to operate in many ways from the shadows. and part of that was the example of washington whose great success was to keep both hamilton and jefferson in the cabinet long after both of them wanted out. again, it's all part of buying time. and the consequence was that washington, first of all, subjected himself to some very unpleasant cabinet meetings and occasionally lost his temper. we have jefferson's account of one at which the president threw his hat on the floor. i don't know why he was wearing his hat at the cabinet meeting, but in any event -- but we know that washington sacrificed in many ways during the presidency and part of it was, in my view, part of this much larger

realization that it was -- it was vital that both hamilton and jefferson, in the immortal worlds of lyndon johnson about j. edgar hoover were kept insite the tent pissing out rather than inside the tent pissing in. and that's not a plug for the movie. >> in your first lecture you described a washington who was seeking self-aggrandizement and power and prestige and money and status. and today you basically talked about a washington who had no ego and was doing everything for the benefit of the country.

that's a complete turnaround in where he was coming from. what do you attribute the significant change in his outlook and his sense of accomplishment? >> yeah. i accept the broad description. i would take issue -- i think he had an ego, he had -- i don't think it's as drastic as you suggest. it is, i think, an evolution and i think it is the key to washington's greatness. but it's also, in many ways, what makes washington one of us. i mean, the american dream is defined in many ways but it surely part of the american dream is not only to accumulate worldly wealth, but to live a useful life and to share one's talents and to be part of the civic life of one's time. part of it also, in my opinion, and this is very american, you know, washington wanted to be

rich and famous, and he got to be both, and he found they were rather less than fulfilling. so he had money and he was famous. quite frankly, being famous had its drawbacks since for the last 25 years of his life it made it virtually impossible for him to meet a human being on anything like normal terms. washington grew. i mean, the classic example, i think, of that would be his attitudes not only about slavery but i think about race. and again, i don't want to exaggerate, you know. washington is not one of us. he's not a 21st century figure, and i know there's always his tendency to want to humanize washington in ways that often

inadvertently trivialize him. but in any event i don't think are accurate. what i tried to do when i wrote the book is to transport us credibly into his world to immerse ourselves in that and to understand up close both the very human aspects of washington and the larger than life elements of washington. and i think, you know, it is the process of evolutionary growth, it is the realization, as i said tonight there are interests greater than self-interests. washington, in many ways, outgrew the narrow culture that produced him, and that is something that i think is the essence of what we'd like to

think of as the american success story. got one more? >> as we approach the thanksgiving holiday, i know that abraham lincoln is often recognized as the first president to initiate or give a formal day of thanksgiving. but i am also aware that george washington had done the same. i was interested in your comments on that. >> that's right. of course, franklin roosevelt institutionalized the holiday moving around to make sure there were x-number of shopping days till christmas, which made sense in the economy and the 1930s. yeah, no, you're absolutely right. george washington, both during the revolution and in his first

year as president formally proclaimed a day of thanksgiving within a religious context. not everyone agreed with him. there were those -- i mean, this is -- it's interesting. you wouldn't think about this, necessarily, but this is one of those issues that helped to begin to define the original party system, differences, t party system, differences, the notion of the government instituting any kind of religious observance. and in some ways, that's a debate that goes on to this day. but it also feeds into the larger question of washington and his faith. again, i would not for a moment pretend to be an authority on this, but i do believe that it

is too easy, and i think inaccurate to simply write washington off as a deist. as someone who had a mechanistic view of the universe. my sense, his view of faith is something that evolved like so much else about washington and in particular he went through d hell during the revolution and e you don't have to believe the rather sugary image in stained glass of washington on his knees at valley forge. you don't have to accept that image to nevertheless embrace the idea of washington as a believing, practicing, christian.

