identifying and separating low -low-s risk travelers is a key element in efforts to facilitate and secure international travel. providing travelers with clear instructions in many entry process. cbp continues to enhance the way we serve the public. we developed a traveler satisfaction survey to benchmark passenger satisfaction. last year, over 90% of travelers agree that the professionals are helpful and efficient. thank you for the opportunity to testify today. i'm happy to answer your questions. >> thank you very much. we'll start with our ranking member scott.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, members of the panel for taking i don't recall time and investing your time and helping us to have a clearer path forward including our tourism, economy and, perhaps, our reputation, as well. f.y. appropriations that secure technology that would allow state to conduct visa interviews remotely and provide a convenient solution for foreign access. can you please give us an update? >> thank you, senator. the bureau of counselor affairs is kocontinuing to look into whether video can be used. we understand the allure and the attraction of the video interviewing idea. we have serious concerns about

the security efficiency and integrity of video interviewing. we believe expanding the pool of low-risk traveler who is do not require an interview at all will realize far greater efficiencies than would video interviewing. we are focusing technology to help us expand interviews for whom can be waived. that would allow us to focus resources on higher-risk visa applicants. expansive is for larger, legitimate travelers. the video interview process can

work when you're dealing with a known group. but when you're trying to interview several thousand people who are just coming 234 one after another sitting in front of the camera, we think there are serious questions about that process. >> so you're, perhaps, focused more on identifying low-risk travelers as opposed to moving forward today on the use of that technology? >> yes, sir. >> okay. thank you. assistant secretary stroud, we've heard a little bit about the executive loan program and how dhs is leveraging with six assignments under the program to support some of the department's tourism initiatives. can you give me a better idea of these roles? >> sure. thank you, senator.

let me first explain that the loan executive program is a program that allows us to take advantage of private sector at essentially no cost. these folks continue to get paid by their private sector employers. we currently have, on the travel and tourism side, we've seven assignments they largely came after a site visit. their expertise on signage, on literally cueing people was invaluable. so we worked with cbp and tsa to jointly develop these descriptions to basically create a task force team that could go around to our various gateway airports and look at each airport. so this team has to literally go

to these airports and look. they will actually dual record to the deputy secretary who, under the law, operates as a chief operating officer for the d. they will be used sporadically during that time frame. >> thank you. on the cbp's pre-clearance operations with our strong allies like canada, ireland and the caribbean, this has facilitated low-risk travel opportunities the canadian pre-clearance has done a lot of good for our country. i'd like to get your opinion? >> absolutely.

we're looking to expand the program with a lot of different of the gateway airports overseas. but it does help with the facilitation benefits. certainly, 2 enforcement and security benefits of being able to search someone or inspect someone and approve someone for travel to the united states. so really essential for both the security admission that we do. >> before i get into my questions, i just wanted to thank ambassador bond and her testimony for flagging the issue and the opportunities related to expanding the interview waiver program and commit to you that i know for myself and many members of the committee, we're anxious to facilitate in any way possible. and if there are legislative changes that need to be made, we're pleased to work with you on that. mr. wagner, as you probably know, cbp is working on resuming

operations at the kona airport. it would add another international gateway to hawaii. i know there are facility issues, but, from our standpoint, we are not landing commercial flights at the kona airport for lack of resources at the state and federal level. do i have your commitment to work with us to solve that problem? >> we'll absolutely work with you. >> i can assure you the commercial airlines will come if we can square away our epd of the bargain. thank you very much. ambassador bond, i understand the wait program has helped to reduce wait time around that the state department would like to expand that program. could you put into perspective the benefits of this waiver

authority? >> yes, thank you, senator. the benefit is it allowings us to carefully examine the people bhor aplying for visa applicatio applications and separate the people out that we have a lot of information. an example would be someone who is applying for a student visa. we have information about their travel pattern. we have all of the screening that is done for 100% of travelers. we really don't need to interview that person. and because each application will be examined, if there is something that raisings a question, we can invite that person to come in for an interview.

and flr other examples of people we'd be able to move along and focus on the folks who we know less. >> thank you very much. mr. wagner, where are we with the development of metrics. and are we at a point any time soon where we're going to have a maximum wait time target as an official policy of the krrksz pb. >> that information 1 posted on our web site. we take two pieces of information that we have data on, the block time of the aircraft to the time we read that person's passport. and then we subtract out what the average walk time is to get from the plane to our area. that data is tabulated every day.

just yesterday, about, narcly, 75% of the people cleared cbp in 30 minutes or less. >> it seems to me it's not just a question of trying to aggregate the data. but you're creating the out liars for such a statement where people won't come back. you're actually -- you're removing people from the sort of likely repeet traveler pool. even if your 5:00 aggregate dat looks good. >> correct. the average yesterday was 20 minutes throughout the day. but it's really those peak arrival times. if 15 flights land within an hour and a couple thousand

people come at us twunsing at u we're finding different ways to settle that. we just have to match them up with that information that. 's where the kiosks come in. that's where global entry come ins and we can remove those people from the queue depletely. we have not looked at a narnl wait times goal. we are looking at the measurements. if travel stays the same and wait time is the same, we're proving the goal. what's the right things to measure in that process.

rather than setting just an across-the-board goal. a lot of factors are outside of our control. it's a deeper discussion we need to have. >> thank you. my final question for ambassador bond, where are we with negotiations between the united states and china on reciprocal visa validity. >> as you may know, senator, the current reciprocity is one year. and we are talking to the chinese government about extending those visa validities

for several categories. in order to make long term plans. so we are in consultation the chinese government. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, chairman. mr. hyatt, in your testimony, you talked about reauthorizing what's called brand usa. i appreciate that. we've actually filed legislation to do exactly that. at the same time, we've included so mu some accountability standards. i want to talk to you about two things. one is the increase in numbers, 2 increase in money spent.

what i'm wondering is what can you do to measure the impact of marketing efforts themselves. >> we think of wroobrand usa as global destination. there are four classic measures that seem appropriate. they are the effectiveness of the marketing program them vs themselves. the program they do to market to a country. second, the intent in which they shape travel. are people more likely to intend to travel to the u.s. third, the results themselves, does it create additional travelers. and, forurth, the return on investment.

