>> get you an answer. mr. elliot. >> i think it has to do with better coordination, perhaps consolidation of the organizational construct of tsa as it focuses on freight rail. they should all be one single focused effort that focuses on surface transportation. >> why don't you do this. why don't you fashion the question you want tendered in writing and i will read it for you. short timer. >> short timer. >> i would ask the administrator if he will take a look within the organization on them, the surface security inspectors looking to partner with industry as they do in other areas of tsa. take a hard look at that. >> great. and for those folks who didn't get the short timer remark, he is about to retire and i'm proud

for hip. little jealous. he's been a great asset and i appreciate it. wish you well and hope we see you around here in more relaxed attire in the future. >> thank you. >> certainly. >> question. you discussed the first observer program as an important layer of security. it's a training program. puts together people who know their realm, whatever realm it is, gets them together. we put modules together geared toward their level of expertise and they call us when they see something suspicious or out of the ordinary. calls you generally would not get in the past or they would call 911 and those calls would

go to the wayside. those are vetted and analyzed by transportation security professionals, operation center and there's actual items taken as a result of those. >> do you think there is perhaps any additional training opportunities that exist or if there were training opportuniti opportunities, the effective extent of really being useful, learning more effective techniques and approaches of what to look for and how to look? >> yes, sir, congressman. the original program was supposed to be just for trucking security. it has evolved into 12 venues. gaps that people saw. we did it because we thought it

was the right thing to do and we did it. if there was additional money or training, we could put everybody on the umbrella. the problem is funding is scant at this time. i see that the ranking member has returned and i'm pretty certain i didn't ask him the question. >> recognizes the ranking member for any questions she may have. >> let me thank all the witnesses. i was dealing with the intelligence bill on the floor of the house and i know gentlemen rely a lot of intelligence and we need to coordinate together. because a lot of you are from the area is in which we are attempting to work with tsa.

i'd like to ask the question chief o connor and mr. morris, making sure we continue to transportation security grants. as i indicated, my amendment put in $400 million and we will always hear from some that resourc resources, i know the vastness of the work that law enforcement was asked to cover. particularly, the local structure and infrastructure. i have ridden on amtrak. i must say relatively without

documentation has a safety track record that is more than respectable based on how old it is. amtrak rides through neighborhoods and urban centers. it therefore, can be enormously attractive to someone who wants to do us harm, so both of you can answer who those resources, particular particularly this $400 million and keeping those fundings cycles open and flow iing, how this continue to help secure the homeland. >> yes, ranking member jackson. amtrak operates in more than 500 communities over 46 states. and we interact with about a dozen community agencies across the country.

so it's not just protecting america's railroad, but it's also protecting communities in major urban areas and major commuter centers around the country. towards buying down vulnerability and lowering the risk. it's a daunting task just to protect the public when you overlay that with the threat of terrorism. the assistance the federal government gives to us and the transit agencies is vital and it would be serious breaches and increases invulnerability without it. >> mr. morris.

>> yes, ma'am. over 160 program members we have, these are volunteers and a lot of different venues, reports. schoolbus, trucking. 12 different venues. in your district alone, we have 12,000 schoolbus and truck drivers. these are volunteers who came out for the training to help out in the homeland security mission. if tsa walks away from this, it sends a message to them saying they don't care about surface transportation. >> may i just get mr. elliot. let me focus a questioning in quite a different way. we have a massive freight system. and part of the work that you do and major work that you do i think there's no question that hazardous materials are being transported. makes it a vulnerability for

those who might try and do us harm. how important is it to have a relationship with the -- dealing with transportation? >> we recognize there are many valuable programs between tsa and the freight rail industry. with regards to the inspectors. freight railroads can be inherently unsafe places and we prefer that the folks entrusted by the government to come out and provide those inspections have received training and understanding of the railroad. we'd also like to be as wholly effective as transportation inspectors can be, that there's better coordination between the entities we deal with. the surface transportation inspectors report up through one

entity. we're also assigned a regional inspector's liaison to try and help us with issues that we have and then of course, we deal with the headquarters freight rail branch that deals a lot with regulations and policy and there's no consistency between those three. we would ask that tsa does a better job b between us and the freight rail security side. >> so, your comments are not the lack of recognition of the value of inspectors. your instruction and insight is that we need to improve our training and outreach so that we have inspectors who are sufficiently trained for each discipline, each industry. am i hearing you correctly? and coordination with tsa.