thank you so much. [ applause ] we'll have more american history tv on friday night withv a series of programs on the lifn of abraham lincoln. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, a visit to ford's theater for a look at lincoln's personal effects froc the night of his death. and at 8:30, american artifacts looksat at lincoln's assassination. at 9:00, a discussion about abraham lincoln and the freedom of the press.arry and 9:30 his talk about lincoln and the todd family. eac american history tv airs each weekend here on espn 3. we got started because there's a lot of conservative thinkings that work across issues. but before cap there had been no

progressive thinking that worksr on economic policy, domestic policy, national security.licy, >> neera tanden on the mission of the washington, d.c. base m think tank. washi >> we think there's often an th ideology behind arguments made in washington with little factsn behind them. part of our job is to, you knowr to make the arguments and the factual arguments and the evidence-based arguments behind our own views. and i do think that sometimes -t you know, when the facts don't argue for our position, we re-examine those positions. because we fundamentally believn the most important thing is to r be right about what your views are. >> a look at the center for american progress sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's q & a.ebsite there's a new website for americanca history tv where your can seeev ourie schedules and

preview our material. as well as access the history tweets. history in the news and social m media from facebook, twitter, youtube, and four square. follow american history tv every weekend on c-span.org/history. the white house has requested a $39.5 billion homeland security budget for the coming fiscal year. this is a half a percent cut from 2012 spending and includes $769 million for cybersecurity. homeland security secretary janet napolitano testified about her department's budget at a house hearing. this is just over two and a half hours.

committee on homeland security will come together. and the committee is meeting today to hear testimony from secretary napolitano relating to the president's fiscal year 2013 budget request for the department of homeland security. at the outset, i want to thank the secretary for her flexibility in rescheduling this hearing. and before i go on to an opening statement i discussed this with the secretary. i would like to acknowledge that the president just signed into law public law 112-86 and the congressman's bill calls on the tsa to set up expedited procedures for active duty service personnel. and i would now like to present you with the bill and the president's pen. [ applause ] >> thank you.

madam secretary, i will now recognize myself for an opening statement and i would just like to at the outset thank you for the cooperation you've given to this committee over the last three years now. life flies when you're having a good time. seriously, i want to thank you for again meet with our side of the aisle. i know ranking member thompson and his members as well. i also want to thank you for the level of cooperation you've given to me in my capacity representing new york and the extensive cooperation you've had. you spoke to commissioner kelly earlier this week and the mayor. thank you for that. today we're going to be examining the president's request which is roughly the same as it was last year as a practical matter. i think it's down from 39.7 to 39.5. the fact is, in this time of budget austerity, i commend you

for fighting to get that amount because i believe almost all the money in here, all the funding in here is required. these are difficult times. but the threats are still there. obviously, we have now an emerging threat with hezbollah which i will discuss with you later. we also have the threats we've had over the years. anyone who looks and gets the briefings knows it's a very dangerous world we live in. so it's essential that the department have the funding and need to do the department to do the job it has to do and also to work with local and state governments as they try to counter these threats that are against us. i also know that with budget monies being cut back, it's more of a burden on you. makes it more difficult to allocate the money. everyone wants some piece of it. i understand that. that's your job to allocate it to the areas that are most severely threatened. and i know the extensive effort you put into that. and again, i commend you on that. i know that you've changed the

funding system, the grant system this year. and i'll have questions for you on that as well as to how that's going to be implemented regarding state government, city governments, et cetera. i know you're trying to fine tune it and make it more responsive after nine years of doing it one way. and now going to another way. i want to make sure that as we do that, that things don't fall between the cracks. also, we have the cybersecurity legislation which this committee is marking up before the end of march. chairman lundgren has worked extensively on that. i know at least five or six other committees as well. it's intended to try to move that this spring to get a combined bill to go to the floor. again, we'll work with your department and the administration to ensure that we cover it as well as we can. i know that your appearance before the homeland security appropriations subcommittee this morning, you had an exchange with congresswoman lowie on the department's efforts in working with the financial services

industry and cybersecurity and as you know, the financial services industry is vital to the economy of new york and the nation and i have a few concerns that we could be doing more enforcing a seamless relationship between dhs and the private sector on the issue of cybersecurity. you can answer that in your own statement or during the questions. one area which i think many of us have concerns about, and that's the significant decrease in funding for the coast guard. approximately $600 million from the fiscal year 2012 funding levels. i don't know of any agency of the federal government which has had to respond more since september 11th. than the coast guard. their duties have increased geometrically. i'm really concerned that that larger cut which would eliminate over 1,000 personnel and decommission numerous front line units and also significant