they've built a pretty comprehensive dash board -- >> and the numbers ewe gave today, the difference in 2012 and 2013 travel? would you say that brand usa was responsible for some porks of that increase? >> i think -- we don't have the data to support what they're responsible for. we have marketing program after marketing program where the marketing partners talk about the results that brand usa creates. and there's a lot of company by company, december mags marketing organization by destination marking. in addition, brand usa also

arctticulated the result that i brand usa is creating. so the indications are there's value creation from brand usa in its activities. >> in the first year or so, and i may get back to that as a topic later, largely, the funding is not any taxpayer funding from the united states. it's visa waiver fees, but it still has to be matched. i know in the first year, we were concerned of the real value of any end kind of match. and i wondered what the department has done and can do to more fully value that senior high school of the match. >> thank you, senator, for the question. we spent a lot of time working

with brand usa and, also, third party companies. to help determine the most appropriate and effective way. we have built, now, a set of procedures from around the government to value the end kind. where it is a more ewe nexuniqu difficult to identify. i think both brand usa we are now comfortable that the procedures in place now are efficiently and effective ly

measuring the end kind. >> and are there other monitoring investment that is you've put in place to monitor the way money is being spent by the brand usa board and the people they've hired to run the program? >> and, again, as i said, the metric that is we are watching are the metrics of the effect e effectiveness of the campaign, of intent to travel of results, program by program. and, again, there's a dash board that's there that we're working with. >> thank you. chairman, if we have more time for questions, i'll have more questions. if got, i'll have questions for the record. >> senator nelson? >> mr. rubio, senator wagner and i are going to tag team on the i shall shoe of miami and orlando. i understand you obviously have this on your radar scope because you've mentioned miami zef rat times.

it was curious to me when you specificationly mentioned in miami a five-hour period where some 12,000 people are arriving all at once. aside from the issue of the number of customs, you know, border patrol officers do you consider on a temporary basis shifting the high concentration of need? >> yes, absolutely that. 's what our local managers will do from other work areas in the environment. make sure we have enough booths open every single day. miami is of significant importance to us. we're looking at the wait times

every day. i'm getting a report every singling day of how we're doing. i was just down there on monday walking through with some of the other local stake holders. it's very important to us. >> so where would you get them? would you get them from the sea port? would you get them from ft ft. lauderdale? >> we can use they want from other areas in the airport, say cargo processing or afford to take a few hours break from that activity to put into addressing that peak arrivals. taking from another airport is a little more challenging with their own wait times. >> so are you doing this now? >> we're doing it within the

airport itself. >> not from the sea port? >> no, we haven't really looked at that. that's also an option. >> i'll leave the other questions on miami to senator rubio. but just to remind you, there was an ins dent in orlando because of the lack of officers. you all responded, but then the sequester hit. and so i want you to be mindful of that. now, i'm curious. i want to come at this fwr another standpoint for all of you.

we are facing a situation where it looks like we're going to have a lot of area of iraq and syria. at least for in the short run is going to be controlled by an extremely radical terrorist group. and, presumably, there are americans who have gone to syria for training. a floridan was the one who blew himself up recently. but, also, a lot of europeans. okay. if they've got a european passport wharks are the extra precautions that you take other than our overall terrorist search.

in a visa waiver country, which may very well be one of these home grown terrorists to catch them. mr. stroud? >> i would say that primarily, for using our national targeting center, we begin to look at the travel patterns of folks. we get that information well before they get on the plane. in addition to that, as you've taken a visit for miami international, you'll see that customs and borders excutes all of their regular protocol with respect to arriving passengers regardless of who still receives. >> it's also working with our foreign allies to identify who these people are. who's associated with them and what he happens we can decipher from our intentions. as prchlt stroud mentioned, it's the airline reservation data, drawing links to pieces of

information we know would give us national security concerns and who can be associated to that. but also looking at travel patterns based on prior activities. and what's the right point in that process to intercept this person wfr they get on board that plane. we have officers stationed overseas at about 11 locations, major airports, cbp officers, not so much pre-clearance, but it's called the innovation advisory program. they get a list every day of travels that give us concerns. they make a recommendation to the airline whether or not they should fly this person:

pre-clearance gives us another side with travelers that go through there and the amount of national security activity that keeps us up at night. having our officers on the ground there to be able to search people and ensure they're safe before we put them on board that aircraft. snot xx, thank you for holding this hearing and thanks for taking time. i think we've a hearing on this subject every month. anyway, if i was chairman, philadelphia be any week. tourism plays a huge part. you can imagine in the state of

nevada, for 20 consecutive years, we've been the number one meeting in north america. >> this year, tourism supports one in two local jobs. today, though, i'm interested in learning what washington, d.c. can do to continue the hard work on your behalf and on the state's behalf. that's why i'm pleased you're here today. i'm particularly interested in the ways we can open more international markets. markets like brazil according to

the international visit xxs, they stay longer and spend more money. with that in mind, i'd like to ask you a couple questions. to expand travel, how are we doing? >> i think we're making some big strides towards it. i think we're ahead of where we're supposed to be. and one of the things that i would obviously say that the secretary has already testified to is the fact that we believe in expanding and facilitating the travel arrival experience will greatly increase that number.

if you just took one percent of that and used the number on a triple 6767, you would see it takes about 124 airplanes off of the cbp linings. we are working towards that together. i would defer to my colleague from cbp to answer that, as well. >> the passenger arrival is building self kiosks that not only gives them a better experience but helps us be more efficient and secure in what we do. seeing things like global entry

for that frequent, low-risk traveler. keeping a program like that. we see -- we're getting 60,70,0000 applications a month. it's been steady at that for the last year, year and a half. tremendous up tick. so, later in the week, we see those tremendous percentages increase. for the infrequent traveler, for the family travelers, for the casual vacationers, you know, they can use some sort of automated process but still see the officer for a shortened process with that officer. that helps us be more efficient! do you need more to streamline the process like you're talking

about? >> authority wise, yes. we have very good relationships with the stake holders that helped design, build and deploy these kinds of activities. >> what's it going to take to open up countries like brazil. >> technically, it would be the current visa waiver statute. >> and, of course, expanding global entry to other countries like japan that we don't currently have. >> sir, if i may -- just to add to that, the point that we did see a significant up tick. when people were starting to get a visa, they started traveling more.

