world as it is. the idea that each terrorist bomb before they can be denied a gun that has to be done in three days who would think that? no one except a handful of our colleagues and let me say one other thing the so-called proposal was even worse in addition to the problems that i mentioned it also forces the government to rebuild the terror watchlist every person has to go to the fisa court we will be here for decades. du no food drafts these proposals were passed to give the stamp of approval? the nra. we are here to say we need both we need senator feinstein the says terrorists cannot get a gun but we also have to close

the gun show loophole with the idea that anyone can buy unchecked no questions asked the universal background check goes hand-in-hand to say terrorists cannot buy a gun if we stop terrorist and that is why we push both amendments today and one more word to my a dear colleague that mention donald trump like the republicans coming he talks the talk but he doesn't walk the walk. [laughter] he will meet with the nra our republican colleagues have done that for decades what will he come out saying? that we agree we should not have terrorists have guns but then do nothing about it? by false proposals like they have done? the nra wants smokescreen

proposals for. . .

democratic national convention on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. next, hearing on the threat of transnational organized crime to the u.s. the senate foreign relations committee heard from william brownfield. this is one hour 15 minutes.

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relations committee will come to order. this morning we look at how we are moving beyond the warned drug and dealing with organize crime and what strategies can be effective in combating the threat. and why illegal drugs and crime are still devastating communities on both sides of the border. it's not how clear how successful the investments have been in eradicating supply and production. the bottom line is this, where the rule of law is weak or nonexistent, criminal organizations will prosper and engaging corruption. in 2011 they issued a strategy to combat organized crime. this was an ambitious aspirational strategy that

marked an evolution in thinking. now nearly five years later, we need to ask, what is working and what is not so we can get this right moving forward. our witness today is ambassador bill brumfield was a strategic thinker with long practical experience. we welcome him and look forward to his testimony in our discussion. with that i turned to our ranking member, our distinguished ranking member been carted. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for convening this hearing on transnational crime. the world is changed and so has transnational organized crime. i think it's important for us to have an update about where we are on the organized crime strategy. it's been there for a while. is it working? do we need to do more. we need an update and i hope today secondary brown felt, you

will share with us how we are dealing in regard to that strategy. organized transnational crime, we have seen many of the result of that. we've had hearings on trafficking, on human beings, on wildlife, on weapons, on drugs, we've seen the transnational organized crimes against us, particularly on cyber. we are proud of the work being done in my own state of maryland on cyber security dealing with the effects of transnational crime, the work at fort meade where we have our site security command many private companies working in my state with regard to these issues. the connection between government corruption and transnational crime is pretty clear. when you take a look at how

transnational crime spreads, you find areas in which there is corruption and in which they can deal with their expansion of their own activities. the human cost of this, we talk about the impacts of dealing with trans- international crime, but the impact of this, the trafficking of drugs in america, and in my state and every state in the nation we see record number of addiction. it's affecting our communities directly as well as the criminal elements and what they do. we have certainly seen that in the trafficking of migrants. in april 500 people died alone on one capsized traffic it vote.

the numbers are astronomical. just in the trafficking of refugees in 2015, it was a $5 billion enterprise. we need an equal response to it and i look forward to hearing from our witnesses. >> thank you for your comments today. our witnesses and ambassador william brownfield and law enforcement affairs, we have had a long meeting last week to go through many aspects of this problem and i think him for being here today to share his knowledge and insight on how better to attack this. if you could keep your comments to about five minutes, that would be great. without objection, your written written testimony will be entered into the record. with that, have at it.

>> thank you mr. chairman and ranking member. gentlemen, if i were were asked to describe the current strategic threat from transnational strategic crime i would mention too. first is our priority from the last century, drugs. we must today manage a strategic transition from cocaine to heroin. we have made great progress on cocaine. u.s. consumption is down 50% but heroin use is exploding. our international challenge is to work the solution with the government of mexico, the source of most heroin in the united states. i can report we are working well together meshing our domestic plan with mexico's new heroin plan.

we must not ignore cocaine. in two years, cocaine production in colombia has doubled. the u.s. is the traditional market for colombian cocaine. they're focused on their peace process to include a fifty-year armed conflict and we want to support that process and pursue a serious drug strategy for colombia and central america and other nations. we need to address changes in our hemisphere. afghanistan produces more than 80% of the heroine. africa is a massive transit point for trafficking moving north south and east west chinese pharmaceutical industry produces much of the world's dangerous new psychoactive substances and some old ones like that and all. the second and the greatest

strategic challenge is that vast new field of organize criminal activity that is nor drugs nor terrorism. we call it transnational organized crime. it includes human smuggling and trafficking of persons and wildlife, arms trafficking, illegal, illegal mining and logging, cybercrime, intellectual property. they all share enablers. they require corruption to run the networks and money-laundering to convert revenue into legitimize property. they prey on weak governing institutions and benefit from poverty, poor education and lack of jobs. in the 21st century, it may be

the greatest law-enforcement threat to confront the united states. we have learned lessons since first attacking the drug crisis of the 21st century and we have changed our tactics accordingly. one lesson is that many of the techniques and technologies developed over 40 years. police operations, rests, while important cannot alone. long progress means stronger enforcement and rule of law institutions whether through training, education, equipment or technology. our partner institutions are not just the police. they are also investigators, judges and correction officials. we must protect the architecture and other organizations, the

cooperations and coordination mechanisms that permit governments and law enforcement to work together to address transnational organized crime. mr. chairman i've been in this business more than 37 years. i take the long view to solving our national security challenges when i joined the service in 1979, the most, the most sophisticated tools available to law enforcement working an international case with the telephone and rolodex file. we have come along long way since then but we have a long way to go still. thank you and i think the members of my committee and i look forward to your questions and comment. >> thank you very much for your testimony in the time you've spent on this and 37 years and for the meetings we have had. i want to make sure people heard fully what you had to say. 90% of the heroin that comes

into the united states is not just coming from mexico. it is produced in mexico. is that correct? >> that is a good rough estimate mr. chairman. >> so is not a situation of having a border where things would naturally migrate through, as actually being produced there. i think the other point wanted to make that you got out was that you were working closely with the mexican government to try to deal with this issue and you feel like you have a good partner in that regard. is that correct? >> yes. >> what is it that specifically causing 90% of the heroin that americans are consuming to be produced in mexico question and. >> mr. chairman, that's a very good question. i will offer you two, three, maybe even for elements of an answer. one part of the answer is that

the same mexican trafficking organizations or cartels that, for the last 20 years or so have been moving the product from south america, mostly cocaine, through central america and into the united states discovered, as the cocaine demand reduced in the united states that they could replace much of that through heroin and made a systematic effort to build that market. it was mexican organizations building that market. they discovered that having a vertically integrated system which is to say controlling the entire process from cultivation through laboratories that converted opium poppy into heroin to the transport and logistics network and eventually than the revenue, the money-laundering networks work to their advantage. third, you have geography which is to say mexico is a lot closer to the united states then is afghanistan and forth, in a

