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tv   [untitled]    April 25, 2012 9:30am-10:00am EDT

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c-span that a lot more people understand the perspective and the challenges we have and the need to have a civil discourse, sensible solutions, immediate solutions, collaboration regardless of party affiliation to deal with the foreclosures, to jump start the housing market, to make sure we get economy back on track, housing, jobs, really matter. thank you for all of your help. thank you. [ applause ]
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and live to capitol hill on this wednesday morning we go to the senate judiciary committee for testimony from homeland security secretary janet napolitano today. yesterday two more secret service agents resigned amid accusations that they hired prostitutes in cartagena, colombia ahead of the presidential trip there pap total of 12 secret service agents are under investigation. nine lost their jobs. secret service is part of the homeland security department and today is the first time that janet napolitano will be testifying before congress since the prostitution allegations surfaced. we expect this hearing to get under way in a moment here on c-span 3.
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good morning. photographers are getting all their shots but i'm going to ask once you've done that to step back so we can get started. okay. i think we can get started.
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senator graham is here. i know senator schumer dropped in briefly before. and the rules committee and will be back, senator grassley has told me he's over on the house side, is that correct? and will be joining us. senator kyl is here. senator grassley said go ahead and we will. secretary, senator kyl is from the state of arizona, i believe. i suspect you do. i want to welcome secretary napolitano back to the judiciary committee. we'll continue our important oversight of the department of homeland security. she's been here before and i can
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speak for every member of the committee she's always been responsive when we called with questions and in between the testimony. this is our oversight department of homeland security and the work that the women and men of the agencies within the department do every day to keep america safe. now, much attention has been focused on incidents prior to president obama's attendance at the summit of americas in colombia. i've spoken a number of times with secret service director sullivan about this. in fact, we met privately for about an hour yesterday, and probably been on the phone half a dozen or a dozen times. i've known the director from the time that he was an agent.
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i knew him when president bush appointed him as director of the secret service and when president obama re-appointed. i know he shares my view that the alleged conduct was unacceptable. i think he's doing all he can to ensure a timely and thorough investigation, accountability for behavior that failed to meet the standards he expects and certainly the standards that the president of the united states and the american people deserve. he's taken action on 12 agents who have been claiming to have been involved in misconduct. and last week arranged for a bipartisan briefing, judiciary committee staff, republican and democratic with the secret service and officials from the department of homeland security office and inspector general. i've asked director to assure he's available to members of this committee as the investigation continues. he assured me he will be.
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and that he will make sure that we know exactly when they finish the investigation everything they found. now, i have no doubt you're treating this situation with equal seriousness, certainly in my conversations with you you talked a great deal with the director during this time. nobody wants to see the president's security compromised. nobody want america embarrassed. i pointed out to the director, of course, obviously protect the president of the united states, also going to be, and are protecting the man who will be the republican nominee for president, governor romney. i can't think of anything that would, aside from the personal tragedy, anything that would look worse for the rest of the world if something happened either to president obama or governor romney, especially
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during a presidential the election. i think everybody here would agree with that. you told us that your first appearance as secretary, you focused on using limited federal law enforcement resources in a smarter more effective manner in enforcing immigration laws. immigration and customs enforcement director are following through. implementation of i.c.e.'s policies is a positive step forward. this policy is apprehending more individuals who are a legitimate threat to public safety and provide major relief to those who pose no threat. you're standing by your commitment to focus first and northeast on the most dangerous among the undocumented population, mr. martin was in vermont. we discussed that then too. i think you're doing the best
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you can. i supported president bush's efforts for the comprehensive immigration reform and i still would like to see that even though it has very little impact in my state of vermont, it has enormous impact on the rest of the country. in fact, we're holding this hearing today, the supreme court is hearing argument on the constitutionality of an arizona immigration enforcement law. constitution of the u.s. declares congress and the federal government shall have the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. so national immigration policy is properly a subject we should act upon. it should not be left up to conflicting state laws. i hope we can get back to where we can do good strong comprehensive bipartisan immigration policy. in 2010 we passed a measure to
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enhance border security. you made significant strides there. i understand illegal border crossings in the southern border have declined. we've seen steady increase in numbers of border control and border protection. officers monitoring our borders. i take special notice that while you're working with canadian officials on beyond the border initiative. i'm impressed with that. and someone who is parochial in any of these committees but in vermont many people look forward to our friends from canada visiting and enjoying all that vermont has to offer, and when i was a youngster and you just felt like going to another state and it was that easy to go back across the border.
