rule. i could go on and on. these are rules small cities have to deal with just as well as a larger community of 100,000 or 200,000. and i've got three other communities, they're just trying to find money for operations let alone install this one community. they're working on -- one of you sat up here and 19th century system. they're trying to replace it with that water line right there. how can we get money for operations? we've got one community in west virginia they're dumping raw sewage into the potomac river because they don't have money to be able to do the maintenance work they have to do. i've got another community, they're getting their water through water buffaloes. poured into a cistern so they have some water with that. this is 2015 in america yet we have an administration until this year every year for the last three years has been reducing money to the srf. how are we failing our country when we don't put enough money

into the srf? that's what i've heard many of you say we need to put more money into that program. what do we have to do? how much more money? can any of you suggest where we have to go with that? i would also add should wish prioritizing the srf money for rural communities so we're weighting them a little more heavily than the big cities? >> sir, you're preaching to the choir here. i think all of us would agree a significantly greater percentage of the srf money should go to rural communities and they should be able to access it more quickly. you can't even have a chance of getting the srf money unless you get on the intended use plan. and for a small community how do you get on the intended use plan? all of us can tell you that's difficult to do. i mean, do you have the technical assistance? do you have an engineer you're working with, somebody that's going to submit the paperwork? do you even have a chance to get on the money? and that's a problem. that's one thing i said in my testimony. we need some assistance just so these small communities can get on the intended use plan which is what they do to prioritize

money into the srf. >> how can we -- what are some factors that we might be able to weight so a small community putting in will be given better consideration than a larger community? any of your thoughts? mr. gomez. >> well, generally, what g.a.o. always recommends is that you target federal funds to those communities. so if these are the communities that's one of the areas we could target. >> okay. i guess we're running out of time. again, mr. chairman, thank you very much for bringing this out. i hope we continue to -- this is for small cities. the big cities have their own issues, but they have the resources and the critical mass to be able to take care of it. our small towns are 400, 500 people. we're struggling. we'd better find it. thank you very much. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio mr. johnson for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i represent appalachia, ohio and

i don't have to tell you folks, probably, how rural that is. i hear the horror stories, many of which you've just heard. i could cite similar cases that my colleague from west virginia, mr. mckinley, did. mr. selman, long before i was elected to congress i served 26 years in the air force and i was stationed in columbus, mississippi. and you know how rural that area is. so i've seen this for a long time. mr. gomez. does the gao track and can you tell us in regards to all urban and rural systems how many municipalities have their systems charged the true cost of providing water to their customers? in other words, how many of them are operating in the red? >> that's a really good question. and it's always one area that's debatable, right? whether people are actually paying the true price of what the water cost. i don't believe that we have done work on that.

but if we have i'd have to get back to you on that. >> would you take a look at that, please? i think the american people would be interested to know how these small rural communities are struggling and many of them are operating in the red as it stands right now because their residents can't even afford the cost of providing the water. >> what it can also say is epa has estimated that for these rural communities if they have to undertake these water and waste water infrastructure projects their rates will likely be four times what the urban rate payer would be paying. >> oh, absolutely. >> it's not affordable. >> and i've got rural areas that are under that exact pressure. they don't have the money, because of the economy. they don't have the money to comply with the epa's clean water mandates and system

mandates today. and on top of that they're being leveled with these fines that they also can't pay. it's like trying to get blood out of a turnip. and i know you guys know what a turnip is. it's tough. let me ask you a question, mr. newman. your testimony mentions that the town of como, mississippi has 2 million in waste water needs and 1 million in drinking water upgrades it needs to undertake. what's the operating budget of como? >> the annual operating budget in the town of como is approximately $150,000 annually. >> okay. and what's the average income of como residents? >> per capita, about 21,000. >> okay. is raising local water rates a realistic possibility? >> it's a realistic possibility from a standpoint of operation

and maintenance but not from the standpoint of addressing -- >> making these upgrades. >> that's correct. yes. >> and even if you raised the rates operationally and maintenancewise, would it be enough to cover the cost of providing the service? >> no. >> okay. what is their access to or are there limits on other funding sources like commercial lending? that's a double-edged question because the question itself kind of says why don't you go in debt to provide water. and that's certainly not a principle i subscribe to. but are you considering other sources? >> by and large the primary source is rural development. primarily because of the grant component. other options as we have discussed include a state revolving fund. even commercial lending. however, as is the case with

