d to say when he first told of the prime minister that they electrification of the lines couldn't go ahead. there's huge concern about my constituency and across the north. was the prime minister told about this before the general election, yes or no? >> i was told about after the election. as we said that before but the point is that when you do everything that we can to get to the bottom of the overspending and the engineering difficulties that are. frankly, we've committed far some someone a 38 million pounds program in terms of rail and i think instead of griping and taking these grievances allows should get behind this program and make sure we get on with it. >> with the threat level at an unprecedented high, with my right honorable friend -- 2% gdp of the defense budget that we

will -- to fund front-line forces as constituents asked me to ask prime minister? >> i think my honorable friend is right. because we made the pledge in our manifesto that there be no further reductions in armed services numbers, and i think that's right. with a visit to present him with the extra commitment we are making throughout this parliament we can now have a strategic defense and security review that looks at options for how to make this country even safer. the way the chancellor of the defense secretary have set it up is to make sure we include in this looking at options for counterterrorism, for intelligence and security as well as defense assets to make sure we do everything we can at this time of heightened security to keep a britain is safe. >> a combination of changes made to the state pension in 1995 and 2011 will mean that many women born in the 1950s will not have the kind of retirement that they hoped for.

given a senior civil servants and the judges and even members of parliament within 10 years of the normal retirement pay cut their pensions protected from is the time for the prime minister to look again at this group of women to make sure that they have fairness in the system? >> what i would say to the honorable gentleman, i looked her up at the question you ask it is right to raise the pension age, one of the most important long-term changes that enables us to go on paying very generous pension. it has enabled us to the triple lock because the triple lock means the pension will always go up but earnings are 2.5% whatever is at the lowest. if you go down the path that he is suggesting of not changing the pension age, pretty soon you find you can't pay proper attention to that is always the labour way. you take the easy way out. you don't the difficult decisions and then you can't pay.

>> is my right honorable friend aware that 120,000 europeans 140,000 non-europeans -- in this country and 2013? does he agree that the uk government has to control the number of migrants? >> yes, i do and that is why we took so much action in the last parliament to cut net migration from outside the european union. augusta inside the european union there is a the freedom to go and work in another european country. one of the reasons we're focusing on the welfare issue is of the people who come from europe to the united kingdom 60% of them are jobseekers, not people already with a job. to our proposal of saying you won't get benefit for the first six months of being here committed another job after six months you have to go and get debate into the system before you get out of the system. those will make a real difference.

>> thank you very much, mr. speaker. my constituent is the home care on-call six days a week or shoe works every single our constants but needs tax credits to help make ends meet with the prime minister be honest and admit with even higher minimum wage cut tax credits will make her worse off a? >> there will be care workers happened in the country who are currently on the minimum wage and getting no more than fat who will benefit not least from the 50 p. increase in the national minimum wage of a national living wage that will happen straight away next year. we are only able to do this because we are cutting taxes for working people cutting taxes for business, making welfare affordable and introducing a national living wage. let the whole house focus on this. last night the labour party voted against the national living wage. put that on your leaflets.

[shouting] >> youth unemployment in worcester over the last two years -- is down two-thirds from its peak under labour. with this one nation government investing in a partnerships by half, with the prime minister back my long-term plan and have 15,000 apprenticeships a year by 2020? >> first of all let me thank my honorable friend probably does to support apprenticeships. i think there are 4490 have been created since 2010 but he's right to say the challenge of the fugitive are going to the number of apprentices and the quality of apprenticeships that's what it is right to introduce a levy on larger firms so that they get the money back if they invest in apprenticeships but i have to put up to do. i think i will be one of the key ways we achieve our goal of 3 million apprentices in this parliament. >> last but not least sir

michael spent if this is such a great economic recovery, why are wage is still 6% below the precrisis level of seven years ago? why the growth rate and less court and your .4%? what is productivity been flat for five years of? what is uk investment in a proportion of gdp one of the lowest in the world? [shouting] and what is the balance of payment of trade in goods now in deficit by 100 billion pounds a year? >> if you want to know why, two words. ask gordon. [shouting] [laughter] but if he wants to know them if he wants to know what's actually happening in our economy let me tell him. the deficit has been speeded order, mr. mcdonald, calm yourself, man. take some sort of soothing medicine. you will find it soothing.