>> i have to say what i observe and that was that we don't see the current cod ray of surface transportation inspectors that are focusing on freight rail transportation are as effective as they could be. we're depending on our network of employees, our police department to provide most of the security to our freight rail network and i think it's some of this lack of coordination between the entities that focus on freight rail security that perhaps makes the current group not as effective as they should be. >> what i would say as i close mr. chairman is that there is no doubt that transportation security inspectors are virtualable asset. that you have been under -- pre9/11, now there is an overlapping jurisdiction. what i hear you crying out for is what i think is a bipartisan

cry. at least it is mine. no, i cannot yield to the federal agency for security, but what i will listen to and i think is important is the idea that we can improve training, coordination and answer your question or concern that we need to have focus on your industry in the right way. so i conclude by thanking chief o connor for his service and congratulate him. >> i thank the witnesses for their valuable testimony and the members for their questions. members of the committee may have some additional questions for the witnesses and we will be asked to respond to these in writing. the hearing record will be open for ten days. the committee stands adjourned.

president obama is getting a little help from former president bill clinton at a trio of campaign fund-raisers in new york tonight. they'll speak at a private fund-raiser, then at the waldorf ast astoria hotel. the two will end the night at an event dubs barack on broadway and wisconsin voters go to the polls tomorrow to decide on whether to remove republican governor scott walker from office. he's facing a recall election and is being challenged by the democratic mayor of milwaukee. they debated last week and you can watch that tomorrow morning at 6:00 eastern.

each week, "washington journal" spotlights a cent notable magazine article. on wednesday, michael joseph gross talks about his article on d the internet. how it was created and is being regulated now in various countries. you can talk to mr. gross wednesday morning at 9:15 eastern on cspan. the ftc is primarily an enforcement agency and has brought many, many good cases in the consumer p privacy area and has reached settlements with a lot of companies about some of the privacy promises they maid to consumers. >> i think self-regulation is a tool that can be much more responsive to changes in the marketplace in a quicker way than regulation or passing laws can be. >> tonight, a look at the federal trade commission's role in dealing with privacy on the internet with republican

commissioner and julie brill. the communicators at 8:00 eastern on cspan 2. >> the president has a hard time selling an argument on economic optimism when at the same time, r people aren't feeling it. >> what the american people know, they understand that we didn't get into this crisis overnight and we're not going to get out of it overnight. >> the unemployment rate, what the number is. it's what the people in quinnipiac land, ohio, florida, virginia, what they think. what they think about their life. is it getting bet or worse? who's responsible? and that's not quantifiablquant. >> this past week, the national journal focused on the 2012 presidential election. watch the discussions online at the cspan video library.

>> the top two vote getters in e vipt's presidential election will face each other in a runoff in about a week and a half. in washington, d.c., the center for policy reviewed the leches and what they mean for egypt's future. the panel included a diplomat and newspaper reporter. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> thank you very much. my name is peter and i'm chairman of the board and under the guidance of gregory, our senior fellow here at cmp. we're just thrilled to have this very important program arguably -- the terrible and urgent events going on in egypt. the center for national policy has been dealing with foreign policy and defense matters. and for nearly three decades,

our previous leaders have included leon panetta, tim roamer, our ambassador to india and before that in the '90s and '80s, madeleine albright. but today's event is all about egypt. we couldn't have a greater expert than greg. his background is in ak deem and the state department. he has been an expert for deck katds, recognized through his publications and advice on capitol hill, to most important led legislators. he currently has a professorship at the university of massachusetts law. his own background is dartmouth college, london school of economics. very obviously most important places in this subject area.