srf, commercial lending is 100% loan and the interest rates on a commercial loan is typically going to be layer than the srf. at either case because of the low economies of scale a community like como can't afford to borrow the money necessary to make these improvements. they just don't have enough customers over which to spread the cost. >> okay. all right. for mr. newman, mr. keegan and mr. selman, what challenges do you have in assessing the drinking water state revolving funds and how does that compare with accessing rural utility service funding? >> well, i'll allow these gentlemen to elaborate, but one of the issues, and i think we touched on it as well, you've got more help in applying with r.u.s. as opposed to srf. the cost of applying for srf, you may have to utilize services from a consultant which adds to

the cost. and that's typically not the case with the rural development process. >> okay. mr. selman. >> we've been able to use some srf money. our engineer takes whatever they allow as that consultant amount. whatever they allow for an attorney, an engineer or whatever. he does the paperwork for whatever that is. and they've got that specified in the loan. and we've been able to -- i know certain regions. maybe not. but we've been able to take advantage of sfr money. we've been having trouble getting money through rural development. >> thank you, mr. selman. my time has expired. but mr. keegan, do you want to respond? >> we've had trouble accessing funds from either program. in new york state a lot of funding goes to communities that have some sort of citation, some problem with their system. engineers work very hard to keep our systems smooth running. so we're sort of at the bottom of the pile.

>> thank you very much. mr. chairman, rural america knows how hard it is to get blood out of a turnip. and i appreciate you having this hearing so that we can shed some light on how difficult it is to do this. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. and i thank my ranking member and my vice chair, who is trying to lead this charge too. last but not least, mr. kramer from the rural state of north dakota. you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, from illinois and ranking member from new york for acknowledging rural america and for reminding us there are other rural places that are better known or their urban centers. it's good to have an alliance. my colleagues -- or my constituents with the north dakota rural water systems association would be very proud of all of you. you've done a great job today and i felt right at home, even with the unusual accents. but it's a reminder there are

some things we work together on and that are very important. and i won't -- i won't delay except to tell you that i hear a lot about the circuit rider program from our folks and i think you raise a very important issue. i think it's incumbent upon us now as policy makers and eventually appropriators to look for opportunities to prioritize some of the programs you talked about within the context of the entire act. and given the constraints, financial constraints we have, we do have to be a little bit creative but certainly we can reprioritize. i want to just ask for maybe a little bit of elaboration on one point. i got the gao report was fantastic frankly. and i think it was -- it's nice to see the alphabet soup as my constituents often refer to it and see that there's both recommendation, findings and

then response by multiple agencies that have -- to have a tendency perhaps to create extra burden by virtue of requiring sort of uniform processes but not in a uniform way. the uniform preliminary engineering report template i think is a great tool. and i think at a time when our constituents are looking for an efficient effective government this is a good example. and i raise it because i wonder how many more times we could duplicate this throughout the system. one of the frustrations i've seen in the last two years here is not just with epa and usda rural development. certainly in fact there are many others have more. i just hope we could as a house, as a congress, and as public officials at every level look for more of these times of opportunities. the public could go wild. that makes perfect sense. because right now they look at it and i'm sure you all do, you mean i have to hire the

engineering firm to dot exact same thing for another agency and pay them? i guess mainly what i want to say is thanks for that. i will want to be monitoring that very carefully, see how it works out. and i know you will as well, mr. gomez because i think therein lie the nuggets of opportunity to demonstrate functionality of government in a way that people expect of us that that we probably haven't done so well. >> thank you. and we are tracking that, by the way. it's part of our tracking that we do every year because we want to make sure that those agencies are making progress and that it's helping the communities in need. >> thank you for that. and again thanks to awful you. and i will leave some time on the clock and not -- and just thank you for being so patient to hang around with me this long. thank you. i yield back. >> gentleman yields back his time. looks like we're about gone. do you have anything else you

want to say and take an opportunity? >> thank you, mr. chair. i just want to commend the entire panel. i think what you shared with us is not only great insight but advocacy for what is a very high priority. and you've done it through that front line experience. it provides an extra bit of impact i think on the decisions that are made here. but thank you for reinforcing what we have understood to be a problem, and this is a very high priority problem i would think for the country. so thank you very much and i was impressed by all the statements that you've made and the responses you've provided. i want to thank the ranking member for those comments and thank you for being here. i think it's just going to energize us to try to -- i've kind of asked mr. tonko and mr. harper to now get together and try to see where there's similarities and agreement so we can kind of move forward together and you can see there's a lot of areas in our country that are kind of left behind

