other enablers. as we look towards raqqa and mosul clearly there will be things that we will want to do

to increase the capability of that, to be able to increase the pace of operations and apple were choir some additional capability. we have gone through and done some analysis to see what types of things we need to provide and we have made those recommendations. >> could you share those recommendations with this committee? >> no sir i would not care to do so because i've just provided those to my leadership. >> that but you have made recommendations and you are awaiting a response to your recommendations at this time? >> yes it will work its way up the chain. >> if you are allowed to have more ground troops what would be the capabilities that you could accomplish or what could you accomplish if you had more individuals on the ground at this time? >> we could develop better human intelligence.

we could perhaps divide more advise-and-assist teams at various levels. we could increase our assistance in terms of providing help to some logistical issues and we could increase some elements of the special operations equipment. >> assuming we would be successful and retaking both of those two towns what then, it's broken. clearly you come back and you need to reestablish civil order and so forth. when we take them back do we have a plan in place? do we have a plan that we want to execute to bring back in a sense of order to those communities and what does it look like right now and what part would we play? >> the short answer is yes senator first of all we will -- the iraqis will take back mosul

and we will work with the syrian indigenous forces to take back raqqa as well. as you have seen us do as they have taken back towns in iraq that includes ramadi, bocce, tikrit sinjar and other places the effort has been to reestablish the security in those places and then immediately try to do what's necessary to repair damage and make sure that we are taking care of the people and people are able to move back in and resume their lives. so we have dealt incrementally as we have moved forward. there's a lot of work to be done senator. you know from just the gannett ramadi there's someone of work to be accomplished to get that back to some reasonable states but in mosul and looking forward

to raqqa the same types of things apply, establish the security and when that's done bring in the humanitarian assistance through the reconstruction activities to get things back to normal. >> do you believe that the current structure in iraq and the government that is there now, do they have the capabilities and competencies to provide that to those committees in iraq? >> i think they do sir. i think it will require a lot of work and it will require, excuse me, the government to work together much more, much better than what we have seen them do up to this point. >> thank you. thank you mr. chairman. >> senator manchin on the half of the chairman. >> thank you all for being here and thank you for your service. i think general votel given we

are reconsidering your nomination to succeed general austin as top commander it would be insightful to get your opinion on the current situation in iraq and syriana guess the question was simply be who is the greatest, who poses the greater threat to the region and to the united states, isis or iran? >> well i think right now senator my answer would be isis does because they are inspiring and there are x. orchestrating external attack that could impact our people so i think we have to take that extraordinarily seriously. that said as we have discussed here already despite the agreement that is then made we shouldn't, we should understand that iran is not ambiguous in their activities and their focus on the united states and certainly on our allies in the region so i think they do pose a

long-term threat as well. .. >> it certainly adds a little bit of fuel to the problem. they were going to spend money at and buy weapons anyway. this gives them capability to buy more. having said that they are

working together in ways that they haven't done in the past and they have continued to buy a healthy dose of our equipment and our weapons as well. so they are increasing their capabilities as well. >> at the last election they just had shows that the moderates got elected and others got pushed out of office. you see that as a promising factor? >> i think it's too soon to tell. i think that what we saw leading up to the elections is we saw a lot of moderates they get disqualified from the elections and so the folks that are classifying themselves as moderates, or is it just another flavor of hard-liners.

>> sir, did that occur saturday? it had just shown that they had completed training against american forces and so the question would be did you have a sense of numbers and also how big of a concern that there are other camps in this region that we don't even know about? >> sir, they pop up and they move and they are at different places throughout somalia at different times. it is a concern because the last three times that they did something similar to this they had the ability to create a devastating attack. >> the national guard states the partnership program has been successful at building strong relationships in 20 years for

some cases. it has been long going on. in your testimony you indicated that you continue to build relationships within national and domestic partners through sustained security operations. so it seems to be something that the national guard has been successful with in the state partnerships program. the uc and the role for this in helping advance the? >> west virginia has played a key role and it was very successful and we have already engaged on doing this. so i think that the state partnership program is absolutely essential. a number of them are at the same place where we have the best liaison officers and i think that that provides a great opportunity to increase our activities and i think it's a

wonderful program and we are going to try to leverage it in every way that we can. >> thank you, we think it's been very successful and cost-effective for us as well. thank you and my time is up. >> thank you very much, gentlemen. thank you for being here today. i appreciate your many years of service. i would like to start with the generals. in your professional military opinion you have served while in our armed services. we want to thank you for that. what are the implications of russia's actions in syria and the world's response or lack of response. as well as the international behavior. what i'm trying to get is what lessons do you think that latin america and is taking out of syria and what concerns should we have a bowel what he is doing

in syria. we have heard a discussion about weaponization. can you give me a little bit of input on that? >> thank you, senator. >> russia's entry into this has made a very complicated problem, even more complicated when you consider the actors that are a part of this, the regime, the russians, the turks and others, the iranians, the lebanese, hezbollah. all of these elements are interacting with each other that are very much talking about battle space. the introduction of russia has made this more complicated. especially since although they

said they came to counter terrorism, what we have seen him do principally is bolster bashir backed regime. that potentially extends the conflict. my personal opinion is that they had no designs on being there for a long period of time, i don't think that they can be there for a long period of time because of the impact it will have on their economy. but clearly they have tried to to demonstrate muscle and impress the region. i think that they will have an opposite effect when they align themselves with the syrian regime. they also won themselves with lebanese hezbollah and i will eventually alienate them from any of the states in the region.

>> you think that that is his overall goal remap the alienation of those groups and alignment with themselves? has he achieved that? >> i think what they wanted to do was gain a greater understanding. they want influence in the region and they want to increase their influence in the region by doing some of the things that they have done. but i think that at the end of the day they will probably have the opposite effect of what they want to do. >> thank you, sir. >> i agree with everything that the general has just said and i would add one additional point which i think that the big lesson that we are learning out of this is the area between normal state competition and open warfare and i think that in my view this is an area in which russia is engaging and area is another example and eastern europe is another example and

the ukraine is another example. they are challenging the open warfare, challenging influence and also the interest of many of our allies as well. so for those of us we are paying very close attention and trying to understand how this is going to impact our future operations and how we contribute in that particular area. >> i appreciate that. my time is short, but very quickly if you could just talk about this, why is it taking so long to develop a force that would keep that region stable? >> one of the things that i think must be done and i think senator, you probably feel the same way is that the sunnis have to be a part of the solution going forward. and so we have worked with the leadership of the prime minister to enlist and to higher and

train the sunni tribal elements that can help us. they have across-the-board enlisted about 15,000 or so of these elements. they have proven that they are very reliable troops. the reason it has taken a long time is because there are hard-liners in the environment that do not want to see a large sunni force armed and equipped because of, you know, that experience. but nonetheless the sunnis have to be a part of the solution going forward and we see the prime minister doing some things to enlist their help and we just need to have some more activity here. >> gentlemen, thank you again. we appreciate your service. >> thank you, mr. chair. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

general, you mentioned in your written testimony that the lack of stability and security threatens our peace and security objective in the middle east. and of course, whatever we do in the middle east is involving all kinds of unintended consequences. so when it was established in 2015 as you noted in your testimony, is an important step, it will take time to establish the authority. so can you talk more about what it's is supposed to happen under this agreement and what happens and what is to be expected to happen in libya and what kind of timeframe are we talking about to establish the stability and security in libya? >> thank you, senator. the agreement that the u.n. brokered to build the government of national accord is supposed to bring together the house of representatives in the east east

and the general of national congress in the last and build a central government that could then begin to govern libya. this is going to be a long time coming as they work through this and we are continuing to press upon all the diplomatic fronts that the u.s. and international community can get moving and it has continued to move along quite slowly. as far as the second part of your question goes, to build this stability in libya is going to take a long time because of the lack of institutions that are there. the fractured society as well as the multiple competing militias and spoilers from all sides of the libyan society. >> what would you say is the one or two most important steps or conditions that must occur for this process to proceed in a way that will result in stability?

>> i think that the government has to come together and have enough legitimacy in the eyes of the libyan people that it can function well enough to move forward. >> is that happening? >> it has not happened yet. >> is a beginning to happen? >> yes. >> you have any kind of this sense? tenures or 15 years? >> yes, it's going to take 10 or 15 years. >> thank you. general, typically what efforts are we engaging in that we hope to lower this imminent threat and do you think that a peaceful solution is possible at this point? >> thank you, senator. i do not know if a peaceful

solution is possible. we are dealing with those types of weapons and the venues in which we are asking to deal with them, which are fairly peculiar. so we do maintain that capability as one of our no fail missions. that being said, the other thing that we have done over the last 18 months is increase our presence as well as our partnership with our south korean partners and i'm pretty proud to say that we are continuing to maintain a robust presence with all of our capability including air and maritime and grounds off forces as well. >> even as we speak are we engaging in some exercises with south korea. >> there are major exercises that occur at various times of

the year. there is one going on right now. we are extraordinarily well integrated into that and through our special operations command korea we are supporting the gentleman and his objectives. >> thank you. regarding the key strategic goal and particularly as we see what is going on with north korea and china, with what you can say in this unclassified setting, can you comment on the asia pacific region and do you have a special operations force structure to meet the growing demands of this region and as this year's budget provide the resources necessary to meet the demand. >> for the last part of your question we absolutely do have a structure that is formed around special operations command pacific under my combatant command and we are sourcing them.

they are a fairly robust headquarters and they have the ability to exercise coordination and integration with admiral harris and his staff. with regard to other things that we are doing i would like to say that most of our activities are bilateral. we certainly have had some success in the philippines in the past and in support of many of the admiral's objectives out there we are working very close as we tell them that we are very committed to the area. >> thank you very much and i think everyone here today. >> thank you. >> thank you all for your many years of great service. >> sir, sir, are you responsible for training the syrian

democratic voices? >> we are providing forces. >> what percentage occurred? >> probably about 80%. [inaudible] >> we have seen some of the situations. >> is there a plan? >> we have a strategy to get this going. >> is there a plan? >> there is currently not a plan. >> is there a plan once it's taken? >> no, i would say there is not a plan to hold it. >> general, is it fair to say

that one russia and ron came in they changed the balance militarily. >> yes, it is, senator. if i could make a comment or western. >> sure. >> as you know, as we continue to work with the forces, our goal is to recruit. >> will he confirm isis and not bashar al-assad? >> we will train and equip them to focus on isis. >> part of it is we're not going to support you when it comes to this. 2 that is correct, we only support those elements that are final. >> what happens when he bombs the people returning? would we do? >> we will defend the folks that we are supporting.