sense, mexico became but thanks to some serious efforts by the colombian government, they have dramatically reduced in the u.s. market. >> so what's happening in mexico is not like any business enterprise. they have called this dramatically increase just like any other, this is obviously illegitimate. they are adopting the same principles. is that correct? >> that is correct really like to say often that drug trafficking organizations are criminal and vicious but they are not stupid. they are very good businessman. >> migrate staff had some

comments about some of the positive things that were happening in colombia. however, i declined to say those in my opening, because of what you just said and that is a 50% increase is occurring in colombia. what is driving driving that. after all the years of effort, after positive effort, what is driving that increase? >> actually, i might even the jeer figure up to closer to 100% over the last two, going on three years. i think think it is driven by several factors. one, and to be blunt and honest is the focus of attention of the colombian government on their peace process. to some extent, a willingness or desire not to take steps that would complicate that peace

process. the guerrilla movement is today, one of the world's leading drug drug trafficking organizations. second, the government of columbia no longer has the same eradication program that they had for the last 20 years or so. they have stopped all aerial ratifications and they have not replaced it with manual eradication. this is partly a decision but it's also the cocoa growers having realized and discovered that certain zones in colombia would not be sprayed. zones in indigenous reserves or other areas, the net effect of that is this explosion. >> is this somewhat, not what we

want to hear, i know know we have the president appear recently and all of us were glad to see him and want to continue the partnership that we had, but is this in some way and accommodation that in order to end up in a more peaceful situation that you see occurring? >> mr. chairman, i think that's part of it but that's too simple an answer and i want to give complete credit to the government of government who i admire and enormously and has had great courage in terms of what they are doing, but i do think we have to acknowledge that as the peace process and negotiations have developed over the last four years, one part of the policy that has not been maintained at the previous level

is counter narcotics and eradication. i want to move onto the next person out of respect for everyone on the committee. >> on the next round i want to focus on the tremendous increase in production in afghanistan and the highly lucrative production of sentinel that is occurring in china that is so much easier to do, so much cheaper to make and yet so much more lucrative. is probably our next challenge as a nation. >> i want to follow up on your point. we appreciate your service. we know the work that you did in colombia and we appreciate that very much. we need to see how we can deal with a more holistic approach of drugs coming into america. i just want to concentrate one minute on heroin because i've

been throughout my state and i have seen the impact of heroin addiction in maryland and it's every part of my state. there is no part of maryland that has been a meat immune. no community has been spared. my understanding is this has been true throughout america and this is impacting all of our communities. i am pleased to hear your report that from the governmental sector, you are confident that our relationship with mexico is productive and that we are working on that issue but you also acknowledged a hundred% increase in the production in mexico. clearly, we have to be more effective in our policies in mexico to stop the production. there are a lot of other issues.

we need a multiple approach but from your experiences in colombia i would hope that we would have a more aggressive expectations on the source of production in mexico. >> that's a very fair hope on your part senator. i want to feed into that hole. i am optimistic, but by the same token, i've been in this business long enough to know that you have an impact, you have to think in terms of years, not in terms of months. i would use colombia as an example. until the year 2007, no one in this institution of the united states congress would have been prepared to say we are making

serious impacts on cocaine production in colombia. by 2007, 2008, after the most aggressive program we began to see the impact. i lay that out as a concern as we deal with mexico. as we are working with mexico, we have to remember we have our own part to play in this and it's a serious part. the office of the national drug control policy director has developed a heroin use objective plan and the objective is to reduce the demand for the product in the united states. this has been very good about law enforcement efforts focused on attacking and taking down laboratories. what we have now is going after the tens if not thousands of

acres in mexico that are currently under cultivation for opium poppy. that's the challenge of what i'm trying to work with the government. >> obviously that's extremely important and we want to help anyway we can. could you just share with us, a better better understanding of the criminal elements that are bringing heroin into the united states. it's relationship to traffickers in regard to humans. are we talking about mexican cartel type operations or are we talking about american connections or are we talking about other parts of our hemisphere or outside of our hemisphere that are involved in these syndicates that are effectively bringing the drugs or people into the united

states? >> i will offer you my views and obviously u.s. law enforcement has the right to correct, adjust or fine-tune anything you are about to hear from me. first, it is my opinion that the mexican drug trafficking organization have developed, in the last ten or 15 years in a way that basically sub planted the colombian drug trafficking organization which dominated the movement of product, particularly cocaine from south america to the united states. they are, overwhelmingly mexican organizations that are comprised of mexicans. do they also take advantage of other forms of trafficking? yes, they do, whether that is trafficking in person or firearms, whether it's trafficking in contraband or

other forms. the usual approaches to manage the process from within mexico and get the product across the united states border. that is done by the organizations themselves and their personnel. once they have delivered, to the ultimate destination, in the united states, by which i mean the city, at that point that have a local partner in that partner may or may not be mexico it may be an all-american gang, it may be a mix, but that is the point. as. as they shift from transportation and wholesale into retail where the product then moves from the criminal organization, the mexican cartel to some other american version. >> just so i understand, you are confident that the leadership in mexico fully understands this

and is working with us in order to root out these criminal elements within mexico? >> i am senator, although i do say that this has taken a number of years. the reason is that it is a change of perspective of mexico to how they address these. we have a harrowing crisis in the united states. in because of geography, they were located in between the producer states further down to the south in south america. the consumer states located to the north in the united states or in canada or western europe. as it shifted from cocaine to harrowing, they have had to confront the reality that the entire problem is centered there. it has taken time, i believe

were moving in the right direction continue to offer optimism with a careful dose of please don't hold me to resolve this problem by friday standard. >> i will follow up on the second round. thank you. >> thank you mr. chairman. i represent the state of georgia, the capital of which is atlanta which is ground zero for mexican drugs coming into the united states. that is where comes to get distributed. my impression is that as an operational control of the border between the united states and mexico in the land therein is controlled by the mexican drug cartel. am i right? >> you're talking to a native texan. i wouldn't go that far. i would say however on the south side of the border there is a tremendous amount of influence including several of the major mexican border cities. >> the increase in the

trafficking is because of the increased demand, is that not right? >> it is right but you would not have nearly the amount of harrowing crossing the border if there were not demand, although although i would suggest to you that much of this demand was artificial which is to say the original demand was caused by overprescribing pain opioids is pain medication which developed some demand and then the cartel substituted what you had to do with the hit to get a prescription drug. they then created a market for heroin. >> do you think the human trafficking in the drug trafficking in the united states are tied to each other? >> i do in very many instances. >> the human traffickers are used to give the drugs in the united states and over the border. >> i do believe that. how much cooperation are we

