coming up, counterterrorism and then later providing long-term care for seniors. a house foreign committee held a conference today on the state department's counterterrorism efforts. the budget kas discusswas discu well as what are the biggest terrorist threats facing the u.s. this is an hour. we'll come to order.

today we welcome ambassador benjamin back to the subcommittee for our yearly look at the state department's handling of the state department counterterrorism issues and while al qaeda has made major blow, the threat to al qaeda is very real. would transform into the bureau of counterterrorism, according to the state depth elevation was natural as the responsibilities that had outgrown the coordinator title when reported to congress the state department noelted that only existing funds would be required to create the new bureau and any changes in personnel would be, in their words, marginal. well, for this fiscal year, the bureau is seeking to increase staffing by 17%, which is a

rather unorthodoxed definition of marginal. the state department would like for this new bureau to be headed by an assistant secretary and specifically by ambassador benjamin, our witness here. the department could have made this move on its own but chose to take the heads of its new energy and post conflict secretaries instead and appoint them basically. making that choice and now facing a statutory cap for assistant secretary of positions, the state department is seeking legislative relief to be headed by an assistant secretary. most members of congress probably think that the state department can be run quite well by the 24 assistant secretaries it already has and that's why we raised this point before. our suspicions about this.

and we indeed have found you e ourselves under the same conundrum. while we have money flowing through the state department, less than half that amount is controlled by benjamin's bureau. if the bureau of counterterrorism is to play as such a robust role, and we on the committee support that role, that equation has got to change in terms of control of those funds. the counterterrorism landscape has changed substantially since the ambassador's testimony one year ago of osama bin laden and senior obama administration officials have gone so far to declare that the united states are going -- i'm going to quote the administration -- within

reach of defeating al qaeda. yet, just weeks before bin laden's death, we had testimony before this subcommittee. ambassador mentioned at the time. we continue to see a strong flow of new recruits into many of the most dangerous terrorist organizations. so we'll hear if that's still the case today but a year has brought other changes as well. radical elements have egypt looking into the abyss. armed militias have libya and concerns over foreign fighters in syria. it's hard to see how some of these developments have not harmed u.s. counterterrorism efforts. other regions, like africa and western hemisphere are of concern earlier this year the committee focused on iran's growing role in the western hemisphere. we have got groups like boca

harom which means education is sinful creating mayhem there. pakistan, specifically security forces and their back of an array of militant groups. just the other people, the state department announced a reward for information leading to the conviction of sayad, the head of the army of the pure and that group carried out the attacks on mum buy. that this -- this individual continues to operate freely today inside pakistan certainly is an indictment of islamabad as a counterterrorism partner. unfortunately, there are many

other such individuals that are loose and maybe did not commit that particular rampage but are planning the next one that are operating freely in pakistan as well. we look forward to discussing these and other issues with ambassador benjamin and i'll now turn to ranking member sherman for an opening statement. >> thank you chairman royce for holding this hearing. july 4th, 2012, the new bureau was announced. the administration has requested $228 million to fund various anti-terrorism with the bureau. in fiscal year $286 million and fiscal year 2012 will be 238 and

they are seeking a significant decrease in funds available for anti-terrorism programs. i'd like to thank ambassador benjamin for his service. and i look forward to his continuing service in this continuing difficult global environment. i am less skeptical of the chairman of the bureau of counterterrorism being in fact a bureau and not an office and even if the administration was seeking an increase in funding for the bureau, i -- given the importance of your work would be supportive but it appears from the statistics i just went over that the administration is able to function without seeking an increase. one program of particular importance is the encountering

violent extremism for at-risk youths for prop begpropaganda a dissuade terrorists to announce their affiliation. the state department has identified five countries, algeria, bangladesh, kenya, pakistan. i particularly want to focus on pakistan where i think it's very important that we reach out for the voice of america, not only in the language but other languages commonly spoken in pakistan. this should not be interpreted as products being sold in los angeles, you wouldn't dream of

having your advertising program only be one language. wal-mart is not trying to separate any part of california from the united states but they are trying to sell a product to people that speak a variety of languages. we have captured or killed most of the world's dangerous -- many of the world's dangerous terrorists but we have not been fully successful in the war of ideas and stemming recruitment. i know the creation of the cve program was a priority for ambassador benjamin and i'd like him to come in on this modest program at $15 million and whether it needs to be expanded in either amounts spent in each country or to add more than five priority countries. to defeat terrorists long-term, we must take steps for recruitment from -- of young muslim men into organization. i agree one of the most

important missions of the counterterrorism to encounter violent extremism by delegitimatizing for recruitment. now, i do have one area where i differ from policy and that is with regard to the mek and champ liberty. the u.s. court of appeals ruled in 2010 that the state department made procedural errors in reclassifying this group as a terrorist organization. the court opinion said that the state department failed to accord the pmoi, the required due process required by law. we'd like to see the state act.

