that the american people are protected, but that iraqis who have worked with us, who wish to come to our country feel welcomed, that they know where they stand in the process and they know they're taken care of. i'll do everything i can to make this program effective. >> thank you very much. ms. elliott, i want to talk to you about the northern distribution effort. i guess on two levels. number one, the importance of it is so apparent as we drive down in afghanistan to get supplies, equipment and so much else through that network. and i guess, can you assess where we are as it relates to the role played by tajikistan, number one. and number two, how will you upon confirmation prioritize and focus on the importance of that, of their help for us in the northern distribution network? >> well, thank you, mr. chairman. tajikistan has played a very important role in the northern

distribution network, as you rightfully mentioned. it has become extremely important in getting vital supplies to our troops in afghanistan. likewise, it will play an extremely important role in taking equipment out of afghanistan, as we begin to lessen our military presence there. i have worked closely with the country of tajikistan on these issues. while they don't have a rail network like some other countries in central asia, they have been very supportive and have played a vital role in a part of the northern distribution network that i would call the kkt route. the capacity is not great because we have to truck things through the mountains of tajikistan. however, we had very good success rate with very low loss of cargo. no pilferage, and we've gotten a

lot of cooperation from the government of tajikistan on that. and their president indicated to secretary clinton when she met with them that he wants to continue to support us in that area. because as i think government of tajikistan and the the people realize in order to have a safe and prosperous tajikistan, we need a safe and stable and prosperous afghanistan. >> thank you very much. my time is up for this round. anything? >> i would just ask one final question here. since the invasion displaced saddam hussein's sunni governing structure, whatever you want to call it there, one of the major issues has been this divisive

conflict between sunni and shia. we've seen it in terms of the talk of civil war and all the various suicide bombings that have gone on. what is your assessment of how the current government is moving to integrate sunnis into the government at all levels? whether it's high positions in the government or people who held bureaucratic positions and weren't necessarily involved in all the atrocities and things. what's your assessment about how they're performing on the integration? >> thank you, senator. senator casey referenced an ndi poll which shows there's still this vast gap in perceptions of the government between shia and sunnis. among sunnis according to this poll, it's increased in recent months. it's increased from 10% to only 30% of sunnis would see this

government favorably. the current government has a lot of work to do in this area. we can track it through the percentages of military officers. the last order of battle i saw, sunni officers were 13% overall. that's below the population figure. and in this this current round of political negotiation and debate, it's been very interesting. there's been a shake-up of alliances. the face of the shia group, which was involved in a lot of atrocities during the sectarian war is now aligning with a lot of sunnis in kind of an iraqi nationalist view. that's interesting. it's something to watch. the sons of iraq is also something that we need to watch very closely. so far, about 70,000 have been incorporated into government positions. about 30,000 sons of iraq are

still managing checkpoints. they're getting paid out of the current budget. i'm being told they get paid about $300 a month. which is slightly below the per capita gdp. but that needs to continue. one of the indicators, if you look at academic studies of precursors of renewed or reig nated civil war is militant or resurgent groups beginning to coalesce and reform. and making sure the sons of iraq continue to be taken care of, that will be very important. so far the government has kept most of the promises on that. but we need to watch it. and we need to remind the current government every day they need to do what they can to make sunnis feel like they're a full part of the process.

>> we thank you for your testimony, for your prior service and for your willingness to serve yet again in tough assignments. i want to say this that we're going to keep the record open. we'll keep the record opened for 48 hours. for questions. that's a share window. i wanted to make sure people knew that for members of the committee. we're grateful for your testimony and we're adjourned.