>> have we defended them against the russians and others? >> in terms of forces that i have trained we have not had that issue. >> there are forces at the agency that has talked about this as well. is that correct? >> i would not want to address that at this time. >> i think that it's pretty common knowledge that people have been hit by the russians and the sheer max. is it fair to say that going into any negotiations that bashar al-assad is in pretty good shape because russia and iran are behind him militarily and we are not behind the opposition militarily? >> i would certainly say, senator, that russia's support and iran's support has really emboldened him and empowered him to a degree. >> thank you so much for your years of service. june 24, 2010, we are changing

over from the general. i think that you indicated we are probably on the 10 yard-line when it comes to this. i think we are on the 10 yard-line and i think that the next 18 months will determine whether we get to the goal line or really are able to get to the goal line by 2011. did you recommend a residual force? >> yes, i did, sir. >> if we are on the 10 yard-line in june 24, 2010 using football analogies, what is the reaction? >> clearly we are in a completely different situation with respect to where we were and nobody knows us better than you because you have spent so much time over there.

>> you see a possibility? what is the strongest proponent in iraq? it is a situation of capability. who has the most capability. >> the militia of shiites have a lot of situations. >> is it fair to say that they cannot liberate? >> i would say we go down that path we won't make a significant mistake. >> i cannot agree with you more and i am glad that you said that. we are relying on this and i think it's a long way away. general rodriguez, thank you for your service. what percentage of libya would you say is under the de facto control of extremists groups like isis? >> they control the area in and around their.

i cannot give you an exact percentage or anything. the other places are either contested or a transitory effects. >> would you consider them a failed state reign. >> yes, sir. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you mr. chairman. thank you to the witnesses. general, i want to ask a couple questions as we touch upon each of the training that we do. i know that the u.s. military is a preferred training partner and i were kind of like to have you talk about success of those training efforts over the course of your three years in the position and what other nations do significant training of african militaries.

and i would like to hear your thoughts on it. >> yes, sir. we are by far the largest training of african peacekeepers in africa. we have a tremendous amount of successes. just to give you a benchmark, the u.n. missions are 47% provided by african soldiers which is a significant increase over the last several years and almost 180 degrees turnaround for the decade. and then we have a great program that is led by state department with all of the soldiers that are trained by the state department as well as the other nations in molly. as we do a tremendous job of

training all of the u.n. mission who are headed out there and i think that they have done extremely well overall as they are continue to be challenged in certain areas. we have had problems with discipline and some of the units but overall it has been successful. everyone of units has been trained as a comeback and has increased the forces. the u.n. also do some training as well. >> the training that we do is not only training around dealing with security challenges but some of these nations the military has been a force for stability and oppression or rule of law and human rights issues and so i assume that one of the sets of expertise that we provide is doing it in a way that respects the rule of law and human rights.

>> it is, sir. it's about this in every aspect but also the rule of law and supporting the government in a democratic nation. >> would you talk about the same thing in regards to special forces operations? and training work that we do with other organizations? let's talk abo training componenabout the training component. >> thank you, senator. this is a good example of many of the ways in which we are working on this, particularly through soft elements. i think one of the best authorities as those that allow us to work closely with our partners here is developing

capabilities and i think that that has been a very successful program. what we try to do is leverage the relationships that many of our countries have talked about. we have some great partners in north africa. we have inroads and a lot of organizations and we're trying to organize that as well. we are also trying to develop capacity and skill. so when you look at a country like this, it's a good example and they have actually been somebody who can deploy and support our activities. and so i think that we are leveraging it very well.

>> we are looking at line items and expenditures in my opinion is that one of the best things that we did is as you look at the pentagon budget was either in their real estate were bringing leaders over here. it is just a fraction of the budget but it might be one of the best investments that we make interns of building capacity and building relationships that can be important. so we thank you for your service. >> general rodriguez, last year he said that the libya-based threats are growing. if left unchecked they have the highest potential among security challenges on the continent to increased risks to u.s. and strategic interests in the next

two years and beyond. what is your assessment of the current situation? do you see these threats continuing to impact not just the united states? >> yes, senator, it has continued to grow in the last year as i have mentioned and it is also because of the space in libya. and i think that i agree with all of this. >> as we look at libya with how unstable this area of the world has become. ..

government? what do you see? >> the first course is to press on some kind of government that can function in the eyes of people that think it can function properly. on the military side it's all about working with our partners in libya. they have a mission going on in the north to help with nato in the mediterranean sea. as well of shoring up all the partners around tunisia which we've done a good job. then somehow at some point in time the international community will have to figure out the expansion so this government has

a chance to move forward. >> you do believe the formation from the outside helps in order to stabilize this? >> yes i do. >> do you have any idea who our partners? >> do we have partners outside? >> they have a mission in the mediterranean sea. the real critical partners who have continued to work in this effort are the u.k., france, italy as well as spain and germany. >> do we have a plan moving forward on that? >> yes we do ma'am. >> okay, general are you concerned about political reconciliation and libya? >> i am. that is a long-term proposition. i think we do have to be

concerned about that. >> general austin, have you seen cooperation between syrian groups and russia? >> we have seen some cooperation between the northwestern part of the country with the russians. >> is it frequent cooperation? >> i would characterize it as infrequent but they are going to turn to the folks they think can provide them the most. >> have the attacked syrian rebels that have been supported by us? >> there has been evidence of that. i don't see it growing.

we don't see much activity at all. >> thank you mr. chair. >> thank you all for your distinguished service to our nation. i noticed in your testimony general, reference to enhancing our relationships to special operators, the interactivity with ours. what can we do to support it? >> it is something i see as a priority. in fact we haven't incorporated into our headquarters from about 17 or 18 foreign soft forces who are integrated with our headquarters. that's a demonstration as to how important we think it is. i think what you can do is

continue to support our efforts in that regard. frankly, the biggest challenges we have is information sharing arrangements that we have with them. i feel that as a friction point that we continue to work through. i think anything we can do in those regards would be very, very positive. >> is information sharing also an issue when it comes to other united states agencies such as the dea, the fbi? i notice the reference in your testimony to those agents as well. >> in general, i think that has improved a lot so i don't see those as significant obstacles. most of those agencies have representatives that my headquarters and may help smooth any potential conflicts we have. i think our interchange of information sharing with them is quite good. >> over the years, we have heard testimony both in secure

settings and public settings such as this one about the opportunities and the feelings to heroin, opium, which not only undermines our activities but also threatens our national security at home. in fact we are debating now in florida senate a measure called the comprehension addiction and recovery act, which aims to prevent as well as treat addiction to substances in our country. i wonder if you could comment on both the opportunities and the potential feelings of our nations in addressing those

problems, the interdicting and stopping the flow of heroin and other substances to this country and the growing of it in other countries. >> we've had a long-term planning countries like colombia with u.s. special operations forces for a while but have had some success to it. we do conduct a number of activities in southern regions to support some of our partners in those particular efforts and in most cases, we begin to see some successful we do that. i think they look for our leadership, they look for our partnership and they look for our expertise in helping them with that. i think what we generally see with those countries that we partner with, we do see some success. certainly the problem is extensive. i think our focus on interdiction is extraordinarily important. in my view, in my experience,

the same routes over which drugs travel, humans travel, foreign terrorist fighters could travel, so i think these are multipurpose threats to us that have to be addressed very, very seriously. >> in some ways the flow of heroin is along the same routes of terrorists travel, as other kinds of threats to our nation, they come to this nation. >> in our experience, i think that is true. >> thank you very much. thank you for your excellent testimony today. thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. thanks to all of you for being here and all you do for the security of our country. the new york times report from february 27 recanted that at the time, when an intervention in

libya was being discussed, secretary bob gates stated that qaddafi was not a threat to us anywhere. then the director of defense and intelligence agency, michael flynn commented that qaddafi was a thug in a dangerous neighborhood, but he was keeping order. how has the ks in chaos in libya, specifically the weapons from qaddafi's stockpiles in the infiltration of isis and al qaeda affiliates led to the destabilization of the middle east and threaten our security interest? >> thank you senator, the first affects of that destabilization was in molly when many of the fighters and arms ammunition

explosives had that way which created challenges north africa and mali. the militias who have grown up in and around and used many of the animation stocks for their power and influence, not only only internal to libya, but external to its neighbors, and then the challenges have continued to grow because of isis and its brand of terrorism to threaten places like tunisia and then of course destabilize and total chaos in the area there has contributed to the problem. >> thank you. in a long report last week from the new york times, it was made clear that then secretary of state clinton in the white house

were persuaded to support western intervention in libya into thousand 11. that was largely due to pressure from european and arab allies. it seems to vindicate that they would leave the operations to the united states to lead from behind, as it was put at the time. what what is your assessment of the involvement of european and arab nations in libya now, after the intervention has now led to chaos and a sort of islam it direction? >> i think they said many times, we would all hope that many of the european know would do more in this arena. >> the united states has been supporting saudi arabia's military initiative in yemen for over a year.

