the chair wishes to remind our guests today that demonstrations in the audience including the use of signs, placards and t-shirts as well as verbal outbursts are violations of the rules of the house. the chair wishes to thank our guests for maintaining order, proper decorum and i now recognize myself for an opening statement. we reach today a perilous time. since 9/11 america's counterterrorist officials focused on finding al qaeda operatives inside america as well as home-grown radicalized islamist extremists ready to perpetrate violence against our people. now as iran moves closer to nuclear weapons and there sin creasing concern over war between iran and israel -- excuse me -- we must also focus on iran's secret operatives and their number one terrorist proxy force, hezbollah, which we know

is in america. that's right. we know hezbollah operatives are here. the question is, whether these hezbollah operatives have the capacity to carry out attacks in the homeland and how quickly they can become fully operational. more than 20 federal investigations since 9/11 identified by majorities of investigative staff offer a chilling view of iranian and hezbollah operations here inside the united states. in fact, just this week in new york city, the southern district of new york, another trial has begun of a building superintendent who is charged with attempting to provide weapons and support and supplies to hezbollah. today our national interests, namely standing with our major ally israel, increasingly puts us incross-hairs as iran moves dangerously closer to making a nuclear bomb. iran is feeling the heat and already has responded with its

trademark terrorist brutality overseas. we've seen this before. in beirut, 1983. buenas aires, 1992 and '94. the towers in 1996, captain adams was killed, a constituent of mine. if iran had its way, washington, d.c. would have also witnessed terrible carnage amit the smoking rooks of a local restaurant only a few months ago. many counterterrorism insiders were stunned last october by tehran's blazing plot by its intelligence service dogs to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador by bombing the city, washington, d.c., our nation's capit capital. i congratulate the fbi for thwarting this attack on our capitol. will they launch terrorist attacks on the homeland if it feels threatened? in light of last year's bomb plot, in light of the 20 hezbollah cases prosecuted since

9/11 and in light of hezbollah attacks overseas, we have the duty to prepare for the worst. today's investigative hearing is the beginning of this committee's effort to size up this serious threat by one of international terrorisms most violent murder gangs. how many iranian and hezbollah terrorists are here already? the highly disciplined soldiers of hezbollah are trained to lie low for years or decades. those who have gone up against this enemy for our government estimate the number to be at a minimum, at a minimum, in the hundreds. also, there are 55 iranian diplomats at its u.n. mission in new york and another 29 iranian officials here at its intersection in d.c., according to the obama administration. many of whom, it must be presumed, are intelligence officers. several of their comrades of

these u.n. mission types in new york were removed from the u.n. mission and sent back to iran if the nypd caught them photographing the rail systems in the years since 9/11. additionally, as the nypd will point out today, five other events including, involving the iranian diplomatic personnel which almost certainly constituted hostile reconnaissance operations against new york. many have mistakenly assumed hezbollah operatives here were only capable of fund-raising for the lebanon-based group through criminal fraud such as counterfeiting and cigarette smuggling. top intelligence officials and leaders have told us hezbollah is the group most capable of flipping its nationwide network of criminal fund lazing cells into an operational terror force capable of great violence on orders from its leaders in iran or lebanon, and in 2009, the obama administration said that

hezbollah is "the most technically capable terrorist group in the world." now, our witnesses specifically chris swiker, former fbi agent will explain many arrested on criminal charges since 9/11 such as mahmoud were hezbollah militants. we have photos, i believe, trained in weaponsance explosives and spy preparation in lebanon and iran for the revolution are gaerd works hand in hand with hezbollah. these people were prosecuted in the united states as hezbollah operatives in the united states several years ago and chris will go into that in much more detail. some defendants cases have been known as having combat experience with hez la la in lebanon. the numbers are are greater than they seem from looking at the federal docket. since other suspected hezbollah operatives were criminal aliens