tomorrow, eric holder testifies about his agency before the house judiciary committee. you can see it live starting at 9:30 a.m. eastern at cspan.org. >> mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. >> sunday night at 9:00 eastern

and pacific american history tv, mark the 25th anniversary of ronald reagan's 1987 speech in west germany. also this weekend on c-span3, our series, "the contenders." 14 key political figures who ran for president and lost but changed political history. this sunday, james blaine. american history tv this weekend on c-span3. american history tv, get our schedules and see past programs on our websites. and you can join in on the conversation on social paid yeah sites. the labor department is planning to change its current practice of reporting employment statistics to media outlets half an hour before they're released to the public. the former head of the bureau of labor statistics told the house

oversight committee the changes are in part designed to prevent stock traders from getting the information before everybody else. a representative of bloomberg news said his organization would sue if the changes are made. this part of the hearing is about an hour. good morning. the oversight committee will come to order. we on the oversight committee exists to secure two fundamental principles. first, americans have a right to know the money washington takes from them is well spent, and, second, americans deserve an efficient, effective government that works for them. our duty on the oversight and government reform committee is the protect these rights. our solemn responsibility is to hold government accountable to taxpayers, because taxpayers have a right to know what they get from their government. we will work tirelessly in partnership with citizen watchdogs to deliver the facts

to the american people and bring genuine reform to the federal bureaucracy. when president obama took office, he promised the american people to have a more transparent administration, the most transparent administration in history. from that point on, this was a standard that the obama administration would be held to. almost four years later, more and more it seems that their own actions, the actions of this administration, say just the opposite is true. the department, the u.s. department of labor led by secretary hilda solis, has unilaterally changed the method by which the media accesses the bureau of labor statistics job data. this unprecedented action has serious freedom of the press implications.

let there be no doubt we appreciate the need for simultaneous release of this sensitive information. but that has been accomplished for more than a generation through a procedure that was much more effective, as effective, and more acceptable to the media itself. the abrupt nature of this change coupled with the absence of a clear explanation and a lack of public input raises key questions about who made this decision to implement this change and why? did that individual have the authority of law? as the committee has examined this, this isn't the first time the issue has come up concerning the labor department's reach into the bureau of labor statistics. you'll recall the bureau received $500 million in stimulus funds to train workers for so-called green skills. but an audit by the inspector general found the program to be an utter failure and represented

a tremendous loss to the taxpayer. this included training for occupations that are hardly green, such as welder, sheet metal worker and machine operator. certainly those are jobs that may be needed. the skills are valuable, but they're certainly not all of a sudden green after hundreds of years of being around as a profession. aside from the excuse -- excuse waste that perpetrated the department of labor, there is been using the guys of green jobs to justify ongoing funding of the president's green agenda. however, the standard they have invented includes counting as a green job, in addition to the welder, college professors are now green. environmental reporters are now green. policy experts at any think tank can be green.

in fact, lobbyists can be green. now, i've been in washington nearly 12 years. there's a lot of green with lobbyists, none of it should be counted as environmentally green job. there are 33 -- 33 times as many so-called green jobs in the septic tank -- you can't make these things up, guys. septic tank and portable toilet servicing industry as there are in solar energy and utility areas. more than 160,000 of these green jobs are related to school bus drivers. using these tactics to manipulate the number to mislead the american people is nothing short of embarrassing and a betrayal of the standards that president obama established for his administration. transparency begins with honesty. you cannot send out false propaganda and then say you're transparent. the truth is essential.

the barest of the truth is essential. unfiltered, if you are to be transparent. we all appreciate this administration has an opinion and this chairman has an opinion that's sometimes different. we are entitled to our opinions. we are not entitled to our facts. and is it any wonder that such concerns why -- why there is such concern now that secretary solis' department wants to unilaterally change and control how the press receives job numbers from the bureau of labor statistics? of course, when invited to appear today to explain why this change in freedom of the press would occur, secretary solis in no uncertain terms turned down all invitations and offered us alternatives. we appreciate those who are here as alternatives. however, ultimately, if you're

the secretary of labor, the buck should stop with you. if it doesn't stop there, where can the american believe -- americans believe it stops? it doesn't stop at the white house if the secretary allows something to happen and then doesn't have an answer. we will hear more about that here today, and i hope it will send a clear message to the administration. with that i recognize the distinguished ranking member for his opening statement. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and i thank you for holding today's hearing. which appears to be focus on two very different topics involving the department of labor and bureau of labor statistics. the first topic is the integrity of the department of labor's job reporting. democrat of labor strike as balance between preventing the unauthorized release of key economic data and providing journalists with access to that