this is for general austin, sharing intelligence and providing logistical support. in this time, they have not been driven out and the humanitarian crisis that is there seems to have been exacerbated and hasn't been alleviated. further, tereus terrorist groups are able to have safe havens and gain strength, finances and weaponry. what is your overall goal in supporting the salaries in in yemen and would you assess their intervention in yemen thus far as being successful? >> first of all i ask assess the current state is that there at an operational stalemate. i think both sides have pushed hard against each other because neither one has an overwhelming

advantage and they don't seem to feel the need to come to the table to negotiate in earnest. having said that, even though i would characterize it as it as an operational stalemate, i think it's trending as a saudi led coalition because of some barriers that have been made here recently. our goal is to support the coalition in their efforts to reestablish the legitimate government in yemen. we are hopeful that the saudi's will be able to bring, the coalition will be able to bring them to the table and negotiate a settlement that allows for the governments come back in and reestablish itself. if it does, it will enable us to work with that government to do

more to counterterrorist networks. we will be able to do more, but it doesn't mean that were doing nothing right now. as you know, with all the means that we have available, we are pressurizing a q a p on a daily basis. >> thank you. general austin, could you give us a quick update on the status of the investigation into the allegations of corruption of the intelligence analysis function in cincom? >> the investigation is ongoing. the dod ig continues its work and as i said, from the very beginning, the leadership at cincom will do everything in its power to support the efforts of

dod ig to get to the problem of this. >> do we have a date or a projected date? it's been sometime since the investigation. >> it has, sir, i would defer to the ig to provide that date. >> did you stand up any kind of investigation of your own of these investigations question. >> it would be an appropriate me to do that while the other investigation is going on. >> you don't have any idea of when the ig will be completing their work? >> i don't, sir, i hope it will be soon. i would also also tell you that as i said before, if the ig or the investigation finds out or determines that there have been inappropriate actions, i will take the appropriate measures to address whatever the infections were. it's important to me that my

intelligence analysts and all of my subordinates provide me input on a regular basis. >> understand that. that's why characterized you as the unintended victim here. let me change the subject for moment. afghanistan, the current schedule is 9800 - 5500 on january 1 of 17. the problem as i see it is to get to 5500, you can't just turn a switch on december 31. there has to be a drawdown of some kind starting in late summer. are you concerned, given the heightened level of taliban activity, that we would be making a stake by in barking on a drawdown of that nature? to get back to the foot law football analogy, if were on the five or 10-yard line, it concerns me if we are back to

being calendar driven rather than being conditions driver. >> yes or, the way i view this is you have to have a plan and you build that plan on faxing you make assumptions at the time that you build the plan. >> given, you've testified to a heightened level of taliban activity and greater stress on the afghan forces. isn't it time to reassess that plan now is mark if we wait till august or september we are already in the mist of a drawdown. >> sir, that's exactly where i was going. as the facts changed, and as the assumptions are no longer valid, it's appropriate to go back and review that plan and make adjustments as required. >> is that happening right now? is there a reassessment underway? >> this new commander is on the ground and he is assessing things now, that at all levels, we will take a look at this and make the appropriate recommendations to the

leadership. >> i certainly hope we don't find ourselves in a situation where we are drawing down at a time both in terms of personnel and authority we need more authority to maintain really significant gains that have been achieved. general rod reagins, is al-shabaab growing? are they adding members i know they don't hold territory but are they adding areas of influence question. >> boko haram does own significant territory in northern siberia as does al-shabaab in somalia. right now in somalia, there has been a tactical upswing in al-shabaab activities and i think that's a tactical change right now and we are doing everything we can to support the countries to ensure that is just a temporary change.

>> final question the cessation of hostilities, would you categorize that as a locking in as the regime's position or a cessation's of hostilities? that always seems to favor the regime. how would you characterize that? is that a predecessor to peace talks or something else? >> it's left to be seen what the outcome would be. the goal is to get the help to the disadvantage people. that's a really big thing. we would also like this to lead to the talks. we are hopeful that it will lead to a better out outcome.

i think that long term, the russians don't own the clock. if we reach a point where this drags out for an extremely long period of time, then i think it will play to their disadvantage. >> that's certainly better than the all-out war that we were seen before. >> absolutely. >> thank you. >> thank you gentleman for your testimony and for your long service to our country, particularly the the two who may no longer have the pleasure of appearing before our committee anymore. general austin i want to take stock of russia's intervention in syria last fall when russia first intervened and obama and several others used words like

strategic blunder. are they achieving their objectives now? >> i can't speak to what their specific objectives were, but what i would tell you senator is that my assumption would be that they want to make a substantial difference as fast as they could and transition to something else very, very quickly. i think they are finding out this could go on for some time. >> if you stand page 12 of your testimony, it is apparent that russia's actions in syria is to bolster the asad regime. skipping down a few lines you say asad would not be empowered today if it weren't for the robust power provided to the regime by iran and russia. is it fair to say they are meeting the objective of stabilizing the regime?

>> they have certainly bolstered and empowered the asad regime, yes or. >> you say further on page 13, none of russia's actions have helped stabilize syria or end the suffering of the syrian people can you elaborate? >> we still see thousands and thousands of civilians being disadvantaged. their intervention has not made things better. >> can you give us a rough estimate of how much russia airstrikes are targeting islamic states position in personnel? >> i would say a small percentage i think what you said is they want to come in and counter what we did. what we witnessed in almost all cases, they have gone after

counter regime forces. >> you further on page 13 that russia's coordination with iran seems to be growing and is emerging toward a strategic partnership. could you say more about that you emerging strategic partnership? >> it's hard to say where this will line up, but we see a strengthening of that relationship as time has passed. russia came in and aligned itself with the regime and also iran and lebanese and hezbollah. where were news that relationship tween syria, russia and iran develops further, it will present a problem for the region. on page 21, you state something similar, they will continue to support some shiite groups and

bahrain, lebanese, and other areas and they look to expand their cooperation in areas that include the sale of high-end weapons. can you say little bit more about those weapons that were you? >> we've seen recently the sale of high-end air defense capability from russia to iran. that's a problem for everyone in the region and also coastal defense cruise missiles. is that type of weapons migrates, that'll eventually end up in the hands of hezbollah. >> and like to asked general rodriguez a question. in north africa and eastern

mediterranean, what are the implications for a long-term area with the robust weapons that they have. what are the implications in the region? >> there are potential threats their senator, and i think russia has had a presence in this region, as you know, for some time. i think we have to do everything we can as an international community to put pressure on russia to make sure these weapons don't move around the region freely. >> general rodriguez? >> i agree. we've talked about this and this is important for it to not get anywhere. >> general rodriguez, my final question, what can can you tell us about the ongoing violence in

brindley? what is the impact it could have on the region? >> the violence thus far is mainly political violence and has not degenerated to the direct ethnic problems. we are watching that every single day to make sure that does not grow. most of it has been politically motivated and is ethnically motivated. >> thank you very much. >> on behalf of chairman nelson. >> gentlemen, thank you you for your public service. thank you general austin for your long enduring public

service. we've been proud to have you as a citizen of tampa. as with general patel. he will continue to be a citizen of tampa for a while. let me ask you about libya. do we have the capability, general rodriguez, rodriguez, to prosecute a war in libya against isis while at the same time going after them in other parts of the world including iraq and syria? >> i think the answer to that is yes. is the question of how much risk we as a nation can take and how much you commit versus maintain. >> as i understand it, you all have a recommendation to the

white house. obviously you can't share that because that's internal conversation but in your status of forces, you have capability that it's the president's decision to go after isis and other elements in libya, we have the ability to thwart those elements? >> yes sir, i do. >> thank you. would any of you like to comment on the efforts around here to cut back on your headquarter staff? >> we have worked hard throughout the headquarters to figure out where the best place to combat and that continues to

move forward. we will support the efforts going forward. >> we clearly want to leverage all of the capabilities that exist to the entire system. we want to avoid the vocation of effort wherever possible. as you look at u.s. central command, as you know, as i've mentioned earlier, were involved with four major military operations simultaneously, if you include afghanistan, iraq and syria. and yemen and the current battle against the terrorist and the region. it takes a fair amount of effort to maintain all of that. also to do things to promote stability and security throughout the region as well.

the effort applies to everyone. i fully appreciate it may have to do my part, but again, we also need the capability to maintain the efforts that we are involved in. >> senator nelson, i would agree with those comments. certainly there are opportunities for us to simplify and streamline and reduce duplication. we should always be looking at that. the concern that i would have is that we did make some decisions in the past to move people from our headquarters out to our theaters operations committee and we've recognized this in the past and we certainly should continue to look at how we create more efficiency and effectiveness to how we are doing our headquarters response abilities. >> thank you mr. chairman. i want to thank the three of you for your service.

general austin, in particular, i want to thank you for all you have done for the army and america and the opportunity that i had to serve with you nearly a decade ago. it was a highlight of my career but i am concerned about the lack of marine sitting behind you so i know, that was a joke. i know the staff puts in a lot of work to these testimonies why want to put in a thank you to the men and women. i want to follow up on senator mccain and senator cotten's comments on the iranian weapons sales from russia to iran, particularly the s300 missile defense system. there's an article that talks about that system which would be capable of rendering the iranians guys for u.s. and israeli jets. one thing that hasn't come up in

the testimony, isn't that just a blatant violation of the un security council of weapons ban of sales to the iranians that still in existence, and a violation of the current iranian nuclear deal that the united states and other countries signed? >> no -- i don't know if it's a violation of the nuclear deal. it is concerning to everyone. this will increase the amount of effort to do the work we need to do. we will certainly find the ways and means to get the job done it for you are required to do that, but it makes it a little more difficult. but not impossible, senator. >> i want to turn the three of you, you have decades and decades of experience with regard to the service in the u.s. army. earlier we were talking about a

lot of focus on our special operations troops. seems to be less focus on our conventional army. we required to get the army down to 450,000 active-duty soldiers. i think some of the army are looking at that as bringing very high levels of risk, given the new security challenges that our nation faces not only in sing come and african a ors, but really all over the world. i would like your professional military opinion on that number, given the increase of threats that use in your different a ors. do you agree with statements by

mr. fanning that our army is getting dangerously small given the current threat environment and that the number of 450,000 troops, in terms of active duty army is to higher risk given our threats? >> in my judgment, i do agree with the comments that he has made in regard to that. i would just add, as i mentioned in my comments, the special operations commander, we are extraordinarily dependent on services, and the army in particular. what they they bring in institutional and infrastructure capability that we are absolutely, 100% dependent hundred% depended on. i am concerned as these reductions take place and the fact that it has an effect on us both directly and indirectly. i think there's a lot of focus in this committee that says we don't need big forces or

airborne troops because we have special ops. they certainly can't do it all in today's threat environment. >> senator i couldn't agree with you more. i would not want to give anyone the impression that special operations command has all the capabilities it needs to do the operations we do. literally everything we do is supported by some conventional force. whether were at sea or other types of logistics, we are very dependent on of other types of activities and support. >> can you comment on your military judgment of what you think the number right now, in terms of 450,000 active-duty does to our nation security? >> i absolutely agree, it's high risk.