we are just thrilled that greg today has decided he will guide us through this important suggest at this terribly important moment. >> thank you very much, really appreciate your high comments. i want to welcome you to the center for national policy. i'd also like to thank dan from the staff for helping me organize this event. as you know, egypt has been going through a very profound and a very difficult democratic transition since the fall of president hosni mubarak from power in february of 2011. there are many knowns and many unknowns at this point. what is known is that there are now two fronts, excuse me, two top vote getters, from the first round of the presidential elections. the muslim brotherhood candidacy

and the former, or the last prime minister under mubarak, who is a career air force officer. the outcome of this election has caused a lot of disturbances with an egypt. just in the last 24 hours, there were demonstrations in tahrir square and the burning of the campaign headquarters. the two, conventional wisdom prior was that the former foreign minister and former secretary general of the arab league would have been a top vote getter as well as an independent islamist candidate, but they did not reach those top two positions. many of the young rev lush nars are very upset with the outcome. but and we don't really know what's going to take place in the coming week. to make matters more complica

complicated, we don't even know the presidential powers. there was a committee to draft a new egyptian constitution, but one of the egyptian higher courts said this panel would have to be disbanded, so we have presidential elections without clearly defined presidential powers. certainly, members of parliament want parliament to have strong powers in the new egypt and a weak president, but given egyptian history, whoever becomes egyptian president will certainly have a lot of powers and will influence the direction of the country. not only in terms of egypt r egypt, but in egypt's relations with the world. of course, u.s. egyptian relations. so all of these issues are very k very important and we're going to try to address them today. i am very, very pleased to have such a distinguished panel with us today. many of these people have i've known over the years and they

have all contributed to my knowledge and understanding of egyptian society and egyptian politics. so i'd like to spend just a few minutes to introduce each of the with the discussion. to my left is mr. karim haggag, who is a career egyptian diplomat spending this year as a visiting faculty member at the near east south asia center of the national defense university here in washington, d.c., where he is focusing on the implications of the arab revolutions. prior to this, he was at the egyptian press information office in washington, d.c., from 2007 to 2011. from 2002 to 2007 he served in the office of the presidency in cairo, responsible for u.s./egyptian relations and economic policy coordination. he did a previous stint in washington at the egyptian embassy where he was responsible for political military affairs and arab/israeli issues. he holds a bachelor's degree in international politics from the american university of cairo and

a masters degree in war studies from kings college in london. thank you for being here. to my far right is mr. thomas groguissian, who has been a journalist and writer for the past 30 years and has written extensively about egyptian politics and u.s. policy. he has written for a number of egyptian arab publications. in addition, he has appeared frequently on many arabic language and english language television programs, including c-span, cnn, al jazeera, and al arabia, as well as egyptian tv. he has also lectured widely and appeared on many panels speaking about egyptian politics and u.s. relations. and currently he is the washington representative for the online daily journal al tahrir. to my immediate right is professor alaa abdel moneim,

professorial lecturer in the school of international service and american university here in washington, d.c. he is also assistant professor in the faculty of economics and political science at cairo university. the doctor is the author of numerous publications on various issues related to middle eastern politics in society and has authored the egyptian country profile for an online encyclopedia titled "islamopedia online." he currently teaches at american university on such courses as contemporary middle eastern politics, minorities in the middle east, and research methodology. so without further ado, i want to welcome our panelists and the audience and turn first mr. hakim haggag for his comments. >> thank you, greg, and thank you to the center for organizing this very important panel. just before i start, i feel in an odd position of having no