just because they're small. it's not a political statement. it's just the nature of our country. i really appreciate the involvement of my colleagues too. so thank you. i need some business to do. i ask unanimous consent that all subcommittee members have five legislative days to submit opening statements for the record. without objection so ordered. also unanimous consent in asserting a letter from dr. ralph jones and a letter and report from the environmental working group without objection. so ordered. and remind folks that members of the committee have ten days to submit written questions for the witnesses to be included. you may get some as follow-up. we'd ask you that answer those, or return those if you can. and that is without objection.

the promotion of a drug actually starts 7 to 10 years before a drug comes to be market. and it is not ill reellegal legal to market a disease. drawing companies have sometimes exaggerated the importance of certain conditions or exaggerated the importance f a burglar mechanism of a drug. and blanketed medical journals and other venues where the the messages that are approximate meant to prepare the minds of the clinicians to accept a particular drug and also to prepare the minds of consumers to accept a particular condition. >> sunday on c-span's q&a.

the committee on homeland security will come to order. committee is meeting today to hear testimony on violent islamist extremism, and the threat of foreign fighters and homegrown terror. i now recognize myself for an opening statement. today at the first hearing of the house committee on homeland security in the 114th congress, i'd like to take a moment of silence to remember all those

who lost their lives at the hands of isis, especially americans james foley, steven sotloff and most recently kayla mueller. these victims are the reason why we are here today. we must keep these barbaric terrorists out of the homeland to protect the american people. this hearing will also assess the urgent and growing threat of terrorist recruiting and inspiring americans. we need to accurately define the threat. and that is violent islamist extremism. and recognize that it is spreading like wildfire around the globe. these fanatics want nothing less than destruction of our way of life, and now their ability to match words with deeds is

growing at an astonishing rate. in recent years, their safe havens have proliferated and their ranks have swelled. in many ways, we are no longer talking about terrorist groups. we are talking about terrorist armies. isis now controls a territory the size of belgium, governs millions of people, draws on billions of dollars in revenue, and commands tens of thousands of foot soldiers. and they are brutal. their latest act of barbarism was on full display with a horrific murder of the jordanian pilot. this evolving islamic terrorist landscape has given rise to the dual threats of foreign fighters, returning to the united states and home grown terrorism. the recent terror attack in paris and other attacks and plots in belgium, germany, the uk, australia, canada, and here in the united states, are proof

that the threat has surged and that the enemy is dead set on attacking the west. this map behind me shows a surge in isis linked terrorist plots over the last year alone. as mr. rasmussen notes in his testimony, more than 20,000 fighters from over 90 countries have made their way to the battlefield to join al qaeda, isis and other extremist groups, making this the largest convergence of islamist terrorists in world history. that number continues to grow despite months of air strikes. up to 5,000 of these fighters are westerners, many of whom are able to travel into the united states without obtaining a visa. and more than 150 american

citizens have attempted to or succeeded in getting to the battlefield, and we know that some of them have already returned to our shores. you can see this flow depicted in the graphic behind me. but extremists do not need to travel overseas in order to become a threat to our homeland. though hollywoodlike propaganda today videos and social media and through that means islamist terror groups are inciting their followers and potential recruits to wage war at home. both isis, and yemen-based al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, have called for westerners, including americans, to wage individual jihad in their home countries, and it's working. isis social media also gives step by step instructions on how to get to the fight and how to return.

following the attacks in paris last month our european partners have been busy uncovering new terrorist cells and disrupting imminent plots. also just recently here at home, the fbi arrested an ohio-based isis sympathizer who was intending to attack the united states capitol with pipe bombs. i'm worried about our ability to combat this threat abroad, but also here at home. i wrote to the president recently, and raised concerns that we still have no lead agency in charge of countering domestic radicalization, and no line item for it in the budgets, in key departments and agencies. i'm also concerned that the few programs we do have in place are far too small to confront a threat that has grown so quickly. today i hope to hear how the administration assesses the danger posed by foreign fighters, particularly westerners, and the threat of home-grown terrorism here in the united states. more importantly, i hope we will hear about how the