getting from the mexican government to try to stop? >> i believe we get good cooperation on a case-by-case basis and in specific locations. i believe across the board it's good with mexican authorities along the border i think they're so skilled and so well-informed that they can identify and spot the weak points so that in a sense, even if we had 99.9% of the tightly controlled border they would find that 110th of 1%. that's the problem. that's the challenge that we are dealing with. i get the impression that the enforcement, the cooperation, the cooperation that foreign governments give us is less than helpful. is that correct? >> it depends on the country but i would not disagree that in a lot of cases there is a

reluctance to acknowledge that they have a trafficking in persons problem. >> they've done a great job on the human trafficking issue which is a real tragedy and i go back to my seated george in atlanta in particular. we are ground zero for a lot of those places and they think they're going going to be brought to america and then end up being sex slaves, domestic service it servants or whatever, i don't get the impression internationally or within this hemisphere that we get the cooperations we should to stop human trafficking. it appears to be growing rather than diminishing. >> i don't disagree with that. you're going to accuse me of pampering but i'm in a make one additional statement. i have signed a memorandum of understanding and i signed at the first time about two years ago. it's called the atlanta police department and they have a division that does hate crimes

as well as crimes involving persons which are usually sexual or gender-based crimes and they are the best trainers that we have anywhere in the world for many of the reasons that you yourself have just laid out. part of the challenge and therefore part of the solution is how we can project the way we deal with these problems here in the united states, in a real-world way with police that are overseas in countries that have the same problem. >> don't ever apologize, we do it all time. on the subjects, you and ii don't we've ever met so i want to thank you for teeing up what was going to be my last comment in terms of human trafficking and drugs are the enablers in the united states.

it can be the best mechanism that we can do to stop this distribution. that's my impression. you agree? >> i do agree. in fact i've tried to set as often as i can. we have signed 110 memorandum of understanding with state and local law-enforcement institutions throughout the country. my messages this is not just in our interest but it is in their interest because as they engage overseas in training missions they are developing the contacts with form police, they are developing the intelligence sources that can in turn be played back to help them do their job on the streets of america cities and communities, whether it's gangs or trafficking organizations or others that are involved in international transnational

organized crime. >> on that point, law enforcement, particularly in the southeastern united states has felt such a database but the tracking of these gang members is becoming very traceable in a very instantaneous report through a database that's been assembled and it's really helping us begin to get our arms around this. i appreciate you bringing this up. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you mr. chairman. thank you mr. secretary for your service. in 2011 the administration released a strategy on combating organized crime with a stated end goal of reducing, from a national security threatto a manageable look safety problem. the strategy outlined five key objectives and identifies five objectives of the strategy. protecting u.s. citizens and interest, supporting, protecting

the u.s. financial system from exploitation, targeting criminal organizations that pose a threat to u.s. organization in building multinational operation. in your testimony, however, you noted that iml has recalibrated its work and focus on two mutually supported objectives, helping them build and reform an institution that improves the capacity of their system and improving the architecture necessary to prevent corruption in law-enforcement. does that represent a strategic shift by the administration? i know you noted that you are not ready to declare victory, but did circumstances for ten

defeat? i would like to understand what the recalibration means for you u.s. policy. has our end goal changed on the ways to achieve it? >> senator, here is how i would answer that perfectly legitimate question. i would say. >> i only ask for perfectly legitimate. [laughter] >> i would say that iml is part of a larger group of institutions. we obviously have the federal law enforcement organizations. we have the department of justice and homeland security. we have those that are involved in the counterterrorism efforts as well. we therefore have a piece of the national strategy on transnational organized crime. this is about the time, you may vaguely recall since you chaired the hearing that foolishly recommended eventually my

confirmation in this position that this was about the time i came into this position. my decision at that time was, as iml, let us not do all of this strategy, let us pick those elements where we have the greatest ability to influence in a positive way. we picked institution building because in a sense, it's what we do across the board around the world in developing the global architecture which is a code for the convention of the international agreements, the international organizations and mechanisms that allow governments to coordinate and cooperate around the world. we are actually working in other issues as well but my guidance to my people five years ago was let's pick those areas where we can have the most impact and were other parts of the united states government would not

actually be doing as much. i asked the question and i want to follow up with a different party your testimony because certainly protecting the u.s. financial system from exploitation, and certainly targeting transnational criminal networks that pose a threat to you would be essential elements of any such plan that we would want to pursue so the two stated goals that you described that you had narrowed it down to may help that but i'm not sure it directly does let me ask you this. you say iml support for capacity building is now, directed by the request of our international partners. host governments and their citizens, it can't be driven by the desire of the united states or other donors. again it may be more than semantics, but where you say this can't be driven by the desire of the united states, i absolutely think it should be

driven by pursuing our own national security interests and projecting our own valleys. no one else is going to do that for us. >> so i asked these questions because many of us here are trying to give this some whatever future administration needs to accomplish the goals that they say they have set. i hope the administration has not reset goals to only work within the confines of relationships that aren't adversarial. what happens in many countries, certainly there are several in the 90 or so that fall within iml's orbit for others are in control but want to help because it would interfere with their profit taken are profiting or other personal interests. are we seeing ourselves then as barred from working with other institutions in those countries that could move toward creating the type of systems that we would want to see?

>> senator i think in a sense you and i are reaching the same conclusion but were sang in different ways. of course we want to cooperate with those governments and in those countries that represent the greatest transnational organized crime threat to the united states of america. my point in my statement was, if we do not have buy-in or genuine commitment by the host government, we probably are not going to succeed. that is one of those lessons i have learned over the last 37 years. now we certainly could encourage the buy-in, we can nudge the buy-in and we can try to direct and guide the buy-in, but i have, if you recall, i had the dubious pleasure of being the united states investor for three years to a country whose government was determined to have an adversarial relationship with us. i will not identified other than to say it's capital is located in caracas.

i could not have delivered one single successful program in terms of institutional building in those three years, in that country because the government would not cooperate. that's the point i'm trying to make. with some country our strategy has to be a periphery strategy, what can we do around the edges to address those issues that represent a threat to the united states. what we want to do his work with the government with its commitment and buy-in for these programs so they themselves are supporting what we are trying to accomplish, what what we are putting resources into and what we are doing the training and capacity of. >> in countries like venezuela and others where they are operating in a way for which there is significant operations of transnational crime, then we must find other ways, if we

cannot induce them to participate and have them institutionally decide to move in a direction that is both good for their people and other ways to pursue actions that will get the map. i look forward to working with the chair. otherwise we authorize countries in which we are undermine in our overall goal. >> i appreciate that. as a matter fact i would say based on my last trip to venezuela that took place not long ago, i can't imagine anything constructive that they would be willing to work with us on under the existing government. i agree with you. thank you. >> thank you mr. chair, sec. brownfield. i want to ask you some questions about cyber and i make it to one about fennel. when we talk about cyber, so so

often in this body, and this committee we so often talk about it as us date, they come from state actors. i'm intrigued by your position at the state, talk talk to us a little bit about the cyber activities you see from criminal organizations rather than direct state. what is the magnitude of this threat. what are the trends in terms of cyber activity that we need to be aware of? >> i think you verity put your finger on the three areas were cyber, and misuse or unlawful use of the cyber constitutes a to the united states. one is state to state. it is a matter of intelligence for all intensive purposes. either intelligence collection or manipulation. the second is terrorist which is connected to, but we have treated it as a different issue from the rest of transnational organized crime. that is the the use of cyber for