data ahead of time see that they can prepare their stories context about the broader employment situation. this balance is very important. the media are the publics eyes and ears, so it's critical that they have the access necessary to ensure that they have a thorough and accurate understanding so that they can place it in context. a leak of this data could have negative consequences. for example -- in the hands of certain traders, early access to this data, even if just by a few seconds, could allow their powerful computer trading alga rhythms to manipulate markets and reap millions of dollars.rhythms to manipulate markets and reap millions of dollars.rhythms to manipulate ms and reap millions of dollars.or markets and reap millions of dollars.rhythms to manipulate ms and reap millions of dollars.ar markets and reap millions of dollars.rhythms to manipulate ms and reap millions of dollars.or markets and reap millions of dollars. that is why the department and other data reporting agencies employ procedures to prevent unauthorized releases. the department of labor hired

sandia national laboratories which oversees the security of our nuclear arsenal to evaluate whether changes were needed to meet the new security requirements of today's constantly changing technological environment. sandia found significant vulnerabilities in the department and recommended procedures and steps to mitigate those risks. sandia also warned that those seeking to break current security controls are profit-driven, technically sophisticated individuals or organizations who may have considerable resources at their disposal. acting on sandia's recommendations, the department announced new controls on hardware and software in the lockup environment. in addition, the department has now excluded specific firms that sought access to sell data to wall street traders a fraction of a second before other traders

see it. initially, some in the media complained that the department's proposed changes were too restrictive. and these complaints appeared to be in the impetus for today's hearing. over the past month, however, the department has worked with press outlets to accommodate their concerns while enhancing security. we anticipate there will be an additional -- there will be additional announcements regarding these ongoing discussions soon. the second topic of the day's hearing appears to be how the department of labor calculates the number of green jobs in the u.s. economy. this is the third hearing the majority has called on this topic and the third time department of labor officials have testified before us. last july the brookings inls tugs issued a report on green jobs with the following findings.

first, green jobs employ almost 2.7 million americans. more than the fossil fuel industry and twice the size of the bioscience sector. second, they said, the green economy expanded at greater rates than the economy as a whole. they went on to say the green economy offers considerable and more highly paid opportunities for low and middle-skilled workers. and finally they said, fourth, green economy is manufacturing and exporting intensive, both of which are critical for america's future. since this report was issued, the bureau of labor statistics estimated that the number of green jobs is even higher, reporting that over the 3 million that have helped rebuild our economy. this news should be welcomed by policymakers in congress. unfortunately, this committee seems more in general challenging the methodologies used by the bureau of labor statistics rather than helping the people get back to work.

i thank the witnesses for being here yet again today, and i look forward to your testimony, and with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman. >> i thank the gentleman. i would take note that although the ranking member mentioned the ddl report, the sandia report -- the sandia report has not been made available to us under any circumstances. so notwithstanding the gentleman's assertions, until the department of labor makes that report available to us, we will consider it to be a cya document held closed against congress. i hope the gentleman will join with me in issuing a subpoena if they will not deliver that document they allege is the impetus for this closing. >> i'd be happy to, glad, mr. chairman, to consult with us on the subpoena, i'd be happy to talk about it, and if it's warranted i certainly would join you. >> i thank the gentleman. members will have seven days in which to submit opening statements for the record.

we will now recognize our first panel. mr. daniel moss is the executive editor for economics and international government at bloomberg news. welcome. mr. rob dougherty is the general manager, united states, for reuters news. also, welcome. ms. lucy dalglish, would you pronounce it? dalglish. is the executive director at the reporters committee for freedom of the press, also welcome. dr. keith hall is the former commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics, and is currently a senior fellow at the mercadis certainly. and ms. diane furchtgott-roth is the former chief economist of the united states department of

labor and a current fellow at the manhattan institute. welcome all. pursuant to our committee's rules would you please rise to take the oath. and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? let the record reflect they all affirmed or swore. please be seated. a couple of returning. a couple of you, it may be your first. we have members that will be coming in and out. we estimated about half an hour for your opening statements. so try to stay as close to five minutes as you can. we will have your entire opening statement, plus additional material you may wish to submit to support anything you say here today, included in the record without objection.