so that can also assist. >> senator rubio? >> thank you. mr. wagner, i wanted to focus on the miami thing as senator nelson previewed. it's a real mess. i fly through them all of the time. it's the second busiest port to the united states. this year alone, it's going to get a million more visitors than it did a year ago. it should be good news. from january to march of this year, the average wait time has been 59 minutes. but the problem with that, sometimes the wait time is as long as 190 american under the circumstances. it's the longest wait time in the u.s.

the average is basically the amount of times that's coming in all day. sometimes the wait time has been documented to be as long as three hours. so there's a problem with the way that's calculated. the damage isn't calculated. number one, there's misconnections. and the other is word of mouth. look, i have here a collection of things people have put up on twitter. miami airportline is a night mary. first world city, third would airport. miami airport is a joke. warning to all continuing passengers clearing customs and immigration through miami. it is a nightmare. if you can avoid this, try to do so. so this is really, really complicated and really problematic. and then i look at some of the models being used to make some

decisions here. about 2,0000 new officers have been approved. i knee it's going to take 18 months to two years to get them on line. newark, which is not even on the chart, they got a hundred new agents. mia miami only got 60. so the second busiest airport in the united states got 3%. >> so the workload staffing model takes all of the activities a cbp officer does at a port of entry. it takes 2 amount of time to do and how many hours a gay. it comes up with a staffing number of what we think is the

right number. it's not optimal staffing. this factors in filters such as all that work comes in at one time and they overload the system. there's other factor that is we would look at remote ports or splitting terminals or splitting the work up. there's several factors. we've allocated 80-100 officers the previous year to miami airport in anticipation of the north terminal opening. the other airports didn't get that. so, you know, miami got a large influx of cbp officers to accommodate that growth.

we agree it's not nuch. we're grateful for the 2,000 that congress gave us -- >> so the reason why you're only getting 60 is because you got 80 the year before? >> correct. the workload staffing model tried to balance that out evenly. they've got to come from somewhere. we try to blarns that out. >> because i don't want to run out of time, the second question that i'm interested to see what their response will be to that. but the second question that i have, it has to do with the staffing models wuchonce they'r place.

you talked earlier with close coordination and the airlines on when to surge up and when not to. miami airport has told us that you will not share the staffing model. is that something that you don't share with the airlines and the airport.ccording to them, they know it. >> i think we meet twice a day with the air looirns and airport operators to plan out the day's events: we model out what the projects wait times are going to be and what the primary boot count should be and then we lay our staffing over that to see how many booths can we afford to open and how much overtime do we use? we share that information with the airports.

hue you came up with it, are they aware of what you use to determine? >> they should be. we will certainly share that nfrgs with them how we come about the numbers, the 5:00 tifrties -- there's about 170 different activities we counted to come up with a workload. we can share the after rang processing times of each one of those activities. there's nothing, say, secretive or controversial or classifiy i behind that kind of information. i have one more question, but i'll wait. >> we have a vote at 11:45. >> senator? >> it has to do with the kiosks. you have this program where airports can pay to put the kiosks in.

here's the problem they're having. those kiosks only work for u.s. citizens that are returning. as they're currently con figur d miami, they don't for the international past times yet. can you work with us to get those kios skrks s in there? >> they work today for u.s. citizens, perm nent residents and visa waived travelers. that's a software upgrade. >> that's a software up grad. miami does about 35% through

those kiosks. >> what's the time frame? >> we have not sketched out what the requirements would br or what the time line of that would be. but that's what we're going to focus on. >> well, the sooner the better. they've got a mess on their hands there. i really worry about perma wor damage being done to that port of entry. there's some orlando issues, but we're out of time. >> thank you for having this hearing mpl ining. it's good to be here with my friend, senator blunt. i would like them to know that minnesota actually has more coastli coastline, this is a true story, than the states of florida, california and hawaii combined because of our lakes. i know you might have thought that before. >> but not as many beaches. >> okay. a lot of trees hugging those

lakes. but we are proud of our tourism in the mall of america and really happy with the increases we've seen because of the good work many of you are doing. we thank you for that. i thought the senator did a good job of focusing somg of the changes that we've made and the positive past with brand usa and the bill that we have and the accountability measures. and i thought i would ask you about global entry. first of all, mr. wagner, in addition to increased officer taxing, maximizing custom, border and protections, limited resources and a tight budget environment. while the program is continued to grow, as we all know, with additional enrollment of u.s. citizens, expanding foreign governments would increase efficiency.

can you talk about the possibilities of expanding to other country sns and while you're looking at your papers, just, also, how this is interacting with nexus. >> so for u.s. citizens, they're all intertwined and integrated. just the title at the top of the card is different. are there issues on the canadian side? >> no, it's just really the capacity and the reach. global entry, we're seeing 70,000 applicants a month coming in. that's been fairly consistent for the last couple years.

collectively, we're doing over a hundred thousand a month. we currently have agreements with south korea, mexico, pilots limited with u.k., cutter and germany. we're working with -- and panama, to increase the number of background checks that those governments can do. we'd like to open it up to the u.k. i think we're fairly close with japan. with france, i think we're making some progress request them. >> i think you know, if you get these people coming in to our

country, they spend an average of $4500. >> senator blunt and i were just in canada and i know one of the things that's important is the border crossings. the cbp has gotten some partnerships and it allows private money to be ledged with public money right now, those pilot vsz been up in the mexican 3w0rder. we'd like to have some commitment as soon as possible. do you know what's in if works? >> so we have the reimbursable services availability to us.

we have a handful of locations that are currently using the reimbursement for services. we have solicited for a next round of applications, which we've received. and we're going through selecting the final for that. i'll have to look to see who's on that list. we should be making anounszmentes by the end of the month. there's no restriction on the border row cases. we're still working with gsa for the donation of real property. it's a little trickier. >> okay. we really need to get -- i just think there was more focused on the mexican border and we need to extend this up to the northern border. thank you, again, for visiting minnesota.