administration is responding, and how plans to ramp up its response to those challenges. this morning, i would like to welcome all of our witnesses, but especially mr. rasmussen, with the national counterterrorism center, in his first appearance before congress after being confirmed as director. and we look forward to his testimony. as part of our committee's focus on this critical national security issue, the ranking member and myself are establishing a task force on combatting terrorist and foreign fighter travel. the six-month task force will review u.s. government efforts focusing on dhs to disrupt terrorist travel into our country, and to combat the foreign fighter threat. it will ultimately provide recommendations to the committee on how we can improve u.s. security against these dangers. i must say i'm very disappointed that the state department chose not to send a witness here today. the threats we are discussing

are serious. and the state department plays a key role in combatting them. i recently sent a letter to the white house expressing my concerns over the department's desire to resettle tens of thousands of syrian refugees here in the united states. i am worried that isis could exploit this effort in order to deploy operatives to america, via a federally funded jihadi pipeline. before closing, i'd like to again reiterate what i said at our organizational meeting last month, mr. thompson, we look forward to working with you to accomplish our shared goal of protecting the homeland. and with that the chair now recognizes the ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman. for your comments, as well as for holding today's hearing. i'd like to also welcome

director rasmussen for his first appearance before this committee as the director of the national counterterrorism center. as well i'd also thank the rest of the panel for testifying about the federal government's effort to identify and deter foreign fighters and the government's efforts to counter violent extremism. i'd like to express my condolences at the beginning to the family of the 26-year-old kayla mueller, an american aid worker who was taken hostage by the islamic state of iraq. u.s. officials have confirmed she was killed by the terrorist group. mr. chairman, ms. mueller's death and other recent terrorist attacks across the world over the past few months have magnified the nature of the evolving threat from the terrorist groups and state actors. the heinous actions by isil, including the beheading of a japanese journalist, and the

terrorist group's burning of a jordanian pilot further illustrates the abhorrent nature of this terrorist group. last month, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff indicated that the radical ideology of isil is caused other terrorist groups to rebrand themselves and emulate isil. top u.s. officials have made public statements that foreign fighters linked to isil may pose a direct threat to this country. moreover, those inspired by the ideology of isil, al qaeda and other groups are of concern. as we look to these threats, we cannot take a myopic view. each attack from terrorist groups have reemphasized the global reach of terrorist activity. for instance, there was a crippling cyber attack in november on sony pictures entertainment network. in december, in sydney, australia, we witnessed a terrorist attack on a cafe where at the end of a 16-hour standoff, two innocent people lay dead. then in january in paris, there

was a series of execution-style murders of 12 members "charlie hebdo's" creative team. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has taken credit for this attack. this serves as a reminder that the terrorist threats we face are evolving quickly. this committee's responsibility is to hold hearings, and receive classified information that lets us know the nature of the threats, and how the federal government is dealing with the threat. in spite of this, mr. chairman, the republican majority continues to play political games with funding the department of homeland security. mr. chairman, i, too, feel that it is meaningless to have a strategy if the ends are not paired with the means to achieve them. it is my hope that you will make the point to your colleagues,

and leadership, who are holding the funding for key agency and the federal government that americans look to to detect, deter and respond to a terrorist hostages. unfortunately, the department of homeland security is operating under the threat of a shutdown, and it is only funded by a continuing resolution for the next 17 days. it is important that my republican colleagues act responsibly, stop playing politics, and pass a clean dhs funding bill. without a fully funded department of homeland security, some of our key methods of identifying terrorists and preventing terrorist travel will be at risk. are we really ready to stand before the american people? those who trust and value that we recognize their needs, and declare for the sake of partisanship we're going to make our nation more vulnerable by

not funding dhs. mr. chairman, i hope not. we have significant challenges before us. you've outlined in your testimony those challenges. but if we don't have a fully funded department, one that can't operate on continuing resolution, we put this country, its people, at risk. and so whatever it takes for us to deal with this threat, first of all, we have a department that has the resources to address the threat. so i look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. but i also look forward to an effort where we can get the department of homeland security treated like every other department of government, having a budget that carries us till the end of the fiscal year.

with that i yield back. >> i thank the ranking member. pleased to have three distinguished witnesses before us today to discuss this important topic. first, the honorable francis taylor. became the undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at the u.s. department of homeland security in april 2014. he's held a variety of senior level positions over his 35-year career in government service. most recently undersecretary taylor served as the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security and director of foreign missions. thank you, sir, for being here today. next we have the honorable nicholas rasmussen, sworn in as director of the national counterterrorism center in december of 2014. he previously served as nctc's deputy director since june of 2012, prior to returning to nctc he served with the national security council staff as special assistant to the president, and senior director for counterterrorism. thank you, sir.