without militant backgrounds being publicly disclosed. the director of national intelligence, general clampa recently said, iran's leader are under great pressure and appear to be "more willing to attack inside the united states in reaction to perceived actions that threaten the regime." so these threats are real. that could be sooner rather than later and as a committee, a congress and a government we simply cannot afford to ignore this threat. and i'll recognize the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, for his opening statement. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, for calling this hearing today. as the homeland security committee we are charged with the responsibility of ensuring this nation's security, in carrying ow that mission we must ask unpopular questions and seek answers which may make people uncomfortable. today's hearing does not pose a

question. it make as statement. iran, hezbollah and the threat to the homeland. i hope that today's hearing can provide support for this statement. however, give than no current federal officials have been asked here to testify today, i'm concerned about whether the testimony we receive will be based on current information. as the homeland security committee it is unusual for us to have a hearing about a perceived threat by opposed foreign countries. our jurisdiction involves the security and safety of this country within our shores. so before we begin to venture into this new territory a word of caution is in order. when we examine our relationship with another country, we cannot look at any particular moment in time and pretend that it tells the whole story. we cannot view the politics, history and culture of any

country, clearly by seeing a snapshot version. our nation's relationship with iran cannot be understood by simply looking at this moment in time. our major break with iran came in 1979 when employees of the american embassy in tehran were taken captive and held as hostages for 444 days. this action present add direpre did not go to war with iran. in 1988 iran allegedly operated through hezbollah kidnapped and murders a u.s. marine in lebanon. we did not go to war with iran. in 1996, iran allegedly supported a terrorist group that bombed khobar towers, u.s. military residence in saudi arabia, that attacked, killed 19 u.s. servicemen. we did not go to war with iran.

in these situations, we seemed to follow the advise of pope john paul ii who said, war is not always inevitable. instead of going to war, republicans and democratic administrations, president carter, reagan, bush and clinton, imposed sanctions on iran. in recent years, the united states has expanded those sanctions. in 2012, the european union joined the effort to sanction iran. the eu has pledged to halt new imports of iranian oil in july. in addition, the eu has imposed new banking restrictions on iran. these restrictions known at swift code sanctions will reach into the global banking system and short-circuit iran's money transfer mechanism. without the ability to use the international banking system, it is unlikely that iran's current 25% inflation rate will rise and

reek economic havoc. yet some of my friends on the other side said that sanctions are no longer good enough. they say that the possibility that iran will have a nuclear weapon creates a new urgency. i agree if iran were on the path to creating a nuclear weapon, we would have cause for concern, but iran is not close to having a nuclear weapon. james clapper, director of the national intelligence harks testi, has testified before the senate, while iran is expanding its uranium enrichment program he doesn't believe they have a nuclear weapon. i think the director of not intelligence deserves our trust. if we have any questions about iran's capabilities are.tensions we should call him before this committee in a classified setting to hear his comments. but we should not engage in a

public discussion that creates fear and delivers misinformation. further, mr. chairman, i think by now we would have learned that potential threats from weapons that do not exist should not determine our foreign policy. potential threats from weapons that do not exist can never again be the reason to consider sacrificing the lives of thousands of americans in the deserts of a foreign land. securing this nation demands that we calmly assess the threats we face, and face down the threats that we know are are real. securing this nation will require focus and diligence. neither can be in fear of misinformation. with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> i would like to assure the ranking member listening to my opening statement, we're not focusing on foreign policy. we're talking ak an internal threat to this country when general clapper said is now the

number one domestic concern as far at international terrorism. the threat of iran to carry out attacks within this country and all of the policies you're talking about, many of which i support including the increase sanctions, the question is, will that drive iran to launch hezbollah attacks in this country and general clapper the director of national intelligence is extremely concerned about that and i would think that the committee on homeland security, if we don't believe it's within our jurisdiction to determine whether or not a foreign entity will carry out terrorist techniques within our country, we're not doing our job. to me it's not eve an question. this is clearly within our jurisdiction and why i intend to proceed with the hearing and subsequent hearings if we have to. >> well, if the gentleman will yield, i look forward to the testimony to see whether or not the witnesses stick to just what you said. >> and we may, in view of your suggestion, have general clapper to come in and follow-up at a subsequent hearing on his statement that iran and