i want to turn this over to my colleagues now. >> thank you, senate store. xx. we'll wrap up with senator blunt with some final questions followed by senator nelson and then we have a vote in a few minutes. >> well, thank you, chairman. mr. wagner, on the nexus global entry question, i'm assume frg what you're saying canada won't accept the global entry card? >> it's not that they won't accept it. we have to tee up the approval for canada to approve your entry into canada. it's not they won't accept it.

global entry is for entry into the united states. you can always come home through one of the programs. but for entry into another country, you still need that government's approval through their process to enter that. so the programs are licmpk linked, but there's just an extra step. here's a place where you can say why don't you accept this card as an expedited entry card. >> we've discussed it more from the admissibility end of who they can let into their country and who makes that determination. much like it is for our state. >> what's the cost for the application for nexus?

>> nexus is 5 $50 for five years, global entry is a hundred dollars for five years. >> and these are all people who reside in the united states. it would seem to me that we'd be doing them a favor if we could convince the canadians. and your application process, you wouldn't have to go through it a second time. and maybe you do that. do you do that -- if somebody with a global entry card says we're going to go to canada, do you say it's another $50 to get a nexus card? is that the current process? >> correct. and then we have to team them up with an important to get interviewed by their border authorities. much like we would do. and then they will issue that approval. >> okay. this is something for us to talk to them about.

just for the panel, generally, and maybe mr. hyatt initially, if we charged this voo sa waiver fee, that will discourage people from coming to the united states and we'll have fewer travelers. they'll choose to go somewhere else instead. is there any evidence that any of the four of you have that the visa waiver fee has discouraged people from coming to the united states and they've gone to other countries, instead? >> we do not have any evidence of that. >> i agree with that, sir. no sign of that at all. >> no, sir, we've seen record increases. >> good. and the last thing i wanted to mention, on the visa reciprocity with china, generally, our visa reciprocity is based on the fact that the other country is

equally eager for our travelers to go there it's a mutual kind of determination. i've been persuaded for some time that the chinese may be changing their view of this. they've not appear today care very much about how difficult it was for our travelers to go there. we benefit from our travelers coming here. i don't know that reciprocity is something that is a goal that we have to be rigidly pursuing if it's to our advantage to have more travelers here. the interesting comment is that we were both trying to get to -- what i think you said was they were trying to get to yes. would you talk about that just a little bit more? are they beginning to change their view of we want americans to come here more and stay longer?

and in return for that u we're prepared to have a greater reciprocal relationship or not? >> senator, the short answer is, yes, we very definitely have the understanding that china the also interested in looking at e, demand for travel to china has gone up. and they are, as we are, they're thinking about how to stay ahead of that demand and make sure that they are able to adjudicate those visa applications. so we do believe that there's interest on both sides in finding a way to agree on extended visa validities. >> if we can't, what you have done on renewing travel visas, and a much better way than we had before, has clearly made a difference. mr. chairman, thank you for your time. and thank you for holding this hearing today. >> thank you. senator nelson? >> they called a vote. so i have a couple of questions. mr. hyatt, you testified about

oh 40 -- no, let's see, it's up to $57 billion in trade surplus as a result of the travel and tourism industry in 2013. at the same time we're running a trade deficit of about $471 billion. now, if we can get to the president's target of 100 million visitors, what do we estimate that diminution of that trade deficit to be? >> we have not calculated that. but that's something we could calculate. we estimated that the 100 million visitors would generate $250 billion in service exports. i don't know that we've modeled the other side of it, which is where we expect outbound u.s. travel to be.

but that's something we could get back to you. we have projected $250 billion to be the amount of services exports, if we hit the 100 million visitor number. >> does that equate to the $57 billion in trade surplus for the industry? >> the $57 billion trade surplus is in calendar 2013. it's exports minus american expenditures abroad. your second question, what 2021 looks like, we haven't calculated. >> your target is 2021? >> 2021 for 100 million visitors who we estimate would spend $250 billion. >> okay. madam ambassador, let's go brazil. you testified as to a huge number of brazilians who come to the u.s. i think you said something like

100,000. >> sir, i'm not sure that i had that number in my testimony, but it's certainly more than that. >> you named about four countries that -- >> that account for -- close to 50% of all the visas that we issued. >> according to the commerce status, for 2013, from brazil, we had 2.06 million visitors. >> okay. now, i can tell you, a lot of them are coming to florida. >> absolutely they are. >> and they're specifically going to miami and/or orlando. so we do not have a visa waiver with brazil, so if you're a brazilian family and you want to go to disney world, you have to go to a consulate to have an

eyeball-to-eyeball interview in order to get a visa. is that right? >> yes, sir. although children under the age of 16 do not have to appear. and travelers over the age of 66. so the parents might come, but not necessarily need to bring their children. >> okay. and last i checked, this is a year or so ago, we had two consulates. one in rio, and another one in brazilia. >> sir, we also have consulates in resife and sao paulo. and we're looking to open two more. we also have what we call offsite fa saletan tags centers, so that the people who are planning to apply for a visa can

go and get their fingerprints taken and their picture taken and submit their application online. so that when they actually come to the consulate, they move through extremely quickly. i mentioned in my testimony, on average, they're in the consulate for less than half an hour. >> right. >> it's a very rapid process. once they have the visa, they never have to come back. because that visa when it expires can be renewed by mail. and we just send them the passport back with a new visa in it. >> and what is the application fee for a visa? >> $160. >> is that per person? >> yes. it's per person. and that is worldwide. >> is there a discount for children? >> no, sir, there's not. >> so for a family of four, two adults and two children, you're looking at some real money, just to apply for a visa.