both the current operations that are going on with counterterrorism as well as the threats from the four major challenges out there. >> in a life i was the joint chief of the army. we were concerned then and even more concerned now. i do agree with general miller's comments. >> that for 50 is too small? >> yes sir, we are getting dangerously small. >> thank you. thank you mr. chairman. >> it's hard for me to believe, general rodriguez, that it's been nine years. before that time, of course you all remember it was part of three different comms including -- i also remember i

was opposed to sending the troops into bosnia. the excuse being used at that time was because of ethnic cleansing. i recall being in florida and it was something that was needed. it was brought up by senator cotten that there is a problem over there. there are a lot of problems in africa. they don't rise to the top, but the president there is one that our state department opposed ended like to know, it's my understanding, i know him personally and i have been with him several times. he was legitimately put into office but was nonelection.

the reason our state department was opposed to him running again was because the term limits would have set in if that first term had been considered a full-time. now you follow me there so far. then when the courts came along, the supreme court agreed he was entitled to run again and then i will always believe that one of the big political problems that you've pointed to in answering the question is that our state department is very active in that race. our state department was very objected to the fact that he is running again. he was running it again in spite of the fact that there supreme court had made that decision. did you have any thoughts on that at the time or were you involved in that discussion? >> i was not involved in that discussion senator and my thoughts continue to be focused

on the military and their role. >> good, i appreciate that and i wish the state department sometimes would follow that advice to. there are other problems that have been brought out here. we've been talking about libya and boko haram in northern nigeria, al-shabaab and somalia. other than those in the discussion on libya, what other areas do you see are taking place with really hot issues in africa other than the 3i just mentioned? >> sir, al qaeda and what's happening in northern mali and we have challenges in south sudan and central african republic. >> and in zimbabwe too. it's an interesting situation

because i remember for years, south sudan was one of the independence from sudan and they finally did it and they end up in a civil war. what's the status of that civil war right now? >> sir that civil war continues in both the leaders are being obstructionist people to limit the ability of that government to get back together again. >> they are supposedly, right now in ethiopia, i think it is, trying to have peace talks. you see anything productive going on there? >> first, the fact that the regional partners are pressing them diplomatically to come to a solution solution is a very good sign and i think unfortunately that has happened before and we did not see any progress but were hoping will be a breakthrough this time. >> one last area that i've been interested in for a long time, in 2005, i went up and i was with two senators, and that was the first time that the lra had really serviced in the minds of people of how serious that thing

was. he went as far south as congo and maybe western rwanda and then the african republic. just last week, one of his top people was done away with and over the years, we found others of his top people, but it seems he continues to go on even though the level of the tragedies is subsiding quite a bit. do you agree with that? could you give us -- >> we can send continue to pursue him with all means possible. >> okay, that's that's all you care about. thank you. >> thank you mr. chair. this is a follow-up to the chairman's opening statement when he talked about the micromanagement of operations. as you gentlemen are more than well aware looking at the levels

of warfare, strategic, operational, tactical, and how when you go down to that level, there's obviously obviously some civilian involvement but the further down the conventional wisdom is, the last civilian involvement there should be. in fact, one of the classic criticisms of the vietnam war and the conduct of that war is how is micromanage. pictures of president johnson in the white house and the oval office picking targets in vietnam and they were seen as a symbol of mismanagement for that war. yet, just to give you a couple quotes from articles in the paper that talks about what seems to be extreme levels of micromanagement's. i don't. i know these are not easy questions. the u.s. military campaigning in syria as being designed to allow

president obama to have a high level of personal control allowing the military to obtain sign ups first strikes in territory. similarly, former sec. gates recently said, when he was talking about the operational micromanagement, he said it drove me nuts to have staffers calling senior commanders out of field and second-guessing these commanders. when i was the deputy of national security adviser, if i tried to call a fueled commander going around the secretary of defense or the chairman of the joint chiefs, i would've had my head handed to me, probably personally by the president. does the white house approve targets in terms of our operations in syria and if so, is it helpful to have twentysomethings with no military experience on the nfc

staff second-guessing what our commanders are doing in the field? does that happen? in the wall street journal it said the president was going to approve military targets in syria. does that help our operational tempo? it seems like it's micromanaging, not even the operational level but down to the tactical. i think most of us think that is a huge mistake. >> i know it's not an easy question, do you care to comment on how you see the micromanagement, that could be helpful for us in terms of our oversight capability. >> the question as to whether or not the white house approves our strikes and pics art targets in syria, that is an easy answer and the the answer is no. that doesn't happen. >> they don't approve targets or strike packages or targets that were focus in syria on terms of

what were bombing? >> no that doesn't happen. we have a process where we generate the intelligence that goes into our target analysis and our target generation process. it's approved by military commanders. >> then related to that, when the iranians took our sailors prisoner, was there any involvement? how did that happen in terms of the are always we had sailors out there with 50 caliber machine guns that are pretty forceful weapons. was there any involvement there from higher political forces that talked about our wheeze and said we can't return fire? how did our sailors get captured by iranian forces? wide and pay return fire when they had the iranians come upon them?

>> to answer your question as to whether or not there was intervention from a higher level of the white house, in this particular incident, the answer is absolutely not. things unfolded rapidly with the sailors. investigation on that has just been completed. it has been forwarded up through channels to be reviewed by the cnl. it will take a bit more time for it to be finalized, but what you know and what has been reported with the sailors veering off course and had a mechanical issue that they addressed and when they did, they were taken by iranians. in terms of specifics on what happened between the iranians and the sailors, that will come out as a result of the investigation.

>> thank you. >> it's interesting in these hearings, how matters and how the question is asked. i think facts are stubborn things. for example, for 16 months, we did we did not bomb the fuel trucks that isis was using and generating millions and millions of dollars in oil revenues. it's a fact that it was a recommendation that we hit those oil trucks. it wasn't turned down, it was never approved. this is what is so infuriating to so many of us. so for 16 months, these fuel trucks went unmolested and god knows how many millions of dollars of fuel in revenue. sixteen months later we finally drop some leaflets and told the drivers to get out of their trucks. this hearing is adjourned.

[inaudible conversation]

[inaudible conversation] [inaudible conversation]

[inaudible conversation]

>> cspan's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. on wednesdays washington wednesdays "washington journal", our first guest is lori wallace. training us to talk about trade policy and campaign 2016. after our first guest, we will announce the 2016 student camp documentary contrast. then jc watts, republican from oklahoma and author of dig deep

discusses finding the strength within. he will discuss campaign 2016 and the impact this campaign is having on the republican party. >> every election cycle, we are reminded how important it is for citizens to be informed. >> this is a home for political junkies and a way to track the government as a happen. >> i think it's a great way to stay informed. >> there are a lot of cspan bands on the hill. my colleagues, they will say i saw you on c-span. >> there is so much more that c-span does to make sure people outside know what's going on inside. >> a cnn story on republican opposition to considering a supreme court nominee for president obama, senator john cornyn was saying that there is

some resemblance to a piñata. harry read responded to the statement on the senate floor. l >> mr. president, when i was a boy growing up, we didn't have people of color.he no one, ever. when i went away to high school, we did have people of color. not many, but certainly we had african-americans, we had hispanics and it wasn't until then when i went to high school that i had a wonderful spanish teacher. mrs. walker. i was able to visualize him. he lost his wife colina made such a difference in my life. he was a fine man and a great spanish teacher. it was the first time i ever heard anything about him.

piñata spread what is a piñata? it comes from mexico where they have a figure. it can be all kinds of things. let's say it's a horse. your blindfolded, young people, and they have a stick in their hand and they can't see so they know it's hung there, and they tried to find that piñata so they can hit it. presence come out of it and that piñata gets beaten until it starts dumping little presence on everyone's head. on so this article that came from what happened would be important for people to read.

it was dated yesterday. when asked about the nominee to the supreme court, the republican leader said there isy some resemblance to piñata. think about that., they don't know who the nominee is, they don't know anything about the person, but they are already have in their mind that they're going to beat this person like a piñata. these are his words, not mine. going to do all he said i think it will bear a resemblance to piñata. t think about that. they're going to do all they can to hurt this persons reputationa to to beat on them like a piñata. t they said there's no guarantee

that they will look as good as they did going in. think about that. think about that. say to the american people, a chance to meet somebody they don't know. refuse to have a committee hearing on somebody they don't know. refuse to have a vote on this floor, and now were told by theg assistant republican leader that it doesn't matter who it is. matter. doesn't matter what their education is, what their their experiences, they're going to beat them like a piñata. much. i think they've been listening to donald trump too much. they'r when you listen to this disgusting rhetoric, they're going to treat someone they don't even know like a piñata. o

now there acting like big tough people. they don't even know who this is. they haven't seen them yet.le working on if republicans continue down this path of destruction it's going to go in the wrong direction for decades to come. they have to get their senses back. ago that we lost mr. president scalia. our country is still dealing with the loss of this man whose contribution to our highest court and the health of our constitution cannot be overstated.