make not one but two disclaimers. as an egyptian diplomat i am here not representing the egyptian government but my own views. and also has a visiting faculty of the national defense university, which is a d.o.d. organization, i certainly do not represent the views of the u.s. government. with those two disclaimers, i want to thank greg again for that introduction and for inviting me. so predicting elections is always a hazardous business, and i think the egyptian elections are no exception. as greg mentioned, the second round of these elections, which will be held on the 16th and 17th of june, will see the face-off of -- between the muslim brotherhood candidate mohamed mursi and general ahmed shafiq, both of them who garnered in the first round roughly 24% of the vote. now, the elections so far have

been remarkably surprising. the results have defied all of the predictions that the experts have put forward. most of the polling put the top two front-runners, as greg mentioned, as former foreign minister amr moussa and dr. fotouh who broke off from the muslim brotherhood about a year ago to run as an independent candidate. the high elections council announced the final results of the first round yesterday, and as greg mentioned, there have been some very interesting developments in the last 24 hours with demonstrations in tahrir square, the torching of ahmed shafiq's campaign headquarters. so i think what we have now is a very highly dynamic situation heading into the runoff of these elections. so what i thought i'd do just to

set the scene is talk not about the candidates but about the broad context of these elections and what we can expect to see in the second round or in the run off to these elections, but also what they signify for egypt's post-transition politics. the significance, of course, of these elections, as greg mentioned, it really is the first time in egypt that we have a real contestation for political power in the office of the head of state of the egyptian republic. that is a truly historic development. these elections also mark the end of the transition, the postrevolutionary transition, at least nominally, with the supreme council of the armed forces that has acted as a caretaker of this transition, expected to transfer power at the end of june to a newly elected civilian president. and then, of course, this is

egypt. it is the most populous, the most central arab state. one-fifth of all arabs is an egyptian. egypt has been historically known to be the political and ideological center of the arab world. so these elections do matter. but i think the central question that these elections pose is can they really provide the solution to what has been a crisis of political legitimacy in the aftermath of the revolution against the mubarak regime? now, revolutions, of course, are born out of a legitimacy crisis. the revolution destroyed or overturned the legitimacy of the old order. but what we've seen over the course of the last 15 months is that there has been no new legitimacy to take its place.

and that, i think, has left a political vacuum that has been filled by three competing legitimacies. there has been the legitimacy of the military represented in this staff, or the supreme council of the armed forces. there is the legitimacy of the revolution itself, which overturned the mubarak regime. and that has taken the form of repeated demonstrations in tahrir square, claiming its own legitimacy to direct egypt's future. and then, of course, we have the muslim brotherhood, who claim their own electoral legitimacy to lead egypt's future through the ballot box, which, as has been proven, repeatedly, they are very adept at contesting. so we have a situation of these competing legitimacies, and i think now i think the real test of these elections is will they decide the issue of legitimacy moving forward into the post-transition period.

so i think the easiest way to summarize what is a very complex situation is to talk about the positives and the negatives of these elections. so on the positive side, i think by all accounts this has been a good election. it has been remarkably competitive with clear alternatives provided by five of the leading top candidates in these elections. the role of the military as a caretaker of this election despite all the problems throughout the transition has actually been quite positive. there were widespread expectations that the military would put off the elections, and they had innumerous opportunities to do so, but, in fact, they held very clear and very steadfastly to the election schedule and the election timetable. for all the talk of the military favoring a particular candidate,

there doesn't seem to be any evidence of vote tampering or widespread electoral fraud. and despite the numerous legal challenges to these elections, much of the campaigning has went smoothly and provided for a very provocative and very lively debate between the candidates. so all indications point to the fact that the military will, in fact, hand over power to an elected civilian government. so i think that we can clearly put on the positive ledger for these elections. second and most importantly, these elections produced a highly dynamic political map in egypt. in contrast to the parliamentary elections, which were held last november, which saw the islamists win roughly 75% of the vote between the muslim brotherhood and the salifists with the seculars -- the secular forces combined gaining roughly