>> there is that cost. the fee that we charge, and it is a worldwide fee, but it is based on a very rigorous cost of service model that shows how much it costs us to actually provide that service. and so we're recouping the cost of running that -- the visa program that we have globally. and that's what determines the fee. >> and -- >> just to add, brazilians do -- the visa is valid for ten years. so they're paying the equivalent of $16 a year to apply for the visa. >> so if a family is raising children, and they anticipate they want to take them to disney world, they ought to go ahead because the visa's going to be good for ten years. >> that's exactly right. what we clearly see across the world is that when travelers have a visa that has a longer

validity, they just start thinking of themselves as a person who might travel again and again and again. they say, we got that 20th anniversary coming up, we've got that 16th birthday, or 15th birthday for them, so they plan on traveling to the united states. we see that very clearly. >> what percentage of your applicants do you reject giving a visa to in brazil? >> sir, i don't have the number exactly. i'd like to ask that i take that question and get back to you. but i'm pretty sure for applicants for business and tourist travel, it's less than 10%. >> what about worldwide? what's your percentage? >> again, i'm going to have to take the question. i'm sorry, i don't know offhand. it varies so dramatically from country to country. >> and mr. stroud, of those that

are rejected, are the intelligence services basically the people that are rejecting -- what percent are you thinking there's something squirrelly about this person as opposed to somebody that you think's just going to be a flight risk that's going to get into the country and stay? >> i'd have to take that for the record and give you an accurate breakdown, sir. >> if you would. >> absolutely. >> thank you, senator nelson. we want to thank the panel. this has been an impressive group of witnesses. you are all working hard on this issue, and you're working smart. i think you've seen from the participation in this subcommittee, that tourism knows no ideology. it is a nonpartisan issue. we look forward to working with all of your agencies and giving you the statutory authority necessary, the political support necessary and the funding next to meet our 100 million

international visitors goal. thank you very much.

outgoing israeli president was issued the congressional medal today in washington. that's next on c-span. then, a conversation with republican senator rob johnson. a house panel looks at federal statutes, and the overuse and misuse of the criminal law. and later, house intelligence chair, mike rogers, talks to reporters. we believe that all men are created equal. yet many are denied equal treatment. we believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. yet many americans do not enjoy those rights. we believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. yet millions are being deprived of those blessings.

not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin. the reasons are deeply embedded in history and tradition, and the nature of man. we can understand without rancor or hatred how this all happened. but it cannot continue. our constitution, the foundation of our republic, forbids it. the principles of our freedom forbid it. morality forbids it. and the law i will sign tonight forbids it. >> this weekend, the 50th anniversary of the 1964 civil rights act with president johnson's address to the nation, and the signing ceremony, and later, hear from reporters who covered the debate in congress,

roger mudd of cbs and the harold tribune's sandy glass on american history tv on c-span3. outgoing israeli president shimmon per res received the congressional gold medal in the rotunda. he will leave office next month. during this hour 15-minute ceremony with congressional leaders, mr. peres spoke about the support of israel. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our honored guest, the president of israel, members of the united states house of representatives, members of the united states senate, the speaker of the united states house of representatives, and the vice president of the united states. [ applause ]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the united states house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. >> mr. vice president, members of congress, ambassadors, members of the diplomatic corps, ladies and gentlemen, welcome this morning, and welcome to the united states capitol. since the days of the american revolution, every congress has had one humbling privilege. that of awarding a gold medal for extraordinary contributions. the highest honor that we can bestow. the first recipient in 1776 was george washington. the father of our country. today under his gaze, we will present the gold medal to another founding father, the 9th

president of the state of israel, shimon peres. mr. president, welcome. [ applause ] like general washington, shimon peres has served his life serving his country, even before there was a country to serve. he is the great brougprototype israeli statesman. a record 48 years in the legislature, a minister in 12 cabinets, a two-time prime minister, an author of at least 11 books, and a nobel lariat. these distinctions, of course, are only symbols of his service. they do not compare to the place president peres holds in the hearts of freedom-loving people

all over the world. this is what this medal of honor means above all else. a way of a great program in store. mr. president, i know for your 90th birthday, you had barbra streisand serenade you, and you had tony blair toast you. i hope you don't mind, but in the interest of time we're asking the vice president today to do both. [ laughter ] this is a special moment for all of us. it's the first time we're presenting a gold medal to an israeli head of state. mr. president, because of your generation, i have faith it will not be the last. this medal says to our young people, and yours, i never get cynical, never give in po expediency, and know that america will always stand with

israel, and with all men and women of peace. thank you all for being here this morning. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of the colors by the united states armed forces color guard, the singing of the united states and israeli national anthems and the retiring of the colors.

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪

♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home

of the brave? ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing as the chaplain of the united states house of representatives, the reverend patrick conroy, gives the invocation.

>> let us pray. god of abraham, we give you thanks for the gift of life and for the many blessings that life brings. today we gathered in this hallowed temple to representative government dedicated to the enjoyment of life and its blessings for its citizens. to honor shimon peres, the 9th president of israel. we are honored by his presence, and his long life of service to his own nation, and as a friend and ally to ours. honored 20 years ago as a nobel laureate, shimon peres has been a man of peace in a region known

for its lack thereof. and in our own time now, may perennial enemies around the world be inspired by his recent meeting with mahmoud abbas and pope francis, praying for peace in our world. lord, grant that his efforts might issue into a future proclaimed by the prophets isaiah, mica and joel. when the time of judgment comes, may all our swords be beaten into plow shares, our spears into pruning hooks, may no nation continue to lift up sword against another, and may we no longer learn war. bless our world with peace. bless israel, and god bless the united states of america.

amen. >> please be seated. ladies and gentlemen, the united states representative from the fourth district of massachusetts, the honorable joseph kennedy iii. >> good morning, everyone. mr. vice president, members of the congressional leadership, it is an honor for me to join you this morning on stage. thank you all for the work that you did to make this moment and this congressional gold medal possible. i'd also like to thank the congressional gold medal committee, congressman trent franks, co-sponsor in the house, for their partnership in shepherding the bipartisan legislation behind this award through the house and the senate. and to our guest of honor, president peres.