hezbollah are the number one threat to the united states today. with that let me thank all the witnesses for being here today. i'll give more extensive introductions as we go along, but mitchell silver is the director of intelligence analysis with the intelligence division of the flchnypd, and a criminal director division, acting assistant director for law enforcement services of the fbi which i believe as i understand the hierarchy is the number three position in the fbi at that time. mr. michael bruin is management inspector group international and an expert in this field. dr. matthew levitt, a senior femme fellow of the stein program of intelligence and associate professor of securities studies program in georgetown university. he was called as your witness, mr. ranking member and we're delighted to have him here today, and i spoke to him

earlier. the first witness is mitchell silver, the director of intelligence analysis for the new york police department's intelligence division. silver is an expert in the field of counterterrorism. he has done absolutely outstanding work with the nypd, of putting together their extensionive counterterrorism program. mr. silver, let me thank you and commissioner kelly as a new yorker for the truly outstanding work you have done and say in spite of the irrational and indefensible attacks against you and commissioner kelly by the "new york times," by the associated press and other unknowing and misguided politicians, i thank you for the job you've done and continue to do especially for the 14 plots against new york you have stopped and for not yielding at all in the face of all the attacks, misguided, cheap attacks made against you over the last several months. with that, mr. silver is recognized. >> good morning.

thank you for this opportunity to testify. mr. chairman, members of the committee, as you know over the past decade, the mission of the new york city police department has expanded to address the evolving threat of international and home-grown terrorism. grounded in existing law and fully in accordance with the u.s. constitution, we have built an intelligence and counterterrorism program that has served as deterrent to help protect the city from 14 terrorist plots since september 11th, 2001. as the director for intelligence analysis at the nypd, my responsibility is to dispassionately assess the impact of geopolitical and trends and intentions including the increasing threat of war on the security of new york city. dating back to at least 2005 we have considered the possibility that efforts to halt the development of iran's suspect the nuclear weapons program could trigger a full-blown conflict in the persian gulf, involving iran, israel and

potentially the united states. in light of new york's symbolic importance as a terrorist tart, its large jewish population, locations of israeli interest and status, one of the two outposts of iranian diplomatic presence in the u.s., via its united nations mission, the city remains the most likely venue for global tensions with iran to spill over on to american soil. a terrorist act by iran or hezbollah in new york city can serve as retaliation for real or perceived u.s. support or involvement of military action against iran's nuclear facilities and against its regime. while it is not my role to weigh in on potential u.s. diplomatic and military strategy, the nypd is responsible for considering all of the possibilities and taking all the precautions necessary to keep new york city safe. previous conduct by iranians present in new york city with official diplomatic cover suggests that on several occasions, going back nearly a

decade, iran may have conducted hostile reconnaissance of the city's landmarks and infrastructure. three occasions, june, november, and may 2004 involved iranian mission guards videotaping infrastructure and public transportation in new york city landmarks. the last of these resulted in the expulsion of two guards by the united states for engaging in activities not consistent with their duties. in other words, spying. three similar instances which have not been previously discussed publicly occurred in may 2005, and in september 2008 during the united nations general assembly, and also in september 2010. again, during the united nations general assembly and federal air marshals observed four individuals taking photos and videotaping the waterline and structural area of a heliport landing pad in wall street, which they deemed suspicious.