he understood that the actual words in the constitution were important. he famously said that if the american people realized that whalt suprem--that what the supd on occasion was to substitute their value judgments instead of interpreting the constitution's laws, rather, to constitute their value judgments for theirs and those of her to elected representatives, they might well feel that their values were superior and preferable to those of an unelected life-tenured member of the united states supreme court. that's an important reminder. justice scalia was known for expressing himself very colorfully and clearly, and he clearly was no fan of making it up as you go along. which, unfortunately, can happen when the supreme court chooses

to substitute their values for those of the american people rather than interpret the law and the constitution. justice scalia was also a key figure when it came to making sure that the court policed the check of executive power on legislative power. in other words, he believed in the separation of powers and checks and balances. i don't think it is an exaggeration to say that justice scalia helped resuscitate our constitutional principles and inspired the next generation of lawyers and legal scholars and judges to care deeply about our constitution, as originally written. because of justice scalia, our republic is stronger. now, i've listened and read of comments made by our friends comments made by our friends

now i've listened and read two comments from the friends across the aisle who are questioning our in tension to allow the american people to help choose the next justice of the supreme court by selecting the next president who will make that appointment. it is abundantly clear that the constitution gives the president the authority to make the nomination, but it is just asho clear that the constitution gives the united states senate the authority to determine how or whether to move forward with the nominee proposed by be a that's not to say it won't be a democratic president making that a point but it could be a republican president, we don't know at this early stage in the election.

we do know it would be improper to allow a lame-duck president to forever change the balance on the supreme court as he is heading out the door for perhapo the next 30 years. vacancy arisg not since 1932 has the senate in a presidential election year confirmed the supreme court nominee to a vacancy arriving in that same year. 1932. you have to go back even further to 1988 to find a nominee who is nominated and confirmed in a government like we have today. what they are actually insisting is that we do something that we haven't done for 130 years. of course the position is being taken by senate republicans is

not a new idea either. matter fact, the democratic leader in 2005 said this. this is when president george w. bush was president. nowhere in he said the duties of thee senator set forth in the u.s. constitution, nowhere in that document doesn't say the senate has a duty to give president a pony tease a vote. he was entirely correct. that that's what the constitution says. the president can nominate anybody he wants but the constitution does not say they are obligated to give a vote tod that nominee. i read some of the remarks of the democratic leader this morning and i just want to say he was critical of the storyed that included my name and

piñata. they suggest this was somehow a threat. i would be surprised if any person who actually aspired to be on the united states supreme court, a current judge or a legal scholar or lawyer would allow themselves to be used by this administration in making the nomination to the supreme court for a seat that will not be filled by the remainder president obama's term. knowing that they won't be confirmed and there's no guarantee that even if a member of the same political party is the president, there's no guarantee that same person will be renominated.onfirmation so, i like into the nomination process and confirmation process to piñata which is only to say

that the confirmation process around here has gotten pretty wv tough. i'm not going to be preached to by the democratic leader, by the the democrats have been responsible for filibustering judges, creating a new verb in the english language when they blocked robert bork's appointment to the supreme court. -- so they broke the rules for the sole purpose of packing the d.c. circuit court of appeals with like-minded judges so the president one have to worry about judges who might questione his overreaching authority on the constitution by issuing executive orders or circumventing the role of congress. this is a playbook that has been written by our colleagues across

the hall. do they expect us to operate by a different set of rules than they themselves advocated for? in 2007, this is 18 months before 18 months before president george w. bush left office. the senator from new york set for the rest of this president's term, 18 months, we should reverse the presumption of confirmation. i don't really know what he's talking about. i guess he's assuming when the president does nominate supreme court justice there could be deference. we haven't seen much of that lately. he goes on to say that we should recommend that we should not confirm a supreme court nominees except for extraordinary circumstances. essentially what senator schumer was saying was 18 months before

president george w. bush left office, if if there was a vacancy created, they would not they would presume not to confirm that nominee. of course we know vice presidenf biden, back in 1992, when he was chairman of the senate judiciary committee, he said the senate judiciary committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political campaign season is over. thank you. i >> this is what joe biden said in 1992. i see the distinguished chairman of the judiciary committee here on the floor when i want to tell him how much i appreciate his

collectively to steadfastness in supporting the decision that we have made collectively to allow the voters in november to choose the next president a voice and who is actually nominated to fill this important vacancy. i wasn't in the room when chairman grassley and majoritysi leader mcconnell were there with the vice president and the reid president, senator leahy, theuen came raking member and harry read, the democratic leader, but i but i heard the question came up, how can you do this, how can you not allow president obama to fill this vacancy. i heard it was pointed out to the president, to the viceocratc president, to the ranking member and to the democratic leader that they were the ones who filibustered judicial nominees by republican president.

they are the ones who created this environment in which what used to be routine confirmation hearings have become so polarized. again, it would be foolish of us, i believe to say this is the policies that democrats will employ but somehow to act aghaso or surprised when we would say if the rules are going to apply to you like this, then they are to apply when republicans aren't in the majority and we have a democratic president. so now at the end of a lame-ducl democratic president's time, all, all three of these v individuals, the race president the democratic leader senatorea, sena reid, senator schumer, all three of them are quick to criticize

republicans on the judiciary committee insisting that different principles ought to apply. that's hypocritical. it's the height of hypocrisy saying one set of rules apply to us and a different set apply to you. this is more than just about hypocrisy. this is about an important principle. decision and it's important to allow the voters in choosing an ex-president of the united states to make that decision and make sure their voices heard rather than just 100 members of the senate. i don't know why that should be objectionable.y it's pretty clear to me, it's i absolutely clear to me that republicans stand firmly behind the idea that the people should have a say in this critical issue when they vote in november because there is a lot at stake here, a lot. vacancy next depending on who ultimately bills this vacancy next year it

could tip the ideological years. and direction for a generation. justice scalia served for 30 years.. it does fundamentally reshape the society in the process. or given president obama's previous supreme court nominees, the question before the american people is whether or not they want someone with the same or similar ideology to dramatically change the current balance on the supreme court. the same if president obama were allowed to nominate someone who were confirmed, it would for generations change the ideological balance of the united states spring court. you have to wonder, whether the what real goal, much like it was

when the nuclear option was invoked and we saw nominees to the district of columbia court of appeals, which some people call the second most important court in the nation when there was literally a packing of nominees on that port because they wanted to tip the ideological balance of the court of appeals. most of the important legal decisions made which ultimately go to the united states supreme court go to that court. i have no doubt in my mind that the president and his allies wanted somebody who was going to rubberstamp the president's action. this court, with justice scalia, i think is rebuked the president on numerous occasions when he overreached his authority. for example, on recess appointment. we saw an injunction granted on immigration.

the court often led by justice scalia has held strong when the president tried to grab powerup away from congress and the american people. at this critical juncture, the american people should have it voice in deciding who selects the next justice of the supreme court. i am my colleagues are absolutely committed to making sure they have that voice. >> mr. president, i yield the floor. >> funeral services for former first lady nancy reagan will be held in seimei california. watch our live coverage at 2:00 p.m. eastern time on c-span.

>> when i tune into it on the weekends, usually it's after sharing new releases. >> watching the nonfiction authors on book tv is the best television for serious readers. >> on c-span, they can they can have a longer conversation and delve into their subject. book tv weekend. they bring you author after author after author. i love book tv and i'm a c-span fan. >> the annual plan from the white house includes $50 billion for homeland security activities mostly in the department of homeland security. that would be 11.5% .5% increase over 2016 spending. homeland security secretary talks about his department's budget at a hearing of the homeland security and governmental affairs. he answered questions about anti-terrorism and the treatment of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border. this is two hours.

>> good morning this hearing is called to order. let me thank secretary jay johnson for coming before the committee. i know you've done this a few times. i know you have also did a little bit earlier than you wanted to. i want to thank you for that. thank you for your service. i can imagine this is a real think filled position. it's a serious responsibility. i know you are serious individual and trying to do everything you can't keep this nation safe and secure. i really do appreciate your efforts. it's a difficult agency in a difficult department. it's taking some time to do it, but i think you've brought the right approach to the job. i appreciate your efforts.

for our own part here, i want to thank members of the committee for coming here. it's important for the committee. when i became chairman and sat down with the former chairman and my wing man, the first thing we did, because my business background, i thought it was very helpful to have a mission statement. we developed a mission statement for the committee. it's it's pretty simple, to enhance the economic security of america. you can separate those two. they go hand-in-hand. based on that, on the homeland security side of the committee, we established five priorities. nothing really, they're all top priorities, we've held 14 hearings on border security. we've taken trips down the border to central america. the border is not secure. cyber security. as keith alexanders that it's the greatest transfer of wealth

in history, these cyber attacks. this committee is working to pass the cyber security enhancement act. we have that passed into law. that was the first that. it's not a fantasy, it's a first step. third priority, infrastructure including our electrical grid. i'm pretty sure ted koppel has written a book called lights out talking about the vulnerabilities involved in that. that's something we need to do more work on. the fourth priority, what can we do as a committee, as federal government to counter islamic terrorists and other violent extremist? the fifth part priority is commit this committee to do everything we can to assist the secretary as well as james comey and rasmussen in succeeding their mission of keeping this nation safe. what this hearing is all about is the budget hearing. this is providing the funds in

what i would consider a top priority of government. i want to really have this hearing and be focusing on those threats and what we can do to keep this safe and secure so america can be prosperous. national security and economic security go hand-in-hand. so i do ask that my written statement be entered into the record. thank you for coming here and thank you for your service. >> thank you mr. chairman. it's great to see you. i want to echo the chairman's comments on thinking you for your leadership. the leadership team is here and we've had a chance to spend time with them and we are grateful for their service and the 220 people we have of the department of homeland security. thank you for joining us today. as you know the president's

request a little over $40 billion, 40.6 to be exact in discretionary funding for dhs. it's for dhs. it's roughly a 1% decrease in the budget compared to last year. while i am pleased that many of these items are funded i do have several questions about the proposals and the impact it may have on the department and our ability to do our collective jobs. i understand the need to do more with less to bring down our nation's deficit and debt. making additional progress is critical for the well-being of our nation and our economy. while doing so, we also need to make sure that the department has the funds it needs to keep the american people safe against

a constantly evolving and growing threat that we face as a nation. i'm concerned by the proposal to cut funding for several homeland security grants and some grants would be cut by as much as 45%. these funds are vital to helping our communities better prepare for disasters and terrorist attacks. in boston for example, we already talked about critical grants in preparing the community to respond like they did for the boston bombing. i know raising these fees is not always popular with some of the congress but i also felt that if something is worth having, it is worth paying for. that is why i support a reasonable fee increase that will update us and help us carry out the mission. there will be roughly $900 million hold in the budget for tsa. $900 million. that is deeply concerning. i hope we all come together and find a sensible solution to this challenge. despite these areas of concern, there are a number of positive

items included in this budget. i mention a few of them. for example, there is a sizable investment, over $1 billion dollars in cyber security. there's a 30% increase over last year for the budget. this will help the department carry out several that they have helped pass over the years. for instance, the budget request includes needed increase in cyber security tools to secure our federal government. they're also planning for additional personnel. the proposed budget also continues our recent investments in border security. i was particularly pleased to see increase in funding for force multipliers.