>> the deficit is down by half. we've seen the fastest growth of any major advance become in 2014. we grew by 3% last year. economy is 10% bigger than when i became prime minister. they are 2.2 million more people in work and just today you can see inflation at zero, wages growing by over 3% 5% cut in gas prices for 7 million customers. i would call that a long-term economic plan that is working. [shouting] added to that, just this week was introduced a national national living wage come build an welfare system that rewards work cutting taxes for working people. that is a conservative party standing up for working people and a living on the one nation agenda. [shouting] >> order. [shouting]sion to pluto.

and later, this week's edition of prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. the federal air marshal service is a law enforcement agency tasked with protecting commercial airlines from terrorist attacks. roderick allison, the director of the agency, testified at a house hearing today about air marshal readiness and aviation security. we'll also hear from the president of the airline pilots association, who discusses the federal flight deck officers program. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> the committee on homeland security, committee on transportation, will come to order.

the subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on examining the federal air marshal service and its readiness to meet evolving threat. the before we begin, i would like to express my support for administrator effinger. i had the opportunity to sit down with mr. effinger, i'm hopeful he can provide steady leadership at tsa. while it is clear that he will have his work cut out for him, i believe that his experience in the united states coast guard will be a valuable asset to tsa and i look forward to working with him and hearing his plans to fix the agency. since the beginning of the 114th

congress this subcommittee has investigated several issues related to tsa's policies and procedures in order to make sure tsa is fulfilling its mission, to keep the traveling public safe. the federal air marshal service was significantly expanded in the wake of the terror attacks of september 11th, 2001. the outcome of 9/11 could have been very different if we had federal air marshals on those planes. the threat to aviation security has evolved over the last 14 years. the terrorists are constantly adapting their tactics and we need to make sure we're not protecting ourselves against yesterday's threat and ignoring the threats of tomorrow. the threat of an ied is very

real. is a federal air marshal capable of preventing an ied from detonating? the purpose of today's hearing is to discuss the federal air marshal service. it is not clear to me whether the service in its strategy for resource allocation have kept pace with the new threats. additionally i remain concerned that continued allegations of employee misconduct and abuse has served to hurt public perception and confidence in the air marshals and can have the common effect of decimating

employee morale. we all share the same goal and as such it is our duty to ensure that we constantly re-examine what we are doing and why we are doing it in order to yield better security enhancements and be more intelligence driven. at today's hearing, we're fortunate to have mr. rod allison to address these issues and to discuss what tools are necessary to improve efficiency and security. and on our second panel we'll have captain tim canoll from the pilots association. i look forward to hearing the testament from both witnesses and having a meaningful dialogue as we work together to counterthreats at the u.s. aviation sector.

i recognize the ranking member, the subcommittee, and ms. rice from an opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for convening this hearing. i understand that this is actually the first time since 2012 that a panel in this committee has discussed the federation aviation marshal service. it's clearly important that we do so and i want to thank our witnesses for their participation today. prior to september 11th, the federal air marshal service had 33 full-time sky marshals and the 9/11 attacks made it clear that we needed a much greater presence on commercial aircrafts to counter it. and it was rapid and expanded through the aviation

transportation security act of 2002. 600 marshals were trained and activated within a month and thousands more in the months that followed. the federal air marshal service as well as flight deck officers is a last line of defense. we know that the threats against our country, particularly against our aviation sector are constantly evolving and they have only increased in the years since 9/11. we must ensure we're maintaining the strength we need to keep the passengers safe. that's why we're here today. there are a number of issues of concern with the current state of the federal air marshal service. first and foremost, the dwindleing rargeg -- ranks of the service. there's not been a new service class in four years. when you couple this with high attrition and poor retention rates it is clear that the organization is shrinking dramatically and raises serious questions about workforce morale. and as the workforce is dwindle dwindling, so the number of field houses. currently there are 22 and two more are scheduled to close in

2016 which will bring us down to 20 field offices within the next year. i understand these closures are determined by complex risk analyses and there are fluctuations in which areas are commercial aviation hubndredsbhubs, but we need to be certain that this doesn't compromise safety and they're being transitioned over to other openings as quickly as possible i'm eager to hear from mr. allison about the details and what is in place to help with the transition and what outreach developments are taking place. i look forward to hearing from captain canoll about other security on the plane. the selfless pilots who volunteer for this program are subjected to intense training and prepare themselves for

dangerous threats on commercial aircrafts. i'm eager to learn more about the training they receive and how the training is evolving to the current security threats. thank you for your leadership and for convening this hearing. i look forward to the productive dialogue with our colleagues. i yield back the rest of my time. >> okay. opening statements may be submitted for the record. we are pleased to have a distinguished witness with us before the topic. the entire written statement will appear in the record. our first witness is mr. roderick rod allison, who in may of 2014 began serving as the assistant administrator for the office of federal air marshal. i would like to note that i met with mr. allison yesterday in advance of his testimony here today.