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we took that for granted and i hope we can work on that to protect our security but keep that border as open as possible. i was pleased to see the ecb five regional program and your president's job competitiveness we work on that in vermont. i look forward networking for re-authorization of this program. and senator grassley and i have been working to get this and other expiring visa programs re-authorized in a bipartisan measure. continue to work with you and use this directive to strengthen and improve the program. i have raised issues of screening procedures and technology at our airports. i have questions about these policies and their impact with the privacy and health of americans, whether this technology is the most effective use of resources, obvious today when you see elderly person in a
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wheelchair going through all kinds of screening i'm not quite sure how that is keeping us safe but we can talk about it. i want to make sure that we're going to national cyber security we protect our rights and civil liberties and finally i want to commend the women and men who work in the agencies in your department, i've met some of them, all different branches. i know they work very, very hard, i care about our country. many vermonters working hard to adjudicate benefits. but that is all our states. we'll expand the workforce in saint alban's vermont, the vermont service center but i'm constantly impressed every time i see the men and women that work there. absent senator grassley senator kyl do you wish to make an opening statement before we go to the secretary? >> no. i think we want to hear from the secretary and then we'll all
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have questions. thank you. >> madam secretary, it's your -- the floor is open to you and then we'll go to seven minute rounds. we'll rotate in the usual manner from side to side in which people arrive. secretary napolitano please go ahead. >> thank you, chairman leahy and members of the committee. i thank the committee for your support of the department over these past three years and, indeed, since the department was founded more than nine years ago. before i begin, i want to address the allegations of misconduct by secret service agents in colombia. the allegations are inexcusable. and we take them very seriously. since the allegations surfaced i've been in close touch with director sullivan. the director took immediate action to remove the agents involved and a full and thorough
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investigation is under way to determine exactly what transpired and actions we need to take to ensure that this kind of conduct doesn't happen again. director sullivan has the president's and my full confidence as this investigation proceeds. the investigation will be complete and thorough and we will leave no stone unturned. thus far the investigation has implicated 12 secret service personnel. eight individuals are now separated from the agency. the secret service is moving to permanently revoke the security clearance of another. and three of the employees involved have been cleared of serious misconduct but will face appropriate administrative action. at this time, therefore, all 12 secret service personnel identified in the investigation have either faced personnel action or been cleared of serious misconduct. let me be clear, we will not
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allow the actions of a few to tarnish the proud legacy of the secret service. an agency that has served numerous presidents and whose men and women execute their mission with great professionalism, honor and integrity every single day. i have nothing but respect for these men and women. many of whom put their own lives at risk for the president and many other public leaders. we expect all dhs employees in the secret service and throughout the department to adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards and we'll continue to update the committee as the investigation proceeds and more information becomes available. let me now move to the department's progress since 9/11. ten years after the terrorist attacks of september 11th, america is stronger and more secure today thanks to the support of the congress, the work of the men and women of the
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dhs, our federal, state, local partners who work across the homeland security enterprise. as i've said many times, homeland security begins with hometown security as part of our commitment to strengthening hometown security we have worked to get information, tools and resources out of washington, d.c. and into the hands of state and local officials and first responders. this has led to significant advances. for example, we've made great progress in improving our domestic capabilities to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against our people, our communities, and our critical infrastructure. we've increased our ability to analyze and distribute threat information at all levels through fusion center, the nationwide suspicious activity reporting initiative, the national terrorism advisory system and other means. we've invested in training for local law enforcement and first responders in order to increase
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expertise and capacity at the local level. we've supported preparedness and response across our country through approximately $35 billion in homeland security grants since 2002. and we have proposed important adjustments to our grant programs for fiscal year 2013 to continue to develop, sustain and leverage these core capabilities. our experience over the past several years has made us smarter about the terrorist threats we face and how best to deal with them. we've learned that an engaged vigilante public is essential to efforts to prevent acts of terrorism which is why we've continued to expand the if you see something say something campaign nationally. we've also expanded our risk based intelligence driven security efforts across the transportation sector, the global supply chain and critical infrastructure. by sharing and leveraging information with our many partners, we can make better