the purpose of supporting, in some way shape or form terrorist activities and terrorist operations. the third is peter seminal activity which is to say that the use of cyber for the purpose of stealing or in some way illegally enriching oneself or one's organization, and my suggestion at the end of my oral statement was, as we look at transnational organized crime into the 21st century, we had better be careful because as we make progress on other elements we may discover that it winds up being the greatest, not just law-enforcement but even security challenge to the united states of america. that is the challenge that we have before us. the challenge that i have is dealing with two different communities as well is my own kind of law enforcement and criminal justice community and figure how we can mutually

support or borrow from one another in terms of technologies, techniques and systems that we have developed for dealing with these issues. they are similar but they are different. as you well no, based upon other committees that you sit on, if you are working and intelligence issue or a terrorism issue, you you are not necessarily thinking about developing a case or prosecution in a court of law. if you are dealing in my area of criminal justice, that that is exactly what you're dealing with. then the question is, how much can we borrow from one another for four we contaminated the product. either we have contaminated the product or they have can tame an 80 hours. those are the source of challenges that i am dealing with every day on the matter of cyber. >> you mention in your written testimony, the council for cyber

security provides a platform for increased cooperation in cyber crime investigations. is the united states actively engaged without counsel or similar multinational efforts to specifically focus on cooperation? >> senator, we have adopted the convention or the council of europe. we did it not because we are members of the council of europe or that we were a european nation, we did it because as we looked at the entire international convention on the matter of cyber crime, about five or ten years ago we thought this was the best product out there. our view was, rather than reinvent the wheel, rather than creating something else from scratch and bringing in 196 different governments, all of whom will have their own particular point of focus or

interest or concern, let's use the existing document. there are some additional disagree. the government of china tells me on a regular basis that they would like there to be a new international convention on cybercrime. my own view is let's not throw away a working vehicle if in fact with minor modifications it can be made to run well for the next 50 or 60 years. >> one last question if i could. if you were to give, that was in or what international corporation, inside the u.s. family if you were to grade the level of cooperation between the different agencies that touch this, the three kind of cyber areas whether it state to state or terrorism or pre-or criminal activity, you're talking dhs and state and other organizations.

what would you say about the coordination. >> that's an unfair question but i've been in this business long enough to i'm to be willing to take risks and say things i'm shouldn't say. we have probably moved from a c- up to a b- in the last five years. that is to say we are moving in the right direction. what we are pushing against our institutional, decades long institutional bias and approaches from specific communities. we are pushing against some degree of stone piping which is to say each organization has its own capability and are not particularly anxious to relinquish control and mix it in with somebody else. and, we are dealing with different desired outcomes or

objectives. it's a tough challenge. this is not just, i know the easy answer would be to tell you or say you guys are just stupid and you can't figure it out, it's a bit more than that. it is complicated. this is an issue that we are bringing together different communities that have traditionally, over the last three or four years not worked very closely together. in some ways, may offer one ground for help from the state department side, part of the solution is the embassies, at least those embassies in the middle of the particularly dangerous zones, there you have, if the united states government were in microcosmic, you would have a mini president with presidential authorities called the ambassador and when you boil it down to a smaller group of people, their they actually are able to work through some solutions which we then find, you flip them back to headquarters and we try to use

the same solution here. it's actually one of the reasons why i have some optimism. >> thank you. if you would mr. brownfield, would you expand a little bit on what's occurring in china as you did in our office? >> china today, mr. chairman, and this is not evil, this is not bad, china is perhaps the world's largest pharmaceutical industry. i read a figure recently that there are 160,000 pharmaceutical companies in china. that struck me as high but i read the figure. don't ask me where i read it but i can find it at some point if i have to. china confronts the situation where they have an incredible diverse, extremely energetic pharmaceutical industry that is

not anxious to being regulated. the chinese government has moved in the right direction in a number of areas within the last six months they have moved to register 116 new psychoactive substances. this is the stuff that the pharmaceutical industries of the world can cough out at a rate of several hundred per year. there's a registration rate in the united nations system of somewhere between 20 and 30 per year. you can do the math in terms of what the impact in that regard is. one of the areas which we have consistently discussed with chinese government, is fun and all. we have noted that sentinel is produced in many different forms or analogs in china. they have moved to register or to control or require a license for the production of many forms

of fennel, but not all. : >> explain to those that are watching the difference in profitability. >> it is phenomenal. if you assume that the cost of producing fentanyl is not significantly different from the cost of producing heroin, and that is -- from a rough estimate perspective, that's not a bad assumption, mr. chairman. a gram of heroin, gram of fentanyl would be about the same.

a gram of fentanyl will produce a buzz, a high, whatever the -- 100 times as powerful as morphine and 40 to 50 times as powerful as heroin. so you just do the simple math. add to that the fact that the transport of fentanyl can be as simple as taking an envelope and putting several thousand doses of fentanyl in the envelope, sealing it, putting stamps on and it putting it in the mail. the deliveris much simpler than the delivery for heroin. >> if you will, to explain to those that are listening to this, the size of an equivalent cocaine delivery, if you will, with the same potency, you're talking about half a shoebox. >> yep.

that is basically right. and i would say that a half a shoebox of fentanyl would provide you -- the same amount of buzz in purely psychic and drug-related terms, as 25 full shoe bcss of heroin. -- shoe boxes of heroin. that's why an-1/2 produces as much as a substantial. like multikilo shipment of heroin, and fentanyl in and if office, properly used, doesn't kill you. it's still used in the american medical community under obviously tight control by an anesthesiologist. the problem is when the fentanyl is mixed with heroin and the user doesn't know he hat fentanyl or has miscalculated

given the potency how much he can absorb, that is what it killing americans these days. >> i look forward to another round of questions where we can talk about authority you might like to have to do your job better, but with that, senator cardin. >> just to underscore the point, in my meeting i've had in maryland, the fentanyl issue has been highlighted as the growing problem and where we get most of our overdose fatilities. so it is a very, very serious problem today in maryland and around the nation, and i don't think we'll have time today to understand this, but i think you're suggesting the supports, china -- the source, china, is one of the largest sources of what is coming into the united states.