and last but not least, michael steinbach, appointed as the assistant director of the fbi's counterterrorism division by director comey in july of 2014. he joined the fbi in 1995, held a variety of positions at fbi headquarters in the field and overseas during his ten-year career with the bureau. most recently served as deputy assistant director of the counterterrorism position. the witnesses' full statements will appear in the record. the chair now recognizes undersecretary taylor for his opening statement. >> chairman mccaul, ranking member thompson, and distinguished members of the committee i'm pleased to be here today with my colleagues from the fbi and nctc to discuss the foreign fighter threat and our current efforts to disrupt terrorist travel.

i would be remiss if i did not highlight one of the biggest threats to the security of our homeland, the lack of a funding for the department of homeland security. given the myriad of threats facing the homeland, it is imperative that congress pass a full year dhs appropriations bill for 2015. as long as the department operates under a cr there's a whole series of activities vital to homeland security and public safety that the department just cannot do. the men and women of dhs need a partner in congress to fund their efforts. time is running out, and i urge congress to pass a full-year appropriations bill for this department as soon as possible. the foreign fighter threat continues to be a security threat to the united states and our allies. events in australia, canada, and most recently in france and belgium underscore that the foreign fighter threat is no longer a problem restricted to foreign conflict zones such as northern syria and western iraq. at present we are unaware of any specific, credible, or imminent

threat to the homeland. however, recent events have demonstrated the need for increased vigilance both at home and abroad. that said the foreign fighter threat is constantly evolving. as well as developing new tactics in recruitment that we have not previously seen before. the islamic state of iraq commonly referred to as isil exhibits a very sophisticated propaganda capability. isil's use of multimedia content has enhanced the appeal of its terrorist organization. this propaganda encourages supporters to carry out attacks, and such attacks could be conducted without specific direction from isil. with little or no warning. to address this very threat, counterviolence extremism in the homeland, and to guard against the domestic lone offender secretary johnson has directed

the dhs to build on our partnerships with our state, local, and local law enforcement partners in ways that enhance its community relationships and builds resilience to violent extremism. the secretary recently appointed a cve coordinator to oversee the various cve programs and efforts across our department. additionally, since september 2014, secretary johnson has personally participated in direct engagement efforts with critical stakeholders in chicago, columbus, ohio, minneapolis, los angeles, and boston. to discuss how dhs can best support local efforts to counter violent extremism and address the foreign terrorist fighters. dhs cve efforts are designed to share information with communities and local officials

to raise vigilance on behavioral indicators that may link to radicalization to violence. the dhs program also focuses on empowering communities, and local law enforcement to develop intervention and prevention efforts at the local level. the white house plans to host a cve summit on february 18th, 2015, it will focus on both domestic and international cve efforts. prior to the summit, dhs will host an event for domestic stake holders on february 17th at the white house, while a second affiliated event specifically for international partners will be hosted by the department of state on february the 19th. let me now turn to the specific efforts dhs is undertaking to identify, address, and minimize the foreign fighter threat to the united states and to our allies.

beginning in july 2014, dhs required enhanced screening and -- screening at selected overseas airports with direct flights to the united states. weeks later dhs added additional airports to this list with the united kingdom and other countries following similar enhancements to their required aviation security operations. tsa has been directed by secretary johnson also conducting an immediate short-term review to determine if additional security convenienting measures are necessary at both domestic, and overseas last point of departure airports. dhs is also exploring the possibility of expanding foreign airports with flights to the united states. currently cvp has preclearance operations at 15 airports in six countries. and where appropriate cvp intends to enter into negotiations to expand air

preclearance operations at new locations. the department continues to work closely with our european partners through the useu name record agreement -- passenger name records information to dhs by airlines that are subject to the eu data protection laws. in addition, dhs uses close partnerships with countries in the visa waiver program, and the five country ministerial to improve respective abilities to identify illicit travel. just this past november the secretary increased the data fields that are collected from visa waiver country -- countries where visa -- where visa's not required for entry into the united states, and to provide additional passport data, contact information, and other potential names or aliases in the travel applications submitted under the electronic