so you only need to summarize, because for the record, all that you have submitted will be on the record. mr. moss? >> chairman issa, congressman cummings, members of the committee, i thank the committee for the opportunity to appear today and i want to express my particular appreciation to the committee for its engagement in this issue. bloomberg news provides data, news and analytics to those in the industry beyond finance. bloomberg news is delivered through the bloomberg professional service, through television, radio, mobile, the internet, and two magazines. "bloomberg business week" and "bloomberg markets." we are syndicated in hundreds of newspapers globally and cover the world with more than 2,000 reporters and editors in 146 bureaus in more than 70 countries. we are experts at publishing economic statistics and disseminating market moving information.

media stakeholders are making progress, mr. chairman, with the department of labor in arriving at a place that will not undermine the first amendment. will not reduce transparency and accuracy of critical data or create unacceptable cyber security risks. while no conclusive agreement has been reached, a movement that we have seen would not have been possible without the engagement of members of this committee. and committees and members in both chambers of both parties. we are particularly thankful to senator blount for his engagement. on april 10th, without the notice and comment predicated under the administrator's procedures act, a dramatic policy shift. henceforth, reporters would be required to use only government software, government hardware, government lines, government notebooks and government pens. the use of modern news producing software with the greater accuracy and context it provides

would be prohibited. all transmission would be via the internet, not secure lines. the department of labor to operate the lines control internet access and control internet connections creating a single point of failure, because all news organizations would share the same infrastructure. although the policy change was unprecedented, it was presented as non-negotiable, a fait accompli. news organizations were required to remove their software, hardware and dedicated lines from the department by june 15. this proposal threatens the first amendment. the government would literally own the reporters' notebook, unlike any other federal agency, the department of labor is requiring that reporter, write news arms on government-obtained and operated computers on a regular basis, which would give

the government unfettered access to reporters' notes and drafts. no administration anywhere should have access to a reporter's thoughts, drafts or notes as a condition for covering the news. let alone use of such importance. the proposal also -- i'm sorry. the order also threatens national security. house, senate and the administration have rightly spent a great deal of time attempting to address potential cyber security threats, protecting our financial markets from disruption by cyber attack has been a key part of that discussion. in a world in which we now live, the department of labor to deliberately force the transmission of data away from secure, dedicated lines and instead mandate via the internet is inexplicable. even accidental disruption is a large part of the reason why news organizations have invested in their own secure lines.

the prospect of a deliberate disruption potential spoofing, potential market manipulation are real. on august -- in august last year, the department of labor's website went down following the release of the monthly employment situation report. the unemployment rate was unavailable for one hour. if the april 10 order, mr. chairman, goes in to effect, the result would be potentially catastrophic. this proposal would increase market vulnerability and volatility. in the modern era of computerized trading, people compete in nanoseconds. studies of the 2010 flash crash illustrate how quickly small incidents can result in major disruptions. when the department of labor hosted a conference call on

april 16, ostensively to answer media questions on the new policy, i asked, "what is the problem do you think you imagine this will prevent?" the department of labor's response was -- i think we're going to move on. operator, we'll take the next question. the alleged rationale for the new policy has grudgingly slipped out in dribs and drabs, ultimately relying on a report by sandia national laboratories, which as the chairman noted, has not been publicly released. the dol has alleged its new policy is necessary because unauthorized people planted unauthorized equipment in the department's communications closet. but this is an argument for enforcing the existing policy, not imposing draconian new rules. the sandia report speaks of those who oppose the department's recommendations as adversaries, according to what's circulated on the hill. it notes although they are

willing to potentially violate the law, violence is unlikely as an operational movement, does the department believe the media are adversaries, what rules and laws are we likely to break and what evidence or experience is such a statement based? sandia continues stating the apparent root cause for the issues driving this assessment is the possible presence of algorithmic traders and/or their agents in the press lockup faster. has the lockup been infiltrated by hedge funds? the public, press and congress would be entitled to that information. is it that difficult to distinguish between an authentic news organization and hedge fund? most significantly, if the root cause of the issues driving this assessment is the possible presence of algorithmic traders, why not just expel them from the lockup? why threaten to erode the fi