>> the overwhelming majority. although much of it comes in via mexico -- >> the criminal elements bringing it into the yates are similar to heroin trafficking. >> they are and in fact more often than not they're the exact same criminal organizations. >> but using as their source, rather than home grown poppy in mexico, they're doing the synthetic drug in china. >> yep. my view as of right now, as to how this is happening, is that the heroin itself is grown and produced in mexico. that which is consumed in the united states. the fentanyl is produced in china, much of it, probably most of it, is then processed, shipped, through mexico, writ is then put into the pipeline, the same pipeline that moves heroin into the united states. >> here i hope your relationship with the mexican authorities are helping us with our capacities to try to stop that flow from china to mexico to the united states. >> yep.

and in fact, again, senator, the government of mexico has done -- has worked with us. fentanyl is a controlled substance in mexico. it is not openly available so that it can only move through mexico through criminal means. so, we are starting from a positive starting point. we still obviously have a lot of work to do. >> so, you said in your oral presentation you have it in your written presentation, the direct relationship between corruption and transnational organizationed crime. you talk about governments that are corrupted at the senior level are rife for this type of activity, and you talked about the impact it has on -- within the country itself. so, i want to hone down just for a moment on the corruption issues we have in regards to heroin, or the synthetic drugs coming into the united states. the problems of mexico and the united states, can you just tell us the degree which corruption is entering into this and what

we should be aware of? >> sure. senator, corruption is the great enabler for drug trafficking, quite frankly, for any kind of criminal trafficking in the world. to such an extent i would say if you did not have corruption, the trafficking networks would not work. they could not operate. and the corruption literally is corruption of individuals -- might be customs officials, border officials, they might by police or airport or seaport officials. in other words the corruption that allows them to move their physical product through the choke points, because any trafficking network will have chokepointses. usually at borders. they might be at airport borders or at seaport borders but they have to modify the product through there as the move into money laundering they have to deal with bankers and others in financial institutions institutl

be aware of what is moving through and willing to participate or look the other way. those are corrupted officials. at the end of the day if a trafficking organization does not have a network of corrupted officials, it will not succeed. do we see them in mexico? yes, of course we do. as you well know, you'll find them perhaps in different numbers but you'll find them in the united states of america as well. we're not immune to corruption. and in countries with a lower income level than in the united states, the possibility of a multibillion dollar company, or cartel, offering a sum of money that might equal 100 years salary to a belief or customs official -- a police officer or customs official solely to look the other way is a tremendous inducement and why corruption in my opinion, has to be one of our highest priorities, as we

address transnational organized crime, perhaps for the rest of this century. >> let me just point out that secretary kerry recently announced aed a $70 million prom in regards to fighting corruption. just urge, may need to look at additional resources here and i thank you very much for highlighting that point. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for being here today and your testimony. wanted to follow up perhaps talking about mexico as well itch had the opportunity to visit with many in their government this past november. we talked a little bit about the initiative and some of the efforts taking place there. how effective do you think initiative has been since 2008, we spent $12.5 billion in taxpayer money? i know they're make something changes as well in mexico on their judicial reform. cue make talk about the effectiveness of the initiative and how they're changes in journal prosecutions will affect

transnationallal drug trafficking? >> nor, i'll answer your question in two parts. first, the four so-called pillar's the initiative and offer my views how successful we have been. one pillar was a modern 21st 21st century border between the u.s. and mexico. i think we made tremendous progress limit think they have equipment, capabilities, people, that hey did not have before. we reached a point now where we're focusing much more effort on mexico's southern border, will belize, trying to manage the flow of people and drugs. second its taking down criminal organizations. they've done a very good job of taking down the leadership of a number of cart els. a critic or skeptic would push back and say, yep, put they seem to be replaced. the cartels have not

disappeared. some have, some have not. i give them at least a passing grade. third is building stronger institutions. i do believe that the federal government of mexico today has far better, more professional, better trained and equipped institutions than they did at the start of the initiative seven or eight years ago. the challenge now in my opinion is trying to take that capacity and expand it into the 32 states, well as the federal district of mexico city, since mexico, like the united states, is a federal state. and finally, building stronger communities particularly near the northern -- their northern frontier with the united states. the truth is, the mexican economy is what drives that. when the economy is going well the communities are better. when the economy is down the communes are less strong. that is taking the four things we described at our initiatives

and giving them a report card. where are we across the board? first, the realities are changing. we're dealing today more with traps national organized crime. when we started the initiative we were focused largely on cocaine and to a lesser extent heroin. we have to adjust to reflect the reality. second, we were dealing with a different mexican government. that government left office at the end of 2012. the nowsch not so new government has a right to determine its own priorities. think we are making progress there but we have to continue to work that. at the end of the day, my assessment is, we are substantially better in our bilateral relationship with mexico today than we were at the start of the initiative, and that in and of itself gives good value to the united states of america. >> one concern i picked up on, particularly when it comes to drug trafficking, was concern from some that decriminalization efforts of marijuana in the

united states was hurting our efforts to stop drug trafficking out of mexico. can you talk about that. >> i will do it carefully itch am aware of who i am speaking to right now. it is impossible for me to go to mexico and talk to the mexican government without hearing from virtually everyone i talk to, the seeming contradiction between us seeking to cooperate with them in terms of controlling dangerous drugs while in our own nation, four states of the union have now proceeded to legalize by which i mean the state government has a direct financial interest in the cultivation, production, sale, purchase, of cannabis. understand their concerns.

i do not seek to tell the states what they will decide to do. do think i understand that united states constitution and the federal system of government. i say that it complicates my life internationally, and i'm going to leave it at that. i do acknowledge that people of colorado have every right in the world to determine the laws that they wish to be governed by. >> and i have run out of time. perhaps we can have another conversation about burma. i visit thread and we spent a tremendous amount of time talking about the drug situation there. the 2016 report, international nark ticks control strategy, talks about burma continuing to be a major source of opium and perhaps we could submit a question for the record for you in terms of burma, collaboration, what is happening with the new democratic government in burma, in terms of production and eradication

efforts and trafficking, and then would like further and get more detail on the trafficking of drugs in burma by the burmese military and the role in this effort. >> i welcome the questions because the timing is very good. my read of burma right now is this new government actually is ready to do some serious things on drugs and counter-narcotics they have not been willing to do for 30 years. >> great. thank you. mr. chairman. >> thank you. you have been a great witness and we thank you for the commitment and time and knowledge on this topic. let me just wrap up by asking -- i want to go back to colombia for a second. when the president was here, everyone was spiking the ball, if you will, negotiations on farc were progressing and people were happy and all of that, but

i guess as i prepare for this hearing today, it feels to me like the reason things are progressing politically is they're easing up on the very thing we began working on so hard, and that was production within their own country. just want to make sure i leave here with a proper understanding from a witness who has lived and breathed this. >> yep. mr. chairman, i am going to give you an honest answer but a careful answer, and i want to be careful because i said it before and i say it again. i admire and respect tremendously the government of colombia. until he became president, i would have called the current approximate of colombia a friend of mine you obviously cannot be a friend to a president. they're far too distinguished to permit something as low and common as common friendship, but i know and admire juan manuel

santos immensely. he is trying to bring to conclusion a 50 year armed conflict that has killed tens of thousands of colombian citizens. non not only respect that. i support and it endorse it. it is my view it should be possible to pursue those negotiations, to reach that conclusion, without having to walk the clock back to where we were eight or nine years ago in terms of drug cultivation and production in colombia. it is my view that it should be possible to continue to eradicate or have the threat of eradication so that thousands of -- many of them encouraged, perhaps, by the farc guerrillas don't believe it's open season on planting as much coca that