system for travel authorization before they can travel to the u.s. dhs is increasing efforts to track those who enter and leave syria and may later seek to travel to the united states without a state department issued visa. the terrorist threat is dynamic, and those who operate individual as a part of terrorist organizations will continue to challenge our security measures and our safety. mr. chairman i'd like to end my statement there and i look forward to the questions from the committee. >> i thank the secretary. the chair now recognizes director rasmussen for his opening statement. >> thank you, chairman mccaul, ranking member thompson and members of the committee. i really do appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss the threat posed by foreign fighters and home-grown terror in our efforts as a government to counter it. as frank taylor said i'm also

pleased to join my colleagues and close partners from homeland security and the federal bureau of investigation. we work closely and cooperatively every day as a part of a true community of counterterrorism professionals and i'm really grateful for that partnership that we share. this morning i will briefly describe the threat we face from foreign fighters, highlight the role that extremist use of social media has played in that process, and conclude with efforts nctc and our partners across the federal government are taking to counter that threat. and i'll begin with the foreign fighter picture. as you know, one of the most pressing concerns for the intelligence community is the ongoing throw of foreign fighters to syria, importantly the threat they could pose upon return to their home -- country of home origin. the battlefields in iraq and syria clearly provide foreign fighters with combat experience, with training in weapons and explosives, and with access to terror networks that may be ultimately planning targets -- attacks which target the west. the rate of foreign fighter travel that we've seen in recent years is unprecedented. it exceeds the rate of travel and travelers who went to

afghanistan, pakistan, iraq, yemen or somalia, other prominent conflict zones but it exceeds the rate of travel to those conflict zones that we've seen at any point in the last 20 years. the united states and our allies are increasingly concerned with the more than 20,000 foreign fighters we assess have traveled to syria from over 90 different countries of origin. we assess that at least 3,400 of these fighters are from western countries and that number includes also over 150 u.s. persons who've either traveled to the conflict zone or attempted to do so. and that's something we can speak about in more detail later in the session. i want to be cautious here that because it's very difficult to be precise with these numbers because they come from a wide variety of sources that vary in quality. i'd rather focus on the trend lines which are clear, and which are concerning. in addition to the foreign fighters who've already traveled

it is clear that the number of those seeking to go to iraq and syria is going up. and furthermore the majority of those who are getting there, getting to the conflict zone right now, are fighting, or looking to fight for isil on the battlefield in syria and iraq. it's also a complicating factor that the individuals drawn to fight in foreign conflict zones do not fit any one stereotype or profile. they come from various backgrounds, which highlights the need for comprehensive messaging strategies and early engagement with a variety of communities in order to dissuade vulnerable individuals from trying to travel to conflict zones. the volume and diversity of recruits flowing to and from the conflict makes disruption particularly challenging. there is no single pipeline for foreign fighter travel into and out of syria. violent extremists take different routes, including land, air and sea. most routes do involve transit from turkey because of its geographic proximity to the syrian border areas where most of these groups operate. now this sense of shared threat has prompted even closer

cooperation across u.s. federal agencies, and importantly with our international partners, particularly in europe. this is resulting in the development of stricter counterterrorism laws overseas, increased efforts at border security among our european partners, and importantly, more willingness to share threat information among partner nations. and while these good efforts are under way and are making progress, significant work remains, particularly in ensuring that our foreign partners are able and willing to identify and stop foreign fighters when they transit their borders. both to prevent those fighters from entering and then to stop fighters from leaving, their home countries to travel abroad. now i'll turn quickly to the use of social media by extremists and especially by isil and the way in which this group uses social media to attract a diverse set of aspiring foreign fighters. now the chairman and the ranking member both mentioned in an opening remarks the brutal behavior that we've seen of isil in recent weeks.

the world witnessed the brutal burning of a jordanian pilot held hostage by the group and we've seen the cruel beheadings of u.s. and japanese hostages. isil's media capabilities are robust and effective. moreover, their ability to generate timely propaganda continues to grow. i would argue that isil has proven far more adept than al qaeda ever was or more adept than any of the core of al qaeda's affiliate groups, more adept at using these new social media tools to reach a broader audience. just since january 1 of this year more than 250 official isil products have been published online. and the group has shown the capacity to use these products to speak to a full spectrum of potential audiences. local sunni arab populations inside iraq and syria who they're trying to co-opt and exercise dominion over. individuals in coalition countries. and even populations around the world, including english speaking audiences here and across the globe. as you'd expect, isil uses the most popular of social media platforms to disseminate this messaging.