at 91 years young, you have famously said that you aren't ready yet to consider your legacy. that the future is much more interesting than your past. with all due respect, mr. president, i think it would be hard to find a person in this room that does not see the future of israel through the lens of your legacy. last year i had the honor of meeting president peres on a trip to israel with some of my colleagues. it was an incredible visit, from jerusalem to ramallah, the road to the galilee, tel aviv, to masssad. of all the memorable moments, though, there's one that shines through. at a dinner in tel aviv, i met a young israeli woman who founded an organization that was bringing aid to parts of syria that other international

assistants had been unable to reach. she had helped one community in particular for years. without disclosing much of who she was, or where she came from. one day she finally let the syrian commander know that she was an israeli. he was stunned. right then and there, refused her help. calling her a sworn enemy, despite the lives that she had saved, and the selfless assistance she had given his people. luckily she was not one to be easily deterred. she took it to the community for a vote. if they said go, she would pack up. if they said stay, she would continue to serve. they begged her to stay. so she did. mr. president, this is your legacy.

every bit as integral to israel's future as her past. generations of israeli men and women who continue to put themselves on the front lines of peace, no matter the risks or the road blocks. who refuse to let labels like enemy or adversary influence the direction of their moral compass. who believe that peace is possible, and no small part because they have a leader by their side for over 70 years counseling patience, optimism, and faith. mr. president, with a debt of gratitude, not only for the history that you carved, but for the future that you will undoubtedly shape, it is our honor to come together today to recognize you with the congressional gold medal. in a world still, as you say, aching for peace, for compassion in the face of great conflict,

and humanity, in the face of great suffering, may your legacy light our way. thank you. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the united states senator from new hampshire, the honorable kelly ayotte. [ applause ] >> good morning. i'm so humbled to be here in the presence of president shimon peres, vice president biden, speaker boehner, majority leader reid, our congressional leaders, so many distinguished leaders and citizens in this room. to congressman kennedy,

congressman franks, thank you so much for your leadership in the house of representatives, to ensure that we will award president shimon peres the congressional gold medal. your efforts helped make today's ceremony possible. to senator bennett, i want to express my gratitude to you for working alongside with me in the united states senate to introduce the bill to award president peres the congressional gold medal. and i know today's ceremony is particularly moving for you and your family. we are so honored to have your mother here with us today. susan clejman bennett is here with us today. she was born in poland in 1938 as nazi forces gathered at the border. she and her parents endured the nazi occupation in around warsaw, along with an aunt they were the only members of the

family to survive. and unfortunately, everyone else perished at the hands of the nazis. so i know how much this means to you, senator bennett. thank you. i cannot think of a more deserving individual to receive the congressional gold medal than president shimon peres. i want to thank the people who came to me and senator bennett and others, all who have worked on this, because this has been one of the highlights of the work that i've have been able to do in the senate. by the way, if everything were as easy to do in the senate to get co-sponsors for as this, can you imagine what we could get done for the country. [ applause ] as one of the founding fathers of israel, for 67 years,

president shimon peres has been a selfless servant of his beloved country during times of war and peace. providing a steady hand, he has been a constant and passionate voice for peace. but most of all, not only is he a great statesman, and leader, he is a man who has a pure heart, and the depth of his love for all of humanity has made him a drum major for justice, not just in israel, but throughout the world. as for america, we have never had a better friend who understands who we are and what we stand for as president peres said last night, at the israeli

embassy, we are an exceptional nation whose people give rather than take. today, mr. president, it is our way of saying to you, thank you, and to recognize that you truly are an exceptional man who has made israel and the world a better place. thank you, mr. president. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the united states army chorus. ♪

[ singing in hebrew ] ♪ [ singing in hebrew ]

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ [ applause ]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the democratic leader of the united states house of representatives, the honorable nancy pelosi. [ applause ] >> good morning. mr. vice president, president peres, mr. speaker, mr. leader, mr. leader, mr. leader, my colleagues in the congress, my friends in the senate, madam secretary. today congress is bestowing a congressional gold medal on a truly historic figure. every one of us in this room will always be able to boast that we were there when congress honored this iconic figure and friend of america. shimon peres planted the seed of the jewish state of israel and helped that garden grow.

whether literally in the blooming of the desert, or more significantly in the blossoming of a society and a people. a soldier who became a peacemaker, an immigrant who became an institution, a public servant who became a statesman, a champion of nonviolence, a messenger of hope, an idealist who understood pragmatism, a founder of a nation who became and remains a visionary for his and all people. shimon peres' story is a story of modern israel. a story of die na mism. it was an idea born in the defiance of history, creating a new world by drawing the values of the past, and the innovations of the future. few alive could claim to have done so much for the success of

that idea, and even at the age of 90 this farmer, fighter, author, prime minister, nobel prize winner, and president continues to guide his nation into tomorrow. just as an aside, i remember when at the white house, we celebrated his 90th birthday last year. he spent his speech talking about innovation, technologies of the future. shim shimonp shimonperes' dream of a dawn when every man and woman across the middle east make wake up, as he says, free to be free. he would surely remind us with the words of theater her shell, if you will it, it is not a dream. may god bless you. his willingness to serve the state of israel and the path to peace. may his spirit and the spirit of

the entire pioneering generation of israel's founders live on in our actions today, and in the future. my israel long be recognized as the greatest political achievement of the 20th century. and a beacon of hope, democracy and justice into the 21st century, and beyond. may this gold medal always serve as a stirring symbol of our deep respect for shimon peres, our admiration for israel's people and unbreakable friendship between our country and the nation of israel. as our speaker said earlier, the first recipient of the congressional gold medal was our founding father, george washington. today we bestow it on another founding father. both of them in accepting the award bring luster to the award.

thank you, president peres, for receiving this honor again, your accepting it brings honor to the congress, luster to award. shalom, and thank you. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the majority leader of the united states house of representatives, the honorable eric cantor. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. good morning. mr. vice president, mr. speaker, president peres, my colleagues and other distinguished guests, it is a true honor for me to be here today to pay tribute to one

of the world's greatest statesmen. president peres, you are always a man who has stood for the advancement of humankind. you have been an inspiration to so many of us young and old, in your tireless advocacy for democracy, in your belief that it is that which is the best path to peace and security for all. few people, president peres, have dedicated their lives to the security of the state of israel, and the continuity of the jewish people the way that you have. so many of us have been touched by president peres. i know in the many trips that i've made to israel, along with my colleague kevin mccarthy, just a little over a year ago, we were there. you welcomed us with open arms.