amight wish wimp have opened a discussion with them. it's a good discussion because these guys are our friends. we have been partners and allies with them now for more than 16 years under plan colombia. don't mean to be critical of them. i mean to state an obvious fact. the amount of cocaine being produced in colombia has doubled in the last two-plus years. that's kind of a disturbing fact. since most colombian cocaine, traditionally and historically, is transported to the united states. we need to work together to figure how to deal with eradication, which is the toe say to stop the -- which is is to stay to stop cultivation to deal with taking down the laboratories which convert the raw coca into cocaine. to go after the criminal organizations, those organizations not necessarily

the farc guerrillas but the criminal organizations trafficking the product, and then finally, how to interdict the product as it is moving from colombia to north america, and how to attack their financial networks. it should be possible to do that. i intend to do that. you have my absolute word of honor that there will not be an opportunity of mine when i'm talking to the government of colombia when i don't make this point, and have this discussion with them. >> my sense is, for what it's worth, we milled that opportunity when e -- we missed that opportunity when he was here last, and a lot of happy talk here about plan colombia. what i hear you saying, and with all your niceties regarding the government and your friendship with the existing president, is that he is not pursuing both tracks in the way that he could

be; that he is pursuing the relationship with farc and ending what has been certainly a blight on their country for a long time, but he is not pursuing as heavily the issue that is at the core of this, and that is production of cocaine in their country that is coming to the united states in the way that he could. >> mr. chairman, i'm not going to walk that far down this road. we are talking, moving in the right direction. how we got there i'm going to leave that to the historians and to people far smarter than me but i will say is i believe there is now a realization, we have a serious problem and we're now talking to our friends and partners and allies in the colombian government as to how to solve this problem. and on that, i feel pretty good.

we are all entitled to our own views how we got into this situation. the only point i am making is, i believe we're working on a route out of it. we know how to do it. for the love of pete we -- it's what we were doing from the year 2000 until the year 2012, 2013, very, very effectively. and i am determined that we're going to do it again. that the way i would respond to your valid comment. >> we are the authorizing committee for the work that you do. are there some authorities we could provide to you that would cause your job to be easier to be successful? >> mr. chairman, i'm going to answer that question this way. obviously as one assistant secretary among several, and one department among a bunch in the federal government, i will not

express a view as to what the executive branch believes it needs in terms of new authorities. i will state the following, however. this last authorization inl received was more than 20 years ago. since that time the united states has moved from a cocaine crisis to a heroin crisis, from a drug focused international crime effort to a larger transnational organized crime effort. we have moved from app an overwhelming focus on the western hemisphere to have thing to deal with places like afghanistan and myanmar. there are areas that were not addressed in the early 1990s? yes, undoubtedly there are, and i would welcome a discussion with this committee and n the months ahead. >> thank you. senator flay. >> thank you. your testimony is -- talk about sub-saharan africa, many

characteristics that make it prone to transnational terrorism and financing and criminal networks operating. let talk about east africa for a minute with al-shabaab. what evidence do we see there of transnational criminal networks operating? >> boy, huge evidence, senator, and in fact i would -- i mentioned in my oral statement and would say it again right now, africa is one of -- from my perspective one of my three principal focuses -- foci. as i look out of the western hemisphere in terms of direct criminal networks with direct impact on the united states. and the reason is that two specific parts of africa, west africa, and east or -- central to -- what die want to say -- southeast africa has become transit points for trafficking

flows that are moving either east-west from asia in route to markets in europe or north america, or north-south, which is to say from, say, south america, into west africa, and then seeking market in western europe, if not flipping back across. we need to have focus on both of these from a pure trafficking perspective. the problem is weak institution's a number of countries in africa, which makes them very attractive for multibillion dollar trafficking organizations. we also have organizations like al-shabaab or boko haram or further up north, al qaeda or the islamic state, which are able to corrupt and then use government institutions as well. africa, from my perspective, is

a very important point of focus, without even going into the wildlife trafficking area which we have been more engauged in over the last three or four years. >> what are some of our strategies in east africa? take it with al-shabaab. concerns that it's a transit point. a lot of -- along the coast there obviously we have concerns. what are we doing? >> first, you have correctly summarized the nature of the threat and the nature of the threat is product and criminal activity that originates for the most part in south asia, although the product may be further up in central asia, and then is transported from south asia to east africa for in a sense, transshipment. that becomes a point writ is introduce ted a north-south access, moving either to europe or slipping across the continent and moving into north america.

what we are trying to do is builden constitutions that are better capable of addressing the problem, providing direct support, operational support, to existing law enforcement organizations, and using vetted units or specialized units in whom we have great a create deal of confidence are and able to shell intelligence and information with, and i sure that their regional coordination and cooperation is such that permits them to actually pass off or hand off movements or organizations that are moving across borders and frontiers so that crossing a frontier doesn't completely lift all of the threat, the danger to the criminal trafficking organization. and i would say that in east

africa, we are better today than five years ago. we are still miles away from being able to say that we are comfortable with and confident that these countries and these governments can control their own borders. >> do we have any successes we can point to specifically in terms of cooperation with local officials that has yielded benefits that are tangible? >> we have had several major drug seizures. mostly heroin. coming in from southwest asia. that have been picked up either -- for the most part, as seaports, some cases at airports, and i'll shoot you, if you wish -- get you a written summary of some of those success stories. we have also taken down several what i would call mid--size trafficking organizations in east africa, although not the international or global

organizations. and we have had some success, some of which has made the newspapers, in terms of reducing, if not shutting down, the flow of what is one of africa's great criminal exports and that is illegally trafficked ivory and rhino horns. so i suggest we have some success stories but nose as many as i would like to be able to report. >> thank you, mr. secretary. you have been an outstanding witness. we thank you for your years of commitment to this issue and look forward to following up with you relative to updates that may occur that give you greater freedom flexibility do your job. you have a hard stop and a meeting you need to attend. so thank you for your time here and also in preparation for the meeting, and we look forward to seeing you again. there will be other questions that people will have in writing

and we'll keep the record open until the close of business on monday, and if you could get to those fairly promptly, we would appreciate that. with that the meeting is adjourned. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. minutes.

ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the podium, tonight's chair, john parkinson. [applause]

>> having spent the last 12 years at abc news, many colleagues become like family. we spend long hours together, we travel around the world together, we spend friday nights together on stakeouts outside of the speaker's office, we even work holidays together. when life events bring reason to celebrate, we're often celebrating together. but when a member of our broadcast familiesen taken away our industry also grieves together. since our last dinner last month, several colleagues who have dedicated their professional careers to broadcasted journalism have passed away. tonight with pay tribute to them. >> i'm morally -- morely safer. >> i've led a charmedlight.

a lot of blood, sweat, toil, tears and a lot of it is pure luck and i've been a very lucky guy. >> community members and business leaders are vined to come out and discuss some ideas they have to celebrate. >> allison parker. [applause]

[music] >> the david bloom award celebrates exceptional enterprise, investigative reporting from the past year. with a particular eye toward journalism that is fresh, daring, or undertaken in difficult circumstances. here to present tonight's award are david's daughters, kristine and nicole bloom. [applause] >> good evening. it's such pleasure to be here tonight. we really love coming to this event every area. our little sister, ava, is 16 now and couldn't be here because

she is at summer camp. very cute. it's really special to be here every year and to remember our dad in this way. it's hard to believe we lost him 13 years ago. we knew him as the dad who sang "somewhere over the rainbow" but you now his am the hard driving journalist him had sump a passion for what he did and tonight we honor an equally passionate journalists. columbia is the world residents largest producer of cocaine and has been on the front line in the global war on drugs for the past 30 years flint. no 201515 ian pin knell went deep inside the drug war, speaking to the actor yo fuel and it traveling with special force trying to stop the contribution of -- distribution in cocaine. >> in a package, pin knell put a

face to the war on drugs by focusing on one of the most violent cities in south america, this piece served as a reminder that the war against cocaine still has not ended and may be impossible to end. the enterprising, fresh, courageous, and daring reporting, exemplifies the work and legacy of david bloom and what this award is all about. congratulations. [applause] >> one of the most violent cities in south america. -- don't come here. it's notorious for chop houses where gangs dismember their rivals and body parts float in the water. also where much of the cocaine

that reaches britain comes from. the trade that shatters the community and forces children into a world of violence and abuse. so much blood has been spilled in a war that's gone on for so long that few realize it has not ended. we traveled with elite jungle forces in search of the crop that spawn this billion dollar industry. and despite huge changes here, colombia is again the world's leading producer of cocaine. americans' involvement here is well known. now for the first time british officers have agreed to emerge from the shadows and talk to the bbc about their role in the war on drugs. [applause]

[applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much to the rtca, to nbc news, to david and his family. it is a huge honor to receive this award. i'd also like to thank kathy kay for the work they do on bbc world news america. continuing to take foreign news seriously, disapproving the bite size theory that people aren't interested and don't have the attention span. i'd like to thank my beautiful

wife, lou, who is here tonight. and my three boys for putting up with my long absences and restlessness. i can only think it's because generally i'm a pain in the ass and they're glad to see me get oust the door, but irrespective, thank you very much. can't do it without you. like so many of you here tonight thoughts with the victims and families and friends in the horrific shooting in orlando we watched the story unfold with familiarity. breaking news, sirenses, s.w.a.t. teams, rise of casualty figures, the mourning, the candles and the tears. we now know the person but that doesn't stop us taking notice and reporting on these terrible matters. however form, nor should it. i guess what we try to do in colombia was to focus on another well-known story but in this

case one that has perhaps become so familiar that many of us have stopped paying attention and reporting it. people say, afghanistan is america's longest war. well, it isn't. the war on drugs is. a trillion dollar mission, 45 years old, and at best with a dubious record of success. colombia is once again the world residents top producer of cocaine. it's also growing more and more opium as is mexico. today more young americans are dying from narcotics both legal and illegal, than president nixon could have imagined 45 years ago. drugs kill more people in the u.s. than car accidents, terrorism, or even gun crime. so we felt this is one familiar story worthy of a second look, which makes this award even more special. so on behalf of my best mates and genius cameraman, dc, who is

at a wedding in ireland. my producer at campbell, thank you so much. huge, huge honor. thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the joan award recognizes excellence in washington based congressional or political report neglect past year. here to present tonight's award, cbs news, white house correspondent, bill plant. [applause] >> john, thank you very much.

you know, i've done this for a long time because bob sheaveert and i are the only people in the bureau who knew joan, and this award honors the memory of a woman who started as researcher just before watergate -- remember watergate? you've heard about it -- became executive producer of "face the nation" just six years later, then she was cut down by cancer at the age of 38. this award celebrates what joan did so brilliantly, excellence in washington, dc-based reporting on national affairs and public policy. she accomplished this as a woman, more than three decades ago, when this business was still pretty hustle to the double x chromosome. she was a colleague and a friend. it's been a long time so it's

hard this long after to make her real to you. but think of someone smart and tough and funny, funny as hell. the kind of person you would have enjoyed being with at your table this evening. that was joan. in short, for the judges to say that the work of tonight's winner equals the quality of joan's work is high praise indeed. so, it is with great pleasure that the radio television correspondents association announces the winner of this year's award, jonathan carl of abc. [applause] >> came before the committee, she accused of being on a partisan witchhunt with huge crowds lining the hallways from the start the republican chairman was defensive. >> madam secretary, i understand there are people frankly in both

parties who have suggestled this investigation is about you. let me assure you it is not, and let me assure you why it is not. this investigation is about four people who were killed representing our country on foreign soil. >> the top democrat on the attack. >> republicans are squandering millions of taxpayer dollars on this abusive effort to derail secretary clinton's presidential campaign. >> republicans released a never seen before e-mail mrs. clinton wrote on the very night of the deadly attack at benghazi. addressed to diane reynolds, the name she used for e-mails sent to her daughter chelsea. two of our officers were killed in benghazi by an al qaeda linked group. that quite different than what the obama administration said in the days of the attack that killed four americans, including ambassador christy fence. -- chris stevens, it was protest over a video that grew

vial vent. >> tell the american people one thing, tell your family an entirely different story. >> john boehner, e the altar ," turned speak are of the house, couldn't hold back his tears as pope francis came too capitol hill. this morning he seemed like a new man. >> my, oh, my what a wonderful day. >> and stunned the capitol by announcing he is stepping down. >> last night i started thinking about the and is the morning i woke up and said my prayers, as i always do, and i decided, you know, today is the day i'm going to do this. >> let me tell you, before we get john here, what the judges had to say about his work this. correspondent's reporting, they said, on the house hearing of benghazi was a perfect distillation of the day's sounds in three minutes compiled and reported by the abc team as the hearing was ongoing. the story on downboehner's sudden resignation captured the essence of the more so clearly

visible on the outgoing house speaker's face and audible in his visit. it was broadcasted story telling under deadline pressure at its best to congratulations. [applause] >> thank you. phil you mentioned a key word there, which is "team." i am so blessed to work with one of the best teams in journalism, so i want to try to just thank people responsible for that work. it's far more than me. devin dui, leader of the pennsylvania avenue unit. cover everything, and it is a phenomenal team. mts, rob begin, work -- rob yip,

john park coinson. ben siegel, -- we have a phenomenal team and gary west, i'm truly blessed so the thank you for this award and thank you for honoring their work thank you to the folks at action that make it possible. our bureau chief, jonathan greenberger, the leadership team, james goldsten in new york and i want to thank people at the table pack here, my family. my wife, maria, who has put up with so much over all these years. anna, emily. my dad who wanted to be here, her with me and my mom as well. and thank you so much. and i wanted to do one last thing. i see olga here, i see mike. you guys have bailed me out of so many jams in congress when