youtube, facebook, twitter. and they know how to ensure that once their media releases are posted that they reach far and wide almost instantaneously with reposting, and regeneration of follow-on links and translations into an ever-growing number of additional languages. now in terms of content we've all seen that it includes these horrible, horrific images in which hostages have been murdered or isil's adversaries on the battlefield have been executed in summary fashion. but we've also seen social media images of a bucolic family friendly welcoming light under isil's rule in their self-declared caliphate. as isil tries to paint a picture to entice disenfranchised individuals seeking ideological, religious or personal fulfillment, and not just a battlefield or a martyrdom experience. isil also generates releases that cater to a younger population very familiar with popular culture. these releases often reference western branding including popular video games. in an attempt to appeal to thrill ekers and youth looking for fulfillment. now the threat we face is not

just from foreign fighters or are terrorist groups including isil and al qaeda. individual inspired by these and other groups are simply by extremist propaganda can be motivated to action, and as frank said that can come with little or no warning. many of these so-called home-grown violent extremists are lone actors who can potentially operate undetected and who can plan and execute a simple attack without providing us warning. as a community we closely monitor violent extremist activity including when that activity appears and occurs in last year's attacks in canada, and elsewhere, may embolden other hbes to conduct additional un attacks. we believe isil's red rick may have played a role in this attacks, particularly in target selection in terms of targeting government officials or military personnel. we are working with our partners across multiple disciplines in the community to increase our knowledge of foreign fighters to counter extremism. nctc has taken a broad centerwide effort to track foreign fighters traveling to syria.

we work in the first instance to resolve specific identities of these potential fighters to uncover any potential derogatory information that we have in intelligence community holdings. we're also working closely with foreign partners to combat threats emanating from syria. we're looking hard to develop investigative leads for our partner agencies to pursue. including identifying foreign fighters entering syria, who may have potential access or connections to individuals in the homeland so that they can be watch listed. in the growing number of individuals going abroad as foreign fighters only emphasizes the importance of prevention. any hope of enduring security or defeating organizations like isil rests in our ability to diminish their appeal and dissuade individuals from joining them in the first place. to this end we continue to refine and expand the preventive side of terrorism and counterterrorism. we've seen a steady proliferation of more pro-active and more engaged community

awareness efforts across the united states with the goal of giving communities information and tools they need to identify extremism in their midst, and to do something about it before it manifests in violence. my organization, nctc, in direct and daily collaboration with dhs, the justice department, and fbi, has led the creation of cve tools to build community resilience across the country. in working closely with these partners we're doing this work all across the country, and i'd like to point to just one quick example. you'll recall the case last year in which three young teenage girls allegedly attempted to travel from denver to syria by way of frankfurt, germany, where their travel was disrupted by law enforcement. now in the aftermath of that incident we, working to the with dhs, dhs, fbi and the department of justice, sent our officers on multiple occasions to meet and talk to the greater denver community to raise awareness among community and law enforcement partners about the terrorist recruitment threat. we developed a briefing, working with our partners, that is now tailored to address the specific effort to identify -- to identify and recruit foreign fighters for syria and iraq. we've received a very strong demand signal for more such outreach from communities like denver. we continue to try to expand our

tool kit of cve related tools. with our dhs colleagues we have created and we regularly deliver a community resilience exercise program, a tabletop exercise that brings together law enforcement, community leaders to run through a hypothetical scenario and talk about response. and we realized we can't institutionalize a prevention approach without scaling up these efforts and that goes to something you said in your open ing statement senator mccaul. we're working to try to create more programs to train individuals to ensure that communities across the country are able to lead cve approaches locally in their own communities. and this approach syncs up nicely with the efforts of the white house, nctc, dhs, and fbi to facilitate the local development and implementation of intervention frameworks in cities all across the country. i'll stop there, mr. chairman. thank you. >> mr. ranking member. thank you. >> we just have many members here to ask questions and there will be plenty of time to talk about that but we appreciate you being here today. thank you director.