reductions in operational hours could have a detrimental effect on our security. so i look forward to hearings. i'm not going to go on to the long statement. i look forward to hearing your views on the priorities as far as combating radicalization, border security and implementing management reforms within the department to avoid duplication and find cost savings and also discuss with you the really almost imminent threat from hezbollah which some see as being almost imminent and what the department would be doing on that and with that, i yield to the distinguished ranking member from mississippi, mr. thomas. thompson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good afternoon, madam secretary. it's good to have you back before the committee. it's been awhile. welcome. i expect that you will answer a wide range of questions today about fiscal year 2013 budget requests. i certainly have quite a few questions myself. but before we turn to fy 2013

requests, i think that it's important that we take a moment to acknowledge your starting point. the fy 2012 appropriations law. that measure which many of us oppose shortchanged homeland security in a number of troubling ways. it was predicted -- it was predicted on the belief that we can demand that dhs carry out a wide range of homeland security and nonsecurity missions without providing the resources. from my perspective, it was tantamount to congress running up a long tab, ordering more robust homeland security efforts, particularly with respect to border security, aviation security and immigration enforcement, and then stiffing you when the bill arrived. with this backdrop and the prospect of an even less favorable budget environment for fy 2013, i can understand your

desire to submit a proposal that comes in $1.3 billion less than last year's budget. the fact that you were able to do so and for the first time fund the disaster relief fund at $6 billion is really remarkable. i do not imagine that doing so was an easy task. i also expect that getting all the components on the same page without cutting on expenses and leveraging resources was not easy either. it seems unlikely, however, that efficiency savings account for the full $1.6 billion reduction. we need to know which programs will be losing capacity or even capabilities under your request. if you're not going to have the resources under this budget to fully implement certain programs within the mandated program, you need to tell us. we are your authorizing committee. we have a stake in seeing programs like cfacs, twic, u.s.

visit and the coast guard fleet modernization implemented. we need to know if time lines will have to be adjusted or more resources will be necessary from the appropriations process. i'm concerned that the budget does not seek enough for coast guard fleet modernization acquisition to keep pace with the decommissioning. i'm concerned that the budget seeks to consolidate 16 state and local grant programs into one small pot. i have trouble understanding how $1.5 billion will stretch to sustain and develop new core capabilities. i'm concerned that while new resources are appropriately being provided to nppd for cyber security, the other side of the house, the infrastructure protection side seems to be shortchanged. given the problem at cfacs have only gone to be understood, it's troubling to see that the budget

is asking for less money in fy 2013. before i close, i have to acknowledge that the budget proposed a number of organizational changes. while the rationale behind some of these changes is not as of yet clear, i must commend you for taking the committee's advice and finally transferring the u.s. visit program out of nppd. it floundered there. at cbp and i.c.e. i believe that this border program may actually be positioned to achieve its mission and finally allow us to identify and prevent overstays. again, madam secretary, thank you for appearing today. i look forward to discussing the budget proposal and work with you to ensure that we keep your nation secure during the difficult economic times. with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you, mr. thompson.

other members of the committee, i remind you opening statements may be submitted for the record. i remind our witness, your entire written statement will appear in the record. i would ask you to summarize your statement at this time. i recognize the secretary of homeland security, secretary napolitano. thank you, mr. chairman, representative thompson, representatives of the committee for the opportunity to discuss president obama's fiscal year 2013 budget for the department of homeland security. ten years after the september 11th attacks, america is stronger and more secure today thanks to the strong support of the president and of the congress. thanks to the work of the men and women of the department of homeland security and to local, state and federal partners across the homeland security enterprise. while we have made significant progress, threats from terrorism, including but not limited to al qaeda and al qaeda-related groups persist and continually evolve.

and the demands on dhs continue to grow. today's threats are not limited to any one individual, group or ideology and are not defined, nor contained, by national borders. terrorist tactics can be as simple as a homemade bomb and as sophisticated as a biological threat or coordinated cyber attack. we have had success in thwarting numerous terrorist plots, including the attempted bombing of the new york city subway in times square, foiled attacks against air cargo and other attempts across the country. nonetheless, continued threats from abroad and at home demonstrate how we must constantly remain vigilant and prepared. the president's fy 2013 budget for dhs allows us to continue to meet these evolving threats and challenges by preserving core front line operational priorities through the reduction of over $850 million in base resources from administrative and mission support areas.