's in a field interview, all four individuals stated they were employed at the islamic broadcasting company of iran and produced u.n. press cards as identification. hezbollah and its supporters also have a presence in new york and the surrounding area. based on the nypd findings the majority of these individuals hail from hezbollah strongholds in southern lebanon inlewding areas which in 2006 were battlefield for israeli forces for hezbollah fighters. some of these individuals in new york are family members of hezbollah political leaders or hezbollah fighters kill ord associates of known ranking members of hezbollah or in rail cases received military training from hezbollah in lebanon. based on the nature of these close and continuing relationships with members of hezbollah in lebanon, the notion that hezbollah agents from abroad might seek to leverage the local community in new york

whether willingly or not as facilitators is a credible threat. the nypd spent time studying the operation to thwart any attack in the city. most notable, 1992 and 1994 bombings of israeli and jewish targets in argentina which killed 29 and 85 people respectively. in these cases iran used diplomatic presence in buenas air aez to design and odor execution of the attacks which was then carried out by hezbollah operatives from abroad who leveraged the local hezbollah community. unwilling if a si unwilling facilitators. countries like india, georgia, thailand, they've attacks heightened nypd's concern regarding a threat posed by iran or hezbollah to new york city.

this is because the plots clearly demonstrate iran and/or hezbollah remain deeply committed to striking against israeli and western targets, and they are willing to deploy a variety of methods in order to do so. further complicating our job of detecting and preventing such an attack. our study of these plots leaves us two notable conclusions. first, the conspirators gave high priority toy hitting jewish and israeli targets in a third country, and second, that these attacks are part of a political casual list aimed at iranian goals and geopolitical sphere and possible as the pressure on iran continues to mount, or if war breaks out, iran may choose to strike in the united states before the reasons are urd mentioned, new york city may present the ideal target. given the recent alleged iranian directed plot against a foreign diplomat here in washington, iran's increasingly bellicose rhetoric and reezant long history of sponsors terrorist attacks abroad, the nypd must

remain vigilant in attempting to disrupt any proxy. anything less would be abdicating our duty to protect new york city and its residents. thank you. >> thank you, mr. silver. our next witness, christopher swiker, the former assistant director at the fbi, position retired from in 2006. as i mentioned before, this is my understanding, the number three position in the fbi. in this 24-year career with the fbi he served in a number of capacities, including in the legal counsel division and assistant special agent in charge in miami and houston as special agent in charge in charlotte, north carolina, from 2004 and in that capacity led the investigation of a large hezbollah fund-raising and smuggling case. you are recognized five minutes, and thank you for being here today. >> good morning, mr. chairman and members of the committee.

thank you for inviting me to speak to the committee today on a topic so vital to our national security. i preface my remarks today saying and emphasizing i'm appearing as a concerned u.s. citizen, not an official spokesperson for the fbi. any opinions i give you this morning would be those of my own and not necessarily those of the fbi. as april assistant director of the fbi's criminal division from '04 to '06 and acting assistant director i saw firsthand how terrorist organizations use criminal activities to support terrorism around the globe. i also spent the fall of 2003 as the fbi's on-scene commander in iraq. on a mission focused primarily on counterterrorism matters and in that capacity i saw terrorism firsthand and attacks against u.s. citizens, a dozen of them including the u.n. bombing and i saw the total commitment displayed by these foreign fighters and jihadists operating in that theater. i'm here today to talk to you

about a specific case involves hez ba la. as you know, as an iranian sponsored para military group that in 1997 was formally designated by the state department as a terrorist organization. while al qaeda has gained attention and notoriety with a series of sensational attacks, hezbollah has quietly and strategically operated below the radar screen by avoiding overt terrorist attacks in the u.s. but nevertheless, hezbollah is responsible for the death of hundreds of u.s. citizens including 241 u.s. marines in the bombing of the beirut barracks and during a u.n. peacekeeping mission, they killed 17 americans. they also are responsible for the twa flight 847 hijacking that resulted in the brute brutal murder of a maef dinavy and at the hands of mcneeia a fugitive with as 25ds million bounty on his head reportedly