chair now recognizes assistant director steinbach for his opening statement. good morning, chairman mccaul, ranking member thompson, members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the dynamic threat of foreign fighters traveling in support of the islamic state of iraq, commonly known as isil. and the continued threat to the united states posed by home-grown violent extremists. these threats remain among the highest priorities for the fbi, and the intelligence community as a whole. however, it is a blending of the home-grown violent extremism with foreign fighter ideology which is today's latest adaptation of the threat. conflicts in syria and iraq are currently the most attractive overseas theaters for western-based extremists who want to engage in violence. we estimate upwards of 150 americans have traveled or attempted to travel to syria to

join extremist groups. while this number is small in comparison to the number of european travelers, we must also consider the influence groups like isil have on individuals located in the united states who are inspired to commit acts of violence. it is this influence which i refer to as the blended threat. isil has proven ruthless in its campaign, in its violent campaign to rule, and has become yet the latest terror group attracting like-minded western extremists. yet from a homeland perspective, it is isil's widespread reach through the internet, and social media, which is the most concerning as isil has proven dangerously competent like no other group before it at employing such tools in furtherance of its nefarious strategy. isil uses high-quality traditional media platforms, as well as a multitude of social

media campaigns, to propagate its extremist ideas. like al qaeda and other foreign terrorist organizations, isil has effectively used the internet to communicate to both radicalize and recruit, unlike other groups, isil has gone one step further, and demonstrates an effectiveness to spot and assess potential recruits. social media in particular has provided isil with the technical platform for widespread recruitment, operational direction, and consequently has helped bridge the gap between foreign fighters and home grown extremists. as a communication tool the internet remains a critical mode for terror groups to exploit. one recent example just occurred this past week. a group of five individuals was arrested for knowingly and willingly conspiring and attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organizations active in syria and iraq. much of their conspiracy occurred via the internet. following on other groups doctrines, isil, too has advocated for lone attacks. last month isil released a video via social media reiterating the group's encouragement of lone wolf offender attacks in western

countries. specifically advocating for attacks against soldiers, law enforcement, and intelligence members. several incidents have occurred in the united states and europe over the past few months which indicate this call to arms has resonated amongst isil, supporters, and sympathizers. in one case an ohio-based man was arrested in january after he obtained a weapon and stated his intent to conduct an attack on the u.s. capitol in washington, d.c. use as twitter account he indicated his sport for isil and planned his attack based on voice support. likewise, recent events reflect the pur of this radical iez message and reemphasize urz need to remain individual lernt. e with should at also understand

events. and and the hostage situation at the cafe in central these actes of terror play inspire copy cat attacks. isil is not to only terrorist korgs of coop certain. aqap poses on line p threat and advocates for loan wosms to conduct attacks by use utilizing simple and inexpensive tactics and methods. on december 24 2014 they provide instructions for building and deploying ab, request, a darks. and lastly even mv effectively

atly spotting and assessing potential recruits. terrorists can identify synthetic voltages of all individuals at in the yates. the foreign terrorist now that is has direct access into if united states like never before. as a result it was imperative that fbi and all law enforcement organizations understand the latest cools. e live the in technologically driven society and u.s.as prooifrd striz 345z quickly outpacing laws and technology designed to low for content. this real gap must be urgent i

addressed as the risks associated are great. we must continue to build participates and stoour appropriate lawful collection is possible. . services are development and diploid without ability for law enforcement to collect. the fbi is utilizing all sources to combat threats the to individuals composed to the united states. rm nlz? partnership with strait local

and federal agency we remain individuality. and informs sharing processes to stay ahead the threat to the to homeland. committee members i thank you for this opportunity to testify. thank you. chair flow recognizes himself for five minutes. americans have seen american journals beheadedfy fyfy fyfy fyfy fyfy bebe the executionist. and a very sophisted holiday

movie production style wood on flames. they are barbarians and i think the barbarians a on the gate. we want to keep them outside of the gates. foreign fighters have goep from 15 to 20,000. i know 5,000 of these:r foublg fusd ubz foreign fighters. and there are hundreds kbho is a traveled to the region to fight with isis. my if fergus question is for those who have returned to the united states, who assurance can you give tth american people.

what confidence do we know that all that people and what where he doing to ensure they don't return and attack in the eyes. >> in talking about the numbers mr. chairman. you are right to raise numbers about overall can skfds. and we know what we know know. and there is likely more information we have not opinion able to collect and it's possible there are greater numbers of foreign fighters and potentially even greater numbers who could travel to the conflict zones. i'll let mike smooek to the situation about individuals cho who travel to the coffin frikt

zone and it is a it is highest priority. >> i would not be truthful if i told you about all the the attorneys. we know what we know. there is a number with e don't know about. the ones that are returned from the cob flikt cone. every one is a