delegation after delegation. so many of us found inspiration in your words. so many of us tried to learn how it was that you talk about the importance of the u.s./israel partnership, of what it means to be tied together by mutual bonds and beliefs. you have said, and continue to say, that what makes us in america so unique, is that we are a country that gives. we don't take. and in fact, if you think about it, our country maintains its security for its citizens, because we give of treasure, and yes, we give of blood, to go in search of helping others, those who cannot help themselves.

and that resounds through our benefit and our safety and security here at home. that is what makes america at its core a leader of the world. that is why it is so important that we maintain this strong partnership between our two countries. mr. president, you are worthy of one of the highest honors that america can confer in the congressional gold medal. you know, in the jewish religion, we pray daily for the restoration of justice. we ask god for his guidance. his inspiration to our leaders, that they may conduct themselves toward that end of the restoration of days of old. and allow us to continue on our mission of repairing the world.

president peres, you are one of those warriors. you are that leader. congratulations to you today. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the republican leader of the united states senate, the honorable mitch mcconnell. [ applause ] >> for thousands of years, the jewish people searched for a home. for almost 70 years, they've defended one. the world is marveled at the achievement of this once nomadic people. subjected so often throughout their history to the worst of

human nature. a people who raised a nation out of the sands. with every odd stacked against them. it's an incredible tale. and since the birth of modern israel, one man has been there every step of the way. standing at the very center of this remarkable drama. shimon peres, president of israel, the man we honor today. he was there in pre-war europe. he was there during the migration to israel. he was there for the war of independence. he's held virtually every major government post over the span of

his nearly 70-year-long political career. he served under bengurian. he dined with de gaulle. he sparred with nasr. his tenure in the kinesit spans lebanon and camp david and the olympics in munich. he's both sang and stood at the center of the center of so much. from israel's earliest years as a dream in the desert, to its transformation to the modern, flourishing, diverse democracy of today. he's been there. a figure of reconciliation, and of strength.

with his arab neighbors, he has sought peace, and made extraordinary nobel-winning efforts to advance it. his historic speech to the german people in 2010 moved and inspired many of us. and we know that president peres put aside long-standing mistrust among domestic political adversaries in order to join hands with those interested in peace. the kind of peace that seemed impossible at the time, and that remains sadly elusive. but he hasn't given up. and that's not surprising, given that this man who once said that for him, dreaming is simply being pragmatic. it's this remarkable approach to life and work that sustain shimon peres for decades in the

political spotlight. in just a few weeks, president peres will leave the presidency behind. he'll close the book on one storied political career, and hand the reins to his successor. but what a story it has been. what a story it is. so today we honor shimon peres, president of the state of israel, for his numerous contributions to public life. we thank him for being such a great friend of the united states over the years. for strengthening the unbreakable union between our two democracies. and we look forward to the next chapter in his extraordinary life. may it be as remarkable as those that preceded it. thank you. [ applause ]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the majority leader of the united states senate, the honorable harry reid. [ applause ] >> today we're gathered to honor a man who's dedicated his entire life to making the world a better place. i see in the audience senator dick durbin. he was with that group of senators that i led to the middle east. i told senator durbin and others at that time that they were going to have an opportunity to meet a man that i had deep respect and admiration for. in fact, no one has been more inspirational to me than the man we honor today.

dick and i still talk about that meeting we had with shimon peres. and the visionary view he had of the world. but is it any wonder i think so highly of this man. seven decades of public service should be an inspiration to us all, and it is. we've heard his tenure of service, about 50 years in the kinesa, prime minister twice, acting prime minister twice, minister of foreign affairs, on three separate occasions, minister of defense twice, minister of finance, minister of transportation, and eight other cabinet posts, and currently, of course, president of the state of israel. this is a man who never grows

old. when he came into his first time as being prime minister, a lot of us, when the internet came, that was for someone else to deal with. but not this man. he wanted to know about the internet, and he proceeded to teach himself and have others teach him about the internet. he was the first prime minister to go onto the internet and have that position, the worthy position he holds as part of the internet. he's been educated in the united states on occasion, new york university, harvard. he speaks hebrew, yiddish, russian, french. he's authored 11 books. we've heard he's been honored with the most prestigious awards that can be given to him

worldwide. the nobel peace prize, presidential medal of freedom, french legion of honor, and today the congressional gold medal. so you can understand why i was so eager to take senator durbin and the other senators with me to meet this good man, this incredible man. my admiration for president peres stems more from just his important positions, and his many accomplishments. winston churchill said, quote, all the great things are simple and can be expressed in a single word. well, i believe that. the greatness of shimon peres can be expressed in a single word, optimism. he said, this man seated behind me, optimists and pessimists die the same way. they just live differently. i prefer to live as an optimist. [ applause ]

optimism has been his life. and it's that optimism that has inspired so many of us around the world. that optimism has guided shimon peres in everything he's done, from the challenges he and his family faced because of the holocaust, to his work for a lasting peace, and a secure israel. it's that optimism, his hope for the world, his belief for peace which i so admire. president peres has said, and i quote, there are two approaches to leadership. one that is built on force, and the other that is built on goodwill. goodwill is winning. reliance on force is losing. what's the conclusion? that through goodwill you can achieve more. isn't that true. thank you. [ applause ]

he has achieved so very, very much. not only for himself, not only for the state of israel, not only for the middle east, but for the world. through his optimism and his goodwill, shimon peres always placed peace within our grasp. so i congratulate this good man, a statesman, a leader for the world, for everything he's accomplished throughout his distinguished life. president peres, israel, the middle east, the world are all better because of your optimism and your decency. it's an honor for me to participate in this ceremony today, as united states congress bestows upon you its highest honor, the congressional gold medal. we honor you today, the father of your country, at least one of the fathers of your country, and in so many different ways congratulate you for being the man that you are.

this medal epitomizes all that you've meant to the congress, the people of the united states, and the world. mr. president, you have worked tirelessly to make the world a better place for all of god's children. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the united states house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. [ applause ] >> it is now time for the presentation of the gold medal. and i would ask my colleagues on stage to join me for the presentation.