this continues our unprecedented commitment to fiscal discipline, which has led us to over $3 billion in cost avoidances and reductions over the past three years through our efficiency review and other initiatives. given the fiscal challenges to the department's state and local partners, dhs is also approaching these partnerships in new and innovative way. for nine years dhs has been supporting state and local efforts across the homeland security enterprise to build capabilities, awarding more than $35 billion in funding over that period. as we look ahead, in order to address evolving threats and make the most of limited resources, the administration has proposed a new vision for homeland security grants through the national preparedness grant program to create a robust national preparedness capacity based on cross-jurisdictional and readily deployable state and local assets. using a competitive risk-based

model, this grants program will use a comprehensive process to assess gaps, identify and prioritize deployable capabilities, put funding to work quickly and require grantees to regularly report their progress. my written testimony includes a comprehensive list of the operational priorities in our budget. today, i'd like to highlight a few more of them. one, preventing terrorism and enhancing security. this was the founding mission of dhs and remains our top priority today. the fy 2013 budget safeguards the nation's transportation systems through a layered detection system focused on risk-based screening, enhanced targeting and information sharing efforts to interdict threats and dangerous people at the earliest possible point. the budget supports the administration's global supply chain security strategy across air, land and sea modes of transportation.

by strengthening efforts to prescreen and evaluate high risk containers before they are shipped to the united states. we also continue our strong support for state and local partners through training, fusion centers and intelligence analysis and information sharing on a wide range of critical homeland security missions. second, to secure and manage our borders, this budget continues the administration's unprecedented focus on border secure, travel and trade, by supporting our border patrol agents and cbp officers on the front lines as well as the continued deployment of proven, effective surveillance technology along the highest trafficked areas of the southwest border and continued security improvements along the northern border. to secure the nation's maritime borders, the budget invests a recapitalization of coast guard assets including the sixth national security cutter, fast response cutters as well as the renovation and restoration of shore facilities.

third, the budget request also continues the department's focus on smart and effective enforcement of our country's immigration laws. in fy 2013, we will complete nationwide implementation of security communities. through this initiative and our continued collaboration with the department of justice, we are expected to continue to increase the number of criminal aliens and other priority individuals who are identified and removed. this budget provides the resources needed to address this changing population, while continuing to support alternatives to detention, detention reform and immigrant integration efforts. the budget also focuses on monitoring and compliance, promoting adherence to work site related loss through criminal prosecutions of egregious employers and expansion of e-verify. next, to safeguard and secure cyberspace, this budget makes significant investments to strengthen cyber security,

including funds to expedite the deployment of einstein 3, to prevent and detect intrusions on government computer systems, increase federal network security across the federal government, and continue to develop a robust cybersecurity workforce to protect and respond to national cybersecurity threats. in 2011, the department responded to a record number of disasters. so to ensure continued resilience to disasters, our next major mission, the president's budget focuses on a whole of community approach to emergency management. it includes resources for the disaster relief fund which provides a significant portion of the federal response to victims in federally declared disasters or emergencies and is funded largely through authority provided under the budget control act. this budget also continues to provide essential support to national and economic security

by supporting the coast guard's operations in the polar regions and by continues to support i.c.e and cbp's efforts to protect u.s. intellectual property rights and collection of customs revenue. the fy 2013 budget proposal reflects this administration's strong commitment to protecting the homeland and the american people through the effective and efficient use of dhs resources. as outlined in my testimony today, we will continue to preserve front line priorities across the department by cutting costs, sharing resources of cross components and streamlining operations wherever possible. chairman king, ranking member thompson, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today, and i'm happy to answer your questions. >> thank you for your statement, secretary napolitano. as i stated, your full statement will be included in the record. we'll now begin the round of questions. we've been faced with a series of threats for the past 10 1/2 years.

now within the last several months, the threat of hezbollah seems to have emerged more than it was during that previous time. we had the indictments in washington regarding the attempted assassination -- the plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador, to blow up katai malano. increased tension in the middle east, i believe that there's a growing, growing threat from hez bow law i believe there's a growing, growing threat from hezbollah. certainly i have been contacted by local police, also local houses of worship, especially synagogues. can you tell what you say the department is doing to address this pending -- pending or possible threat from hezbollah, specifically are you reaching out at all to religious institutions? >> yes, mr. chairman. we share your concern about hezbollah. we are constantly monitoring their activities around the world. we're working very closely with the fbi and intel community in this regard.