i realize benjamin is not in control of this entire process and in the foreign policy area, the court has scheduled an oral argument for 2012. and has recommended that the mek be removed from the organization list and i'm not aware of justified continuing designation. i will know later in this long opening statement that the hakani group has not been designated and one has little difficulty identifying acts that the hakani group has done to justify putting them on the list of terrorist organizations. the state department should not

list groups as a terrorist organization and just leave them there. the purpose of the designation is in part to force the organization to change its behavior and whatever behavior caused the mek to be listed and even that is subject to a dispute, no one asserts that they have -- that they have taken action in recent years that would cause them to be put on the list and, of course, the contrast to the hakani network is extensive. i've gone on a little long. i will make a few more opening comment remarks when i'm called upon for questions and that means i'll have even less time to hear from the witness, which is why i'm going to listen to

him so intently during his opening statement. >> mr. poe? >> thank you, mr. chairman. ambassador benjamin, it seems to me that we still have a continuous problem. iraq doesn't want camp liberty to be a permanent camp for mex residents. the conditions are deplorable. the residents forced out of their homes don't want to be in camp liberty for a long period of time either and the united states, i don't believe, wants them to stay for a long period of time and risk possibly another assault and massacre by the iraqi government who i think gives in to iranian pressure. the problem that we have is that there is no evidence that the mek residents will have nowhere to go. there are 1600 residents in the

camp. no one, not one person has been res reset telled to a third country or declared a a victim of a r refugee. the center of this whole issue is the designation by our government, specifically the state department, the foreign terrorist organization of the m mek. our country may be willing to take some of the refugees, but as long as we call them terrorists, third parties are not going to take them either. the fact is, ambassador, and correct me if i'm wrong, we know of no countries a of today that have taken or are willing to take mek residents. i hope it's because of the evaluation.

please tell me why it is taking so long. secretary clinton told us back in february that she has folks, quote, working around the clock on this. and i admire if that's true. i believe it to be true. but what's the hold up? is there new evidence that is to be considered? confusion about what the law is? is this country worried about iran and what they will think? what's the problem? why is there no reevaluation? the ftl designation is not just some side issue. it's the one thing that affects the people in camp asharauf and progress being made to move those people to other camps in the world. it's not compelling that the mek should stay on the ftl designation. i'm willing to see any evidence and i suggest that the state

department who is stone walling this, show us the list or release the mek. we need to treat the people in the camp like human beings. they should not be confined to a concentration camp as rudy giuliani has said. it is interesting. today we heard from not the government officials but private officials that north korea should be an fto designation but they are not. i think ahmadinejad should be identified as a terrorist organization, but not the mek. show the proof or delist the mek. i will have some questions later. thank you for being here. i yield back. >> thank you, judge poe. we're joined today by ambassador daniel benjamin, ambassador

benjamin has been the senior counsel ser terrorism adviser to the state since 2009. in the late '90s, he served on the national security council as director for counterterrorism in the office of trans national threats. before entering government, mr. benjamin was a correspondent for time magazine and for "the wall street journal." he was the co-author of the age of sacred terror, a book that won several awards. so we want to welcome you back to the committee. your complete written testimony, of course, is going to be entered into the record. we'd ask that you give a five-minute summary here if you could and then we'll go to the questions. please begin. >> chairman royce, chairman ranking members that are

appearing here today. i have submitted testimony that provides additional information about the policies budget. since i appeared before this committee the last time, my office was upgraded to full bureau status this change will strengthen the state's department to carry out the civilian counterterrorism mission around the world. in coordination with department leadership, the national security staff and other u.s. government agencies. the bureau develops and implements the strategies, policies, operations, and programs. our efforts constitute to strategic counterterrorism. the ctf requires a whole of government approach and law enforcement functions. as the national strategy for counterterrorism released last

year makes clear, we are engaged in a broad, sustained, and integrated campaign that civilian military and the power of our value. together with allied, partners, and multilateral institutions to address the short term and long-term challenge. our tactical abilities as ex em pli fied by the mission against bin laden last year answered a critical national need but they are only one part of our comprehensive strategy, which includes radicalization, stop the flow of new recruits and create an environment hospitable for forms of support and activity required to sustain terrorist organization, including fundraising, elicit travel and training. while these activities may not catch the headlines, they are wise investment into the ending

of the challenge. defense, intelligence, and law enforcement capabilities, only this way can we empower our partners to deal with the threats within their borders and regions so they can address local and regional threats before they become global ones that demand a costly response. the state department has a prominent role to play on the strategic side. let me now speak about capacity building. when states have the political will, law enforcement and good governance. our key capacity building programs are the anti-terrorism assistance program lessons learned from the ongoing capacity efforts and sizeable investments makes a difference. let me talk about counter and

b bionic extremism. we must undercut the rhetorical underpinnings that makes the world view attractive while also addressing local drivers of extremism. to delegitimatize al qaeda and interagency body that works with communicators in the field and misinformation. it draws on the full range of intelligence information and analysis to provide context and feedback for communicators. the cesc on forums, blogs, and social networking sites produces and disseminates targeted, attributed videos.

successful involves more than messages. there are alternatives for at-risk youth and constructive local initiatives and supporting skill building and mentoring efforts. let me turn finally to multilateral engagement. one of our key initiatives is needed to address 21st terrorism and thereby will fill a critical gam and share expertise, experiences, and lessons learned and of course to mobilize resources and political will. the bureau created the global counterterrorism forum. secretary clinton was quite clear. we don't thesa