there's also pleased to see the budget request continue to make countering violent extremism high priority. last month this committee marked up my legislation i look forward to working with you mr. secretary and director of the office as well as their colleagues in the senate. finally i'm encouraged to see funding for the ongoing consolidation. completing this project will save taxpayers more than $700 million over the next 30 years by cutting down the number we used to hose dhs personnel. i'll close by recognizing that your leadership along with that of your deputy and the emphasis of your senior staff, some of whom are here today and over 200 ranking filed dhs employees in

support of your unity of efforts and initiatives, along with members of our committee staff, we look forward to learning more and today about how we can work together to ensure your department has the tools, the resources, the authorities it needs to work even more effectively. thank you for joining us today. we look forward to your testimony on our conversation. >> thank you. it is the tradition of this committee to be sworn in so please rise and raise right hand. do you's where the testimony will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. >> i do. >> you may be seated. >> sec. jay johnson is the fourth secretary of the homeland scaredy. prior to joining dhs he served as general counsel for the department of defense. when he was part of the senior

management team he led more than 10,000 military military and civilian lawyers across the department. >> every time i hear that i think i need to rewrite that bio. people think it's more impressive that i ran an organization of 10,000 lawyers lawyers versus an organization of 200,000 people. mr. chairman, ambers of the committee, you have my written statement. this year's budget permission, as as i think senator carper has accurately outlined reflects hard and difficult choices to fit within the budget caps. because we had to make choices there are some things i wish we could've funded at higher levels that we do not in this budget request. let me say that i appreciate very much the true partnership

that i think we've had it dhs with the members of this committee. what i believed to be a very effective bipartisan working relationship with members of this committee since i've been secretary, i think together together we have accomplished a lot. going back to even before i was confirmed and i began courtesy calls with members of this committee, i took to heart the message i received from you about the importance of management reform. reforming the way in which our department does business. overall, my goal is secretary for the remanding 319 days i'm in office is to leave the department of homeland security in a better place than i found it. but that means is improving the efficiency and the effectiveness by which we deliver homeland security to the american public.

the senate piece for that, as you know has been our unity of effort initiative. under which we have established joint tax forces for border security on the southwest and southeast borders, we have ecstatic us to joint requirement of counsel to improve our acquisition and efficiency. we have beefed up our office of immigration statistics, we are, as many of you know developing better metrics for evaluating and measuring border security and total attempts across the border initiative that we started called border stat. i've appreciated the advice and input i've received from this committee in this regard we have initiated something called the data framework initiative to better integrate eta that we collect within the department so the data itself is not so typed and is effectively utilized against all our databases.

this committee can help us. through the authorization of a number of activities, so they are cemented into law and institutionalized and go beyond my job is secretary, the time i have a secretary, i appreciate the effort and i've reviewed the legislative language of this committee to institutionalize our joint task forces, our joint requirement counsel, joint duty and to elevate the office of policy within dhs to the undersecretary level and to elevate the importance of that office of policy which i think is in indispensable, thank you senators for passing out of this committee legislation to specifically authorize our office for community partnerships which spearhead our efforts. we also believe it is important

to consolidate our dnd oh and health fair functions, more effectively and efficiently around our office which is impending legislation right now. i also support the restructuring of the national protection and programs dir. into a more streamlined and effective and operational citizen of cyber security and infrastructure protection agency. i know we have been working effectively with your staff on authorizing a number of these things and i fully support this effort and hope that we can continue to work down this path in the future. thank you very much and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you mr. secretary.

i want to go right to community partnerships because we just mentioned that in a briefing with fbi officials, i was struck by one of the comments that when officials go into communities and talking about potentially having youth that might be radicalized, often members of the community think we have perfect information, that we know exactly who might be programmatic ligation. nothing could be further from the truth. >> could you speak a little in terms of what you're trying to do an engagement? >> thank you for the question. given the nature of the problem and the nature of the current threat, which in the homeland includes terrorist inspired attacks, law enforcement, the u.s. government is not always in a position to know about someone who is self radicalizing. it is the case, however that in

almost every instance i can think of self radicalized actors, somebody close to that person was in a position to know. so, since i've been secretary, i have put a top priority on our efforts that are fundamental to the homeland security mission. so goal number one, build bridges with communities including muslim communities. i have personally traveled to almost every metropolitan area that has a significant muslim population. when i go, i want to be sure that state and local law-enforcement is with me. simply building bridges with these communities to say, help us help you. if you see something, say something. beyond that, the mandate that partnership is to engage the tech sector so the tech sector helps communities amplify the

counter message to isil and engage philanthropy or it how can philanthropy help and support community activities. i'm pleased that in this years budget we we can have money for our efforts and in the sears budget we also have requested money for rcd efforts. these are my three goals for our efforts and i believe they are as important as any other homeland security mission, given the nature of the threats we face. >> thank you. i appreciate your efforts. one of the most important things we can do is engage those communities in positive ways. i do have to bring up, we went on the border and were incredibly impressed of what your department did in 2014 addressing the crisis. we have got more efficient at

apprehending, processing and dispersing, the depredations of some of these children that have been in the process and disperse and we have lost track of them. i want to talk but the numbers. through january, we have had 16438 unaccompanied children from central america. that compares to 11034 in fy 2014. if we just did the math on that and pro rate that, in 2014 we had 51000 on accompanied in this was crisis year. if we have maintain this pace we will have 70000. we don't have the 2014 number so that would be my first question. how many unaccompanied children were apprehended and processed and dispersed in february?

>> well i want to compare numbers. >> branch on the southwest border. the 2nd lowest number since 1982. in the fall in october, november, december we saw an increase in uic's and a number was 60700 75. in january the number went down by more than half. after.

>> the chart in terms of total by fiscal year. >> it went down to 28,000, but in the 1st four months if he and utilize the numbers we would be up to 77,000 per fiscal year 2016. >> we saw significant drop off to 3,111. february 2163113 in terms of you acs. the march number so far, only seminary days in the march much of the same paces february, slightly higher. has everyone knows, in early january we began a series of public concerted efforts in interior enforcement the

focus on families. we also focus on just about every other population that is in the country those who came into the country as children or adults and those people are in removal proceedings. the total number of those sent back to central america is just over 28,000. the total number sent back either by cbp this fiscal year to mexico's around 128,000. as a pretty significant numbers. so we are sending a very public message you do not have a valid claim for asylum and have been ordered

deported by immigration court. i have been public about that. >> again, in february 2014 2014 at did not have the numbers to compare. 3400 unaccompanied children from central america. in february of 2016 about 3100. >> the february 2014 number is 4,840. >> border metrics. >> am happy to share this. >> and we will take a look at that. we are pretty darn close, and you and utilize where we are. looking at 77,000 this year versus 51,000 and 2015. we can massage the numbers little bit. >> i don't think that's accurate. >> what do you have year to date?

>> year to date uic, 23,553. >> up to 28,000 already. >> twenty-three. >> so that's just four months. >> five months. >> through five months. still at a pretty high pace. >> the numbers are high, definitely. but they are -- i have not done the math and i'm not sure there at the same february 14 pace. i'm happy to share these. >> 2014 was a crisis. right now we are running ahead of 2014 levels. >> i don't believe that's true. >> we will compare notes. i have run out of time. >> i just ran the numbers quickly.

twenty-four thousand fifteenth months equating to an annual number that holds for the next seven months, looking at about 57,000. >> where the difference may be is you are looking at central america numbers and i'm looking at the total numbers. >> okay. >> let's stick with central america for a moment. i applaud the administration we need to invest not just in border patrol but invest in fixed wing aircraft, unmanned aircraft, address helicopters, motion detectors, all of the above. the administration's budget calls for a very small reduction, 300 out of every

21 or 22,000 border patrol officers. a significant investment in technology that will enable those border patrol officers to be more effective. i applaud that. with respect to central america and the flow of unaccompanied children and families, they are not coming from mexico. we know mexico. we know now there are more mexicans going back into mexico from the us than coming. a quarter of a trillion dollars to strengthen our border with mexico. we spent less than 1 percent all these folks trying to get out to make it to our country.

we have been down there, and they lack hope, economic opportunity, rampant violence. it is situation we are complicit with because we buy drugs. they flow through the countries. listen money and guns down to the countries make life miserable. they want to leave and come here. we need -- is usually important. they have come up with their own plan. there are successful in turning columbia around. >> the ability to govern. security, rule of law, economic development. turnover tax dollars to those governments to focus.