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informed decisions about how to best mitigate risk. over the past several years, we also have deployed unprecedented levels of personnel, technology and resources to protect our nation's borders. these efforts too have achieved significant results, including historic decreases in illegal immigration as measured by total apprehensions and increases in seizures of illegal drugs, guns and other contraband. illegal immigration attempts are at their lowest levels since 1971. while violent crime in u.s. border communities remains flat or has fallen in the past decade. we focused on smart and effective enforcement of immigration laws while stream lining and facilitating the legal immigration process. last year, i.c.e. removed record numbers of illegal aliens from the country. 90% of whom fell within our priority categories of criminal
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aliens and repeat immigration law violators, recent border entrants and immigration fugitives. we've focused on identifying and sanctioning employers who knowingly hire workers not authorized to work in the united states. we've made important reforms in our immigration detention system so that every individual in custody is treated in a fair, safe and humane manner consistent with i.c.e. detention standards and we have worked to reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies in visa programs, streamlined the path for entrepreneurs who wish to bring business to the united states, and improve systems for immigration benefits and services. in the critical area of cyber security we also continue to lead the federal government's efforts to secure civilian government networks while working with industry, state and local governments to secure critical infrastructure and information systems. we are deploying the latest tools across the federal
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government to protect critical civilian systems while sharing timely and actionable security information with public and private-sector partners to to h them protects their own operations. with these partners, we are also protecting the systems and networks that support the financial services industry, the electric power industry, and the telecommunications industry to name just a few. we stand ready to work with the congress to pass legislation that will further enhance our ability to the combat threats in the cyberdomain. specifically, we support legislation that would, among other things, staebl baseline performance standards for the nation's critical core from structure, remove barriers to information sharing between government and industry so that we can more quickly respond to and mitigate cyberthreats or intrusions, ensure robust private sit oversight to ensure that voluntarily shared
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information does not impinge on individual privacy and civil liberties, including criminal penalties for misuse. and provide dhs with the higher inflexibility to attract and retain the cybersecurity professionals we need to execute our complex and challenging mission. mr. chairman, threats against our nation whether from terrorists, criminals or cyb cyberadversaries continue to evolve, and dhs must continue to evolve as well. i look forward to working with you and members of the committee to build on the progress we have achieved across these and many other mission areas. we remain ever vigilant to threats as we continue to promote the free movement of goods and peoples essential to our economy and protect our essential rights and liberties. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, and of course, we'll put your full statement in the record. as i told you, our jurisdiction
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over the u.s. secret service, we did want to ask you some questions there. i'm of, of course, all americans are concerned about the safety of our president, whether it could have been jeopardized by it type of behavior just as i'm concerned about the safety of any of the protectees i mentioned governor romney, but there are several others. everybody the misconduct we've heard about, did that pose nel risk to the president's security when the in colombia or to national security? >> mr. chairman, that was my first question to director sullivan when he called me, and the answer is no. there was no risk to the president. >> and you made that will assessment? >> yes, based on the information supplied to me by the director. >> and is the secret service coordinating its internal investigation with the department of defense orness
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other u.s. agency that might have been involved in car ta hanian preparing for the president's arrival? >> mr. chairman, we are coordinating the investigation with the inspector general. we have an existing m.o.a. with the ig between the secret service and the ig so the they want are, in effect, supervising the investigation even though it's being done by secret service agents. >> and was there nels evidence that the president's advance team was involved in this misconduct? >> i've not been informed of any such evidence. >> as we continue to look at this, i mean, we're -- we know the agents are trained as to what is acceptable and what's unacceptabl unacceptable. >> are there will standards in place governing conduct for agents on foreign trips and how they will interact with locals on foreign assignments and if there are such standards, how are they conveyed to the agents?