killed in 2008. hezbollah operatives were responsible for murder of cia station chief william buckly in 1985, responsible for, as just mentioned, bombings of jewish targets in argentina demonstrating their global reach. other current plots of well known. hez ba la has been referred to as the a team because of their superior organization, para military setup and the state sponsorship of their overseers in the iranian government. i'm here to talk to you today about one of the best examples of how hezbollah operates in the united states. this case that i'm going to talk about serves as a warning while hezbollah terrorist organization has been focused primarily on fund-raising activities in the u.s., their sophistication, presence and deep entrenchment has potential to to provide a platform to support a more lethal capability that should be of concern to all americans. this case, "operation smoke

screen" involved a hezbollah cell consistsing of a core group of eight members from lebanon a network of over a dozen associates determined to be involved in a series of criminal related activities. the investigation was able to prove the proceeds from their criminal activities were funneled to hezbollah operatives and form add klain in charlotte, north carolina, stremped to detroit, and canada and ultimately lebanon. the case involved the direct participation of the highest level hezbollah officials at the time. now an international fugitive from the charlotte indictment. another significant hezbollah figure, sheikh abbas was indicted in a second superseding indictment in 2002. he was a prominent hezbollah military leader in direct contact with charlotte's cell leader mohammed mahmood, over 50 times just prior to a cell member sigh add traveling to leb knob to deliver an envelope of

money by way of his mother. this set precedent for prosecutions and noteworthy because it used criminal violations in conjunction with counterterrorism statutes to preempt and neutralize a terrorist group operating on u.s. soil. the initial indictment charged 25 deftness a 77-count indictment. there were charges of cigarette smuggling, interstate transportation stolen property, credit card fraud, bank fraud, fraud by wire, mail fraud, conspiracy to provide support to a terrorist organization, ricco and money laundering. a total of six defendant charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization. the first time we used rico in a terrorist prosecution. this case is significant because of the breathtaking sophistication, scope and organizational depth of this group, their military training and ease with which they manipulated the u.s. financial system. during the investigation an indictment lays this out.

in one count of that indictment, over 71 overt acts were alleged, alleging a conspiracy by three key members to provide material support including financial services, false documentation, communications equipment, explosives, and physical assets to facilitate attack bihezbolla. over 500 bank accounts examined, over $8 million in criminal proceeds identified. used business fronts such as gas stations purchased with a frauf lent sba loan a restaurant, two tobacco shops and a painting business disguised with activities. a u.s. embassy and corrupt immigration official in venezuela bribed to obtain visas for cell members to enter the u.s. seven individuals indicted for engaging in fraudulent marriages to obtain legal status. self of the members were subjected to multiple deportation ordered but able to avoid deportation making false claims of asylum or through

fictitious marriages. manufactured false licenses, driver license, social security cards and passports a ta support their multiple identities. run up credit limits that busted out some of the proceeds utilized -- >> mr. sweker, if you could try to confine your testimony. >> wrap this up in respect were many other activities alleged in the indictment. it's a public document that can be read by just about anyone. i encourage anyone who wants to understand how hezbollah operates in the u.s. to read that march 2001 indictment. you'll see some photos today we found of them training, and in their training in beirut, some were, militia. he members in beirut. in direct contact with some of the highest level figures in z hezboll hezbollah. with that, mr. chairman, i'll rest, which this will be a part of the record i'm sure and out of respect for the committee's time, this was a multiagency investigation that involved many

other agencies. atf, diplomatic security, the police department, rcnp and canadian intelligence service. thank you. >> mr. sweker, the witnesses, try to keep remarks as close five minutes and your full statement will be made part of the record. next witness, dr. michael braun, a managing partner, prior to that, mr. braun had a 33-year career in law enforcement. in 2008, retired from the u.s. dea as assistant administrator and chief of operations. during his time at dea, mr. braun had oversight responsibility for all operational programs an projects in afghanistan. in 2004 through 2008, the architect of the dea's significant expansion in afghanistan. also served as department of defense chief of staff for the interadministery of the interior division, original authority in