imust raise their own money. we provide funding the goes through our own efforts to the nonprofit organization. the administration's proposal comeau we will do that. the unaccompanied minors. the 1st three months of the fiscal year were concerning. he sent a message. maybe that is been received. i want to focus the last minute or two on the impact of dhs fees and their impact on the department of homeland security and the public. the cvp and tsa collect what will be the impact on the average american if those

fees are increased slightly. it will be the impact on the department of homeland security, and if we do not support the fee increases that the administration is requested. >> let me begin by saying that the budget request, as i said before, does reflect our choices. part of our request is a request for authorization of the fee increase with respect to air passengers in the airline fee increase. the proposed increase would restore revenue fees from the airlines. i believe the amount is 470 million dollars. >> about a dollar ticket. >> that's for the airline. >> the passenger fee

proposed increase is $5.60 to $6.60. that is a dollar increase. the underlying rationale for the proposed fee increases that a goes to pay for aviation security. in border entry and airports. and that those who use the system as opposed to those taxpayers generally should help a little more and paying for those things and services for aviation security. my recollection is that these two proposals to generate about 900 million in revenue for the department. these are not increased are going to have a problem finding where to pay for aviation security. aviation security right now given the world environment in my judgment is critical for the congress to support. i was pleased by this year's budget and next year's budget request. we have held the line on

tso's. we are not reducing them anymore. the administrator and ii are making a number of investments in aviation security. we need help to pay for that. right now i believe aviation security is critical given the world situation. >> i agree. >> thank you so much. >> senator portman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary, good to have you before the committee. if i could, i want to get some rapid responses to issues. first is an issue we are dealing with right now, this epidemic of prescription drug and heroin addiction overdoses. we understand this now is primarily coming from mexico. we had testimony director of

public safety. while means to infiltrate the country. can you give us a sense of what we could be doing better to interdict these drugs? and specifically tell us what percent of the heroin coming in is apprehended and stopped at the border and what percent is coming into our communities? >> a couplea couple of things. most of the heroin that is brought into the country is over land, not by sea. the coast guard is focused on this, but most of it is smuggled by land. i do know that the percentage of heroin smuggled, interdict and by cbp that was smuggled, those numbers,, those numbers, the volume has been going up between last year and the

year before my going up because of our sustained enhanced efforts. this is an effort that our joint task forces have undertaken, an effort that cbp has undertaken in an effort that homeland security has undertaken as well. i do not have an estimate of what percentages interdicted versus what percentage gets through. if we have that number i will see if i can provide it for you. >> the number you hear commonly is nine out of ten. the people we represent are getting through. >> the volume of seizures has been going up lately. >> i would love to follow up with you and figure out how we can do a better job. this legislation focuses more on prevention, treatment, recovery.

one of the issues is how you stem the flow and increase the price because one of the issues is prescription drugs are being replaced by heroin because the prices are so low. on unaccompanied children issues they held a hearing. this is where unaccompanied children come in. itin. it looks like the numbers will be high again this year. made some progress over the last couple of months. kids and attention. with hhs, you don't detain them. hhs does and provides children to adults cosponsors. they go to the sponsors before they can come to an immigration hearing. what we found out is, some of these children were placed not with sponsor superfamily members our surrogates but actual traffickers. in cases of ohio we had kids from guatemala who ended up

on a farm being exploited. these traffickers got the kids from the department of health and human services. my question, are you aware and are you working to come up with a way to implement legislation to prohibit children from being placed with traffickers? >> i am aware of these unfortunate situations. i know the secretary is focused on the placement of the children. it is a legal obligation. together we have been working on ensuring adequate placement consistent with the law. >> you have a role here, as you know. in our report we indicated that they can work to address this issue. the issue of social media and terrorism.

we saw with regard to the san bernardino attacks that the female shooter was on social media talking about her agenda. can you tell us briefly what you are doing to be sure that social media is something that is looked at as people are screened. >> as the fbi director has commented, her social media was not public prior to her entry to the united states. notwithstanding that we have enhanced our use of social media to have a number of pilot programs going on now. there was a social media task force to give a report to me. i directed the department to go further in our use of

social media. we use it now for something like 30 different intelligence purposes but we are enhancing the use of social media in connection with immigration benefits for refugee betting and k-1 review. >> senator. >> thank you. you and your team need to be commended. i want to talk a little bit. we visited outside the door. there is a recommendation to reduce it. i hope you continue to take public input with the folks that live in the region. i think from a security and economic standpoint i know you will look at both. it is important. as we tried to continue to

grow trade with canada it is very, very important we take a look from that perspective. we will follow up off-line. as long as tsa and fees were brought up i want to talk just a little bit about fall body scanners. in front of our committee. we have a number in montana. there is a percentage of folks who do not have the full body scanners available. is that because of lack of money? >> i am not sure whether it is lack of money for that we believe some other technology is better. i do know that we are doubling down on our use of technology at airports for

aviation security and reaction to the ig test results last summer. give thegive the administrator a very aggressive ten-point plan to reevaluate technology. >> i would just say i agree with you. i can tell you that in a lot of these, they are big airports but also smaller. i think it is critically important that they have the same -- that we put forth the same effort of security. if you could look after that i would appreciate it. i want also talk about community partnerships. proposing preparedness grants. it is pretty steep. can you tell me why you are

doing it this year, last year there were held pretty harmless. >> i support the president's budget. such things as active shooter training and critically important. and often i wonder if the administration does not cut programs figuring we will bump them up. and i hope that is not the case. we are going to have to do something about that because i feel the same as you.

according to the 2017 budget request dhs is a target of 300 fewer preparations. tell me -- that is on the northern border. tell me how that is going to work. quite frankly, i thought you were undermanned. >> if we are going to cut an additional 300 it looks to me like we are putting something at risk. >> well, i believe that the allocation that you see reflects a judgment about where the risk is and where the vulnerabilities are. as you know, we got a pretty active southern border right now. i also know that we are not

doing is get a job as i would like to see is to. hiring up to levels of congress has authorized and appropriated in the commission of cvp has aggressively taken steps to recruit, to get people through the vetting process. in terms of the allocation at the northern border it is something that i insist that we look carefully at every year we make these judgments, but i believe the probably reflects a judgment about where the vulnerabilities and needs are. >> ii just think that what we are talking about drugs across the border they don't all come across the southern border. if we have a northern border problem with hiring there are things we can do. places are pretty rural. you will get somebody from

scobee to do that. it is important that we start building bridges with a university systems because they can help you out a lot. with that, i will leave you with these words, don't forget about the border. it is damn important. nowhere the weakest link is. >> senator. >> thank you. i want to thank you. the 1st question relates to a question that senator tester just asked with regard to state grant programs, fema preparedness grant programs. i have a strong concern about the proposed cuts and their impact and potential impact in the state of wisconsin.

the homeland security grant program, which is i think budgeted at $267 million less than the fiscal year 2016 enacted level, this funding has been critical in my home state. recently these funds have been -- have provided equipment and training to our fusion center in milwaukee which i might just add were a terrorist attack was ported a couple of months back. ask a question about that. before you answer put an additional question related to the preparedness program. i would like to here the justification and are there other efforts that we should be aware of the may supplement the critical work of the programs? switching to the cuts in the fema preparedness program,

particularly is 63 percent cut to the national domestic preparedness consortium, i also want to point out the impact in the state of wisconsin there. the transportation technology center uses funding for its crude oil by rail program. over the past five or so years wisconsin as seen a huge escalation in the number of oil trains that are coming through and because of this is important that our 1st responders have the opportunity to receive training in the horrible instance of train derailment. we have had several. we have not seen any explosion. can you explain why the

president's request was more than $60 million less than fiscal year 2016? into what extent does dhs prioritize funding for proactive programs that prepare local 1st responders to respond to natural or human disasters? >> well, let me begin with the last part of your question 1st. we placed top priority on programs that proactively get at preparedness, prevention which is why at various different levels we are funding state and local law enforcement, 1st responders, emergency responders, paramedic

equipment, having said that is a remark before, this budget does reflect our choices. the budget deal that was made by congress and the president for 2016 and 2017 provides for greater levels in 2016 than a dozen 2017. regrettably the proposal you receive has been cut in the various different grants. congress will ultimately do what you believe is necessary and appropriate by way of funding, but that is where we believe we needed to make some reductions. i do believe these grants are important. >> i will stop you there.

we will certainly be following up on that. last november i wrote a letter along with a congressman from my state dribbling about an issue at the austin strobl international airport in green bay. this airport, which is a port of entry has hosted the cbp green bay port office for over 20 years. in july 2011 cbp informed the airport that the current port office did not meet its needs and that the general aviation facility would be necessary for cbp to remain at the airport. the airport subsequently worked with cbp to construct a general aviation facility and spent over $3 million to meet cbp specifications. unfortunately in july of last year cbp reversed

course and informed the airport it would no longer occupy the facility. let me emphasize that this was after the airport pay more than 3 million fund construction of the facility. this was after the airport worked with the cbp on the design and after cbp signed off on the facility. this is unacceptable. as i make clear my letter there are no laws or rules that we can find the prevent cbp from occupying the general aviation facility, so it has been over four months since we wrote that letter and i raised the issue with the commissioner. i want to ask you today and raise this to your attention , we will you commit to looking into the issue and responding to my constituents concerns?

>> i am aware of the issue and i'm looking into it and will ensure you receive a prompt response. >> when can i expect that? >> how about within the week. >> i would be great. >> out don't know what the statuses, but i will ensure you get it within the week. >> thank you. the great work that you do on behalf of the people of the country. i want to reiterate what was began, those of us on the northern border believe we are entitled to a level of protection and border security that we do not always see. we measure the positions that your folks have already said, this is what we need. recognizing the challenges and recruitment.

i want to reiterate the absolute critical importance of getting more attention to the northern border. with that said, couple of things. one of the things i frequently hear from folks on the southern border is that there is not really a plan. and that there is not a sense of coordination. what is your response to that? >> two years ago we created joint task forces for the southern border. where a joint task force dir.director is responsible for coordinating all of the dhs assets and resources devoted toward border security in the southwest and southeast. partpart of that is that every year they have to submit a plan for border security which includes i

just people but other prohibited items, illegal narcotics and so forth. we do have strategic plans for how we intend to secure the border. >> why do you think other law enforcement agencies believe there is an overall strategic plan? >> am not sure. the communication seems to be a gap in what you say you have. the people who work for your agency actually understand what that is.