i've gotten in trouble. governor kashich, josh ernest. i want to thank the people who we cover, who understand that when we ask hard questions, when we try hold them accountable, that we are doing our jobs, and it is -- [applause] -- and lord knows both of you, governor kashich, josh, many people in this room, you have tangled with, we have had tense moments and asked hard questions and you have never tried to cut off our access, revoke credentials, never tried to deny us the ability to do our jobs, so i appreciate it. thank you very much. [applause] >> here to present the jerry thompson award, the 2011 chairman of the rtca, cfn n's

senior photojournalist, jay mcmichael. [applause] >> i new john carl when he started at cnn and he was our generation x reporter. so i take partial credit for that award he just got. i'm here to present the jerry thompson award. the jerry thompson memorial award was created five years ago by the rtca to honor a camera person, photo journalist engineer oar other behind the scenes broadcasted employee that embodied the unforgettable qualities of our friend and colleague, jerry thompson, who we lost six years ago from brain cancer. jerry was a photo journalist for

cnn for more than two decades. a guy that every producer and reporter would request, because he was by far the most talent photographer we had. but they also asked for him for other reasons the main reason is was that jerry was just a great guy. everyone want teed work with him. -- wanted to work with him. jerry always did what was right. the was kind, thoughtful, inciteful, and a prepared person. he solved things in a way that the rest of us couldn't and he knew how to capture them visually simply because he was quiet observer of the world and the people around him. he was a devoted family man, guy we could all look at as an example and say, wow, that guy really loves his life, or, hey, man, did you hear that jerry said no to that assignment and it was a big assignment, because

he had something to do with his kids. i can without hesitation say that i never heard jerry cuss. in this city, that's an accomplishment on its own. in this business that's an accomplishment of its own. but that's true. he never spoke badly about other people. and he never missed an opportunity to help his colleagues, be it journalists from other networks or camera guys from other networks, always willing to help, always willing to do what needed to be done to get the job done. he even saved wounded animals. that's what a great person jerry was. he saved a wounded bird. a long story. won't get into it here. anyway, the winner of this year's jerry thompson award, while not a photojournalist, elm

bodies the same great qualities jerry do and he follows in now what is become ang impressive list of individuals honored before him. so, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to present the 2016 jerry thompson memorial award to a man i've known for a very long time, peter daugherty of abc. >> not only been a witness to history, he has brought that history to viewers and listeners in this country and around the world. >> you can send peter daugherty anywhere in the city and he will get you on the air. >> the architect of probably every live location in this town and all of the outlying locations, the white house, pentagon, state department, justice department, without him, there would be a lot fewer of those live locations.

>> he has produced coverage of every major event that has occurred near washington. inaugurations, state funerals, papal visits. >> mr. speaker. the pope of the holy see. [applause] >> you name it, peter has done it. you good to him and say, can we do this live? he never said, i don't think so. he always said, let's see if it will work. >> this must have started with the first toy telephone set you received as a child. >> if you had a problem you called peter, get its solved and not surprisingly because he is wired and set up everything we use. >> he is one of the best colleagues anybody could ever hope to work with. >> congratulations on this wonderful award and for all you have done to improve our industry. >> i just want to say, congratulations on the award. i think you -- oh, well, maybe

you shouldn't get the award after all. we have another problem here. can you get these lights fixed for us, please? congratulations. [applause] >> when you're at a moment like this, a lot of thoughts flood through your mind, especially after seeing that wonderful, wonderful tribute. all of the people who throughout my career have helped me, have

worked with me, have become good friends in addition to great colleagues. no one person can do this alone, and there are just so many names, you saw a lot of them in that video and there are hundreds more in this room and not with us tonight. the one thing that has always struck me about every piece of this is how quickly your colleagues come together with you and solve problems. it really is truly remarkable to see what this industry does, especially in the background, when things have to get done. it doesn't really matter what the situation is. it could be something as sudden as the announcement about osama bin laden that had one of our crew members show up in his capitals jersey from watching the game, and shot the head-on camera of the president, assisted by his colleague from fox who just got there as the

second person on scene and made it all work. to the great cooperation we have had from the leadership of congress, and especially the staffs of the senate and house galleries. mike and olga and their people have been absolutely terrific over the years. [applause] >> it's also been astonishing to see some of the things i've seen over the years. and seeing the video of the pop remind me of two images in particular that have stuck with me in recent years. one was the courage of the pope standing in front of that audience, and delivering a speech that he had rehearsed for weeks and weeks and weeks, knowing how hard he struggled to speak english. and at that same event, we had been tipped off that he was going to discuss certain themes and one of them was the work of dr. king.

and thanks again to the wonderful colleagues i've had a privilege to work with, we had a shot of representative lewis, and when the pope got to that point a tear crossed his eyes and another member hugged him, and i will never forget that, especially when you think that when i was a kid growing up, there he was, out in the streets, being arrested, water being hosed at him, dogs, the whole nine yards, and there he was, on that historic day, a member of congress, a distinguished member, and it just reminded me of how far we have come and how much of that was because of the work that your predecessors and all of you did and continue to do every day, and i would echo the word's of just about everything else. it's important work that we have to keep going.

shouldn't matter to a candidate who says it. the facts are the facts, and that's what we deal with. and the work that i do along with all of the hundreds of people that have helped me and guided me and gotten me through this, really transcend that to say, it's not about the politics. it's about the truth. and that's what our jobs are. [applause] >> so thank you very much. [applause] >> i've been blessed with a wonderful family and wonderful colleagues. my wife couldn't be here tonight, and my sons, one is on the west coast and the other one is out working. but they are, as everybody has said, an important part of your life, and the sacrifices they've made for all the late nights and all of the saturdays and weekends and times we have to do what we do all of you in this

room have gone through this so to all of our families, thank you. couldn't do it without you ask thank you for this honor. ... esters who benefit from this work. here to present this career achievement award, abc news vice president.

[applause] it is my great honor tonight to present the award to dennis donley of abc news. [applause] dennis has had his hand on abc news content for four decades. he sat across the desk from peter jennings for many years jousting with him over script, grammar, fax, editorial relevance and the like, making world news tonight a much better broadcast for his presence. for much of his career he has been the lone star of the washington bureau, directing network coverage of all d.c. stories. he has befriended, supported, meant toward and challenged his

colleagues in the bureau. we all stood with him when he suffered a stroke and we all cheered his courageous fight to take up the helm of the ship again. he has been a treasured colleague. doctor martin luther king jr. said the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. the ultimate professional compliment i can give my great friends is that wherever he is standing in times of challenge and controversy, those of us at abc news have to be right to beside him. here is a video about him. >> dennis started as a part-time desk assistant in 1974. two days later, richard nixon resigned. not that dennis d