[ applause ] [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states, the honorable joseph r. biden jr.

>> mr. president -- thank you. [ applause ] mr. president, congratulations. and with your permission, i'll forgo the barbra streisand serenade. although i have to say that equally as much in the heart as her most melodic tunes. i heard a story, one israeli speaking to another recently. and the first one said, do you know shimon peres has only three or four weeks left to go in his presidency. and the response was, yes, but they're peres weeks. those weeks have gone on for a long, long time, mr. president. you are absolutely relentless. as everyone has pointed out, you've been minister, prime minister, you've occupied every

office there is to occupy. and israel, and i would argue around the world, i've been to so many other conferences in parts of the world with president peres, that you're a force of nature, mr. president. you're a force of nature. every once in a while people produce someone who is beyond their office. they're a force of nature. i've watched you in switzerland, in germany, in england. i've watched you in the middle east. i've watched you so many places where i've been present where you've spoken. there's never, never, never a place i've been, and i've known you mr. president, since i was 30 years old, there's never been a place i've been when this man stands up, everybody listens. no matter what the atmosphere in the room before he approached the podium. you're a national treasure to

israel, but i'd also respectfully suggest you've been a national treasure to the united states of america. you're a legendary friend. [ applause ] mr. president, i know you've heard all this a thousand times, and it's hard to say it with the emotion we all feel. but mr. president, i try to picture many times when i've been with you, you being at the feet of david bengornian. his youngest protege, and you've served continuously since 1948. it's absolutely remarkable. i've watched how you've expressed your affection for anyone who's ever touched you or your family. i've watched how you give praise

to greek monks who helped save your father. i've watched how you -- i'm told -- knowing you, you can probably sing greek songs, too. but i just -- it's just remarkable to me how your image and the way you live your life seems in private and public, although i don't know it in any detail in private, has deny totally consistent. you spend half your career, the first half, cementing the physical security of the state of israel. as you said, as a small nation, but a great concept. and you almost single-handedly willed into existence a strong, proud israel defense establishment that we work with so closely today. and ever since then, mr. president, you've been every bit as indefig abl in your peace.

it seems like the yin and yang of the peace of shimon peres. he's perez. he's always done what had to be done, he's always known what had to be done in his country at the time. almost every instance i'm aware of he has almost always been ahead of the curve what was needed for his people, israel has a homeland for jewish people. a state, a two-state solution, where two people can live side by side, palestinians enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition and peace. you know, when you think about israel today, at least i do, i've been traveling to israel

since 1972. and i was raised at a table by what -- shimon perez may not -- i got to meet him. you may cause him -- we had a conversation at 8. why was there a disagreement about establishing the state of israel? why was this the case? why was there any problem. and in hindsight today, i think most of us look at our children, grown men and women and look back, it's like, this was all inevitable. there was inevitability -- you don't have to look back very far and realize this was anything

but inevitable. as a matter of fact, it was the opposite of inevitable. literally all the odds were against israel. thankful thankfully israel was blessed with a founding generation, understanding what it took to overcome those odds. thankfully, mr. president, israel was blessed with you. my mother had an expression which my siblings and i heard repeated god knows how many times. she would always say, you're defined by your courage and you're redeemed by your loyalty. you are defined by your courage and redeemed by your loyalty. you have been -- you are the definition of what my mother was

talking about. you have had great courage and your loyalty has been unbended. not only to all of your people. but to our people as well. as my friends in the senate and house would excuse me for a point of personal privilege. as i said, i've known you for a long time. and there's a -- if you'll forgive me for quoting an irish prover, there's an old irish proverb that says a good friend is like a four leaf clover. hard to find, but lucky to have. mr. president, you have been my friend. you have counciled me when i asked you for council. you have done for me what you've done for so many people here, you've literally given us the benefit of your wisdom.

i'll conclude, mr. president by saying, i think the one distinguishing feature of you as a leader, and because i've hung around this place so long, i think i met the vast majority of the world leaders personally, over the last 40 years. i have never met a person -- i mean this sincerely, i never met a person with greater eloquence nor possessed more wisdom than you. if there's anything this world needs badly now, is women and men with wisdom. so mr. president. thank you for what you've done with your country. thank you for what you've done for our country. and thank you for your friendship. mr. president, may god bless israel and bring all of our

children home. may god bless america, and my god protect our troops. congratulations. i forgot my job, ladies and gentlemen, the president of the state of israel, shimon perez.

[ applause ] >> thank you so much. vice president joe biden, speaker boehner, senate majority leader harry reid. leaders and members of the house of representatives in the senate, i am humbled to stand here today in this great congress of the united states. here you give expression to unbreakable spirit of the american people. it was first expressed 237 years ago when your forefathers signed

a document that still echos for all time. for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness those words resonate with a much meaning today as they did with america's first patriots. they've inspired generations of americans to dream of a better america, and they have inspired people all over the globe to dream for a better world. many people called me a dreamer, i suppose that's why i have always felt at home in the

united states of america. america that was given the privilege to carry the dreams dramatically. my own dream was to be a shipper. it came true, you know? i work the ship. i worked in order not to miss o one. the dreams of a young shepherd. i was called to serve at 24 years old.

i had heavy responsibilities. he charged me with securing a young nation's ability to the fan itself. i worked hard, i had little time to study. i didn't know a single word of english. after our independence we suggested we would go to the united states to learn english, study the american dreams. that's what you have to do. so i did. i learned that america is not a land for the idol. i learned that america is the home for the daring. american dream is about hard work, pioneering spirit. i learned the two great bodies

that still under the icon marble dome, the senate and the house offer the struggle for life. an unbelievable, an unbreakable friendship. you helped israel out of her loneyness. you helped israel overcome small sized in tough surroundings. you helped us maintain a democracy. to become strong enough to take risks. whether through military systems. security corporation or through diplomatic and moral support. you send us a clear message that