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>> there, standards. they are conveyed through training and supervision. but one of the things we are doing, mr. chairman is looking at the standards, the training, the supervision to see the what, if anything, needs to be tightened up because again, we don't want this to be repeated. >> well, is there training given to agents relating to private or intimate contact with foreign nationals when traveling for security work? >> the training is focused on professionalism, on conduct consistent with the highest moral values and standards and i think the that would include your question. >> well,ern madame secretary, i know that when we travel, when members of congress travel to different countries we go to, we're given security and foreign intelligence advisories. i've been in some countries where, for example, we leave all our communication gear
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dismantled with u.s. security officers. and so forth. are agents given training in security in foreign intelligence for a particular country they might go into? >> i think that's part of the advance process, mr. chairman. >> so this they thought there was an intelligence threat in a particular country, they'd be advised of that? >> yes, yes. >> and i began my career here during the cold war period. and we had some of the assessments we were given then are somewhat different than they are today, but then some of the assessments today because of our increase types of communication gear and electronic gear are different. i assume that will is geared based on today's real threats? >> yeah, how to secure -- you mean how to secure our communications equipment and the other types of -- >> what things an individual
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must look for. i mean, is this a country -- are they going to be a threat from of agents of another country? >> the agents are informed as to what the intel is, what specific or country-specific measures need to be taken. and again, in this instance, mr. chairman, there was no impinging on the security of the president and no access to any secure information by the people involved. >> you know, like you, i've been on many occasions with the secret service around. while it's very professional men and women, i've traveled with several different presidents over the course of my career and watched the secret service, again with very professional men and women there will.
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so that when i heard the number of the agents involved in this, i found it particularly alarming when i got my first call at home from the director and as my staff looked into it and the bipartisan staff of the committee looked into it. the numbers i found shocking. to your knowledge, is this the first time something like this has happened, or have you had reports of similar incidents in the past? >> mr. chairman, i asked the same question. and over the past two and a half years, the secret service office of professional responsibility has not received any such complaint. over that same period, the secret service has provided of protection to over 900 foreign trips and over 13,000 domestic trips. so from that standpoint, there was nothing in the record to
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suggest that this behavior would happen, andton really was, i think, a huge disappointment to the men and women of the secret service to begin with who uphold very high standards and who feel their own reputations are now besmirched by the actions of a few. >> to the extent any of them are listening to this hearing, i would hope they would not be distracted from their jobs, those hose are protecting it governor romney and those protecting president obama and all the other protectees. that's going to be job first. but then you and the director have the of job of seeing where we will go from here. can you assure us that will there will not be -- can you assure us that it will be made very clear to secret service
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agents and their training elsewhere that kind of conduct will not be condoned? >> that is our goal, mr. chairman. there's really three things that i immediately discussed with the director. one was to make sure the president's security was never at risk. mpb two was to make sure that we instituted a prompt and thorough investigations into the allegations in colombia, and tree what other steps we need to take for the future to make sure this behavior is not repeated. >> a different matter. we're going to turn to the reauthorization to vermont wa. branch temporary visas available to immigrant victim who's cooperated with law enforcement officers and prosecution of criminal of defenses, sometimes they are our best sources of information, including domestic violence and sexual assault ca

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