as we are talking about movement of narcotics, movement of marijuana, we all agree it's basically carried across. one of the concerns i have is that there is typically being tunneled across. live in talking about technologies. do you believe you have a tunnel detection strategy and are you deploying the best equipment? if you can't answer that in open session it would be good to do some kind of secure briefing. >> we have a tunnel detection capability and a focused effort. >> right. do you believe there has been enough allocated to that kind of technology? >> within the confines of

the caps we have to live with, yes. i could always use more in the absence of budget restraints. >> i am interested. wewe have an opportunity to see some of this in israel. i am interested in what kind of tunnel detection you have , whether we are doing -- supplying the number of resources that reflect our concern. i would just like to talk about 1st responder grants. whether is trains, in fact terrorism activity and yet we see a decrease in that kind of funding for 1st responders. there going to run out of time. on the front line.

there is not enough federal agents, federal personnel to protect the country. asking a minimal amount of investment and help secure that mission. and the last place we should be cutting is in my opinion 1st responders whether it is a train for it is responding to terrorism and being prepared to respond. but we had a high-profile incident of a train exploding, the single thing that he received. it is the plate every day. let's not lose sight of our partnerships with the local folks. >> really complement you on your work and dedication.

i appreciate your leadership. happy that the committee has past two bipartisan bills and made it a priority. past authorization. grateful to leadership in helping us to me come together. i am pleased to see the funding in this bill, really becoming a part of the president's budget. i seem to see it that way. 10 million in grant funds and 39 million for activities targeted at preventing and preparing for responding to complex coordinated terrorist attacks. my concern with the language is that the majority of the money will be spent on

preparing for law enforcement response. intended to create partnerships for community groups to do work to prevent radicalization before law enforcement gets involved. it seems as though the funding is not targeted toward the idea of cbe in the 1st place. how do you envision this being spent and how can we ensure that we are bolstering some of the efforts we are already starting to see signs that it can be fruitful as opposed to the law enforcement response ignoring community organizations, universities, educators, tech folks, and others. >> the language you read is for 16. >> right. >> to be candid i have the same reaction.

upon closer examination 39 million of that is for terrorist attack preparedness which is important. but it leaves just 10 million for our cbe efforts. as i explained, it is a huge priority. one of the things i heard repeatedly is we need resources, help supporting our efforts at the local level. my recollection from the language you read is that there was someone in their they give me some flexibility. >> and i will say, you and i both know budgets reflect priorities. the investment being made and what i found from being a local leader and you know this better than i that creating partnerships and

relationships is incredibly valued not just in cbe efforts but also in helping to protect radicalization in the 1st place. one thing i want to say is i'm curious if your folks give back to me, concerns from the muslim community that all this is focused on the muslim community. hate groups that are perpetrated violence and terrorist activities. activities. i am hoping some of this gets focus they're as well. just quick being that you and i have this kinship in the level of the state of new jersey, i just want to bring to your attention even though you spent so much of your time here. i need you to comment on something i get so much anger and frustration and

people the liver metropolitan area which is the lines of newark airport which are just outrageous. the holiday season, it was reported that we had such long lines and led to delays exceeding our. about 200 passengers missing a flight. i believe we have got to do something to create more efficiencies screaming at me on social media and the like. what flexibility you have on focusing on where the problem is. i find other airports in the region, just don't see it as bad as what people are experiencing. we now spring and summer travel season is approaching. can we do something to

alleviate this problem. >> a couple of things. 1st, part of the increase in wait times due to increased volume of air travel. part of it is also do to the emphasis that the administrator has put on airports group of those no longer line. join tsa pre- check for the shoreline. with respect the budget is the case that in 16 and 17 we have reversed a steady decrease in the number of tso's for this reason, so this budget submission reflects holding steady with

an emphasis on technology. that way we are not focused solely on risk-based strategies that lead to a decrease in personnel. we have reversed the trend to deal with wait times and the like. >> can someone get back to me, i understand the pre- check morning, but you tell people to show up an hour before there flight it seems like we should be telling them to. get back to me with a plan to reduce wait times. >> a lot of it depends on whether you are terminally or terminal c. >> understood. >> right. >> sen.senator peters. >> thank you. i want to thank secretary johnson for your testimony. i also want to thank you for your recent visit to michigan to meet with members of the arab-american muslim community.

they expressed a number of issues come out and talk directly and listen to the community and alec forward to working with you and your staff. >> i would like to discuss. absolutely critical to our nation's trading commerce. in terms of freight measured by the value of shipments going through the ports of entry, detroit and port huron ranked two and three

in the country respectively. and i know you know that firsthand as well. i appreciate the earlier visit. happening at the border crossings. last year the committee hearing he testified that the case for expanding customs capability at the blue water bridge was clearly there. customs and border commission responded that the blue water bridge remains a top priority. the delay in the modernization of the customs plaza has become a burden for the city of port huron and st. clair county generally which continues to lose out on potential revenue has the land that

was required for the expansion. over a hundred properties were demolished to prepare for the expansion. as a large area of vacant land which does not do much for the tax base. there are other issues that must be dealt with glenn new revenue would help offset that, not to mention again very critical for our nation. obviously efficient border crossings will be critical as an economic issue given the candidate is the top export destination for 35 states nearly 9 million us jobs depend on trade and investment. as a priority in the beyond

action. that'saction. that's why i'm disappointed the project is not received funding so far. you have heard those concerns before. there is a need. the project is ready to go. i hope if you could explain why the department did not include funding for the blue water bridge. >> senator, as you noted, i have beeni have been to the blue water bridge crossing the back of the tractor-trailers myself. and as i said last year, i think the cases there. i can report to you that after projects currently underway or soon to be under construction, the expansion of the customs capability of the blue water bridge is the highest priority. as i said, i think the cases there. it isit is not just a top priority but the highest

priority on the list. >> any sort of timeline. >> i don't have one sitting here but i'm sure customs and border protection can give you that. perhaps to accelerate. it is my understanding some of these alternative financing projects they even speed that up. concur that might be another way. >> in my experience great minds can think of creative ways to come together and solve problems. >> public-private partnerships unlike. >> i appreciate that it has gone from a high priority to the highest priority. >> if it is on paper it must be true.

>> i personally also believe >> thank you, chairman, mr. secretary. you have an important job. i wanted to follow-up with the senators talked about in the northern border. actually, this committee passed a bill called the northern border security review act essentially making an assessment of the current state of the border and to me that makes sense as we look at resources. >> it sounds right. >> thank you. i appreciate the chairman getting that out. i also wanted to follow up on the questions that the senator asked you about the heroin interdiction and it would be helpful for us to

understand what has been the trend because of the committees, the testimony i have heard is that we have seen a significant increase in production of maryland. the southern border and amateurs interdicted. new hampshire, the price on our street is so cheap. what we are doing on the streets and obviously to protect people. i wanted to ask you about the issue of fentanyl. as much as 50 times more powerful and it is a huge driver.

>> heroin and heroin seizures over 14. fictional i don't have off and. >> that would be excellent. we have seen that combination. someone i know in recovery from an amazing young man described send -- fentanyl has a serial killer. understand the numbers and whether those of increased as well as heroin. i also wanted to follow up. i understand youunderstand you just came back from a trip from turkey. the issue of the foreign fighter flow to get your perspective on where we stand with regard to the foreign fighter flow with respect to isi s and in addition to that recently before the senate armed services committee we had

gen. breedlovegeneral breedlove who i am sure you know, european commander come before our committee and i asked him about the refugee issue and he told me that he is concerned that criminality, terrorists command returning foreign fighters are clearly a daily part of the refugee flow. give me an update on what you see happening and how much he sees this is one of their strategies, how much is this from homeland security perspective something you are focusing on? >> all good questions. i was in turkey last week and met with my counterpart. the minister of interior. and we are making good progress in terms of information sharing with the turkish government signed

several in the use of the government to enhance information sharing both with respect to cargo inspection and people. and we agree to further discussions and further areas that i would be happy to brief you are in private come although i think it was a very productive visit. we know from prior experiences that members have left the area posing as refugees. that is a fact. in terms of -- so i agree with the comments insofar as the worldwide refugee problem is something that poses a risk in terms of what is trying to be done. in terms of refugee

resettlement in the us, as i am sure you know, we have a thorough, multilayered process before someone is resettled. it takes something like 18 to 24 months to complete and we recently added further enhancements to the security of the process. which will most likely had to delays but we are also adding resources and personnel to satisfy our undertaking. we have a thorough process and are adding more and are always looking at whether more is necessary in terms of our own refugee betting. >> do you think that process can eliminate all risk? >> the way i like to say it is that in a free and open and democratic society that

has a tradition of humanitarian goodwill and obligations when it comes to refugees and immigration heritage, we should welcome with open arms people who are in need for vulnerable but we should do so carefully. and i believe -- i think the american people understand that in a free and open society we cannot erase all risk. police should do our best of security while maintaining a values. >> thank you, secretary johnson. to me this is really command as i look to live fully support ensuring that we are country, vibrant country of immigrants, something i have been supportive of including productive immigration reform and border security. but i respectfully disagree

with you on the risk factors. risk and strategy to actually try to purposefully infiltrate the overflow of refugees. thank you for your work and all those that serve underneath you. we all travel so much and i am appreciative of those who serve underneath you because they do important work for the nation. >> thank you, mr. chair, secretary for being with us and i just want to mention that i do certainly appreciate the work that you and your employees have done i think you provide such a valuable service to all of us. i would like to take a minute to discuss an issue that has arisen but it is affecting our levied districts across the missouri river as it relates to accreditation under the national flood insurance

program and as you may no, accreditation and certification of river levee is desirable for communities and property near the river because it ultimately affects the affordability of their flood insurance rates, , and i understand the involvement in this process is to review and accept certification provided by a party it is seeking accreditation on levee model flood insurance rate map as providing 100 your protection, but the cost of the certification is really creating havoc for a number of these communities in my state. so my questions on this is, number one, in the eyes of fema how is a rural community with almost no taxpayers in my particular area itself we have just a handful of families that

live in farm in these levied districts, and they are supposed to pay for at a minimum a million-dollar evaluation by a professional engineer. this is not good news for a number of these families command i don't know how they can reasonably accomplish accreditation when it is so costly. so i'm not sure if you have ideas on how these communities can pay and number two, why is it fema has different levee certification standards than the army corps of engineers when it comes to reviewing the effectiveness of the levee? ..