and if he displays the same candid demeanor yesterday, i think we'll have a very productive hearing. i look forward to hearing from you, sir. i now recognize you for five minutes. >> thank you, members of the subcommittee. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to testify about the federal air marshal service or what is known as fams. it's to detect, deter or defeat any threat against our systems. we perform our core mission by deemployeeing federal air marshals throughout the world 3650 days a year utilizing a complex set of operations that aligns with tsa's risk-based strategy. fams are law enforcement officials who are prepared for the challenges associated with a difficult working environment. fams operate at 35,000 feet, have restricted space, and have

no backup to call upon. the fams is unique in its ability to remain flexible and to rapidly deploy hundreds of law enforcement offices in response to specific evolving threats within the transportation domain around the world. in consultation with the department of homeland security, fams completed an updated concept of operations for mission deployments. while the focus remains on the highest risk flights -- deterrence through potential deployment on any u.s. carrier flight. a risk by under development which will include mission planning based upon passenger travel patterns assess passenger risk, and consideration for airport locations with known vulnerabilities vulnerabilities. in addition to deploying fams on board aircraft, fams also issues

intermodal response or viper teams and a lot of teams in all modes of transportation. the teams can be made up of several different components of tsa each working with federal, state and law enforcement officers to ensure the safety and security of our transportation systems. it is made up of dedicated officials. since becoming fams director in june of 2014 i have implemented several workforce engagement initiatives to enhance communications and to promote the highest level of professionalism in the workforce. over the past year, my deputy director and i have conducted nearly 50 office visits and town hall sessions across the country. i have personally visited each headquarters site on multiple occasions and 92 out of the 22 field offices to meet with personnel at all levels to communicate expectations,

address concerns, and answer questions. i recently launched a director's award which honors one nonsupervisor employee at each office who serves as a a role model to their colleagues. i have also initiated a thank you campaign where hundreds have received letters of commendation for noteworthy accomplishments. these initiatives provide me with a great opportunity to demonstrate straight my deep appreciation. additionally, fams continues to provide our workforce with the resources and support they need to carry out the mission. as part of the effort, fams has mandatory physicals and psychological assistant programs which are readily available to the work force and their families. the fams medical program section is staffed with a physician and other full-time medical professionals who are available to fams personnel at any time 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. fams recognizes the value of

these programs for our workforce, and as our mission is demanding both physically and mental mentally, we'll continue to make these programs available to our personnel. fams completed a staffing and field office assessment review in order to manage effectiveness and to ensure fams are located in offices that are positioned in a risk-based manner to color the flights. and six field offices have closed or will be closing in the next year, and personnel were reassigned to the most critical offices where service -- which service the highest risk flights. the federal marshal service is a strong counterterrorism element. we take our mission seriously and our workforce is dedicated to preventing and disrupting criminal and terrorist acts on board the aircraft and in the transportation domain. i appreciate this committee's

partnership and your support for our critical mission. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. i look forward to answering your questions. >> that's pretty remarkable. i don't think anybody spoke within two seconds of the five-minute limit. that's pretty good. if that's part of your organizational skills, i'm impressed, sir. we appreciate you being here. i recognize myself for five minutes to ask questions. let's get right into it. with reenforced cockpit doors on arms airplanes and we have pilots that are armed and passenger information collected via the secure flight is the need for federal air marshals service the same or is it declining? >> well, mr. chairman, i would tell you if i didn't believe in this mission i wouldn't be in this job. all the things you cited are improvement things that would have happened over the years and

as we like to say, you know, no one element -- or no one layer stands on its own. so we do need to have federal air marshals and these flights. we do need to have their partnership with the program. we need to continue to work on the improvements on the hard cockpit doors and as you and i discussed yesterday the secondary barriers, so those things will be ongoing. and as we get to a place where we're satisfied that these things are in place to sufficiently mitigate the threats that we see, we'll start looking elsewhere where we can be effective and where we can add value and make a difference. >> what additional changes do you feel the air marshal service could implement to become more efficient and better risk based? >> i mentioned in my opening statement, mr. chairman, that we're looking at a model of risk

by flight. so with that, i'd like -- maybe it sounds pretentious, but i like to think we're good with space as we are today, but we're going to really examine critical infrastructure, our flights flying over critical infrastructure, in addition to the populous areas in addition to using that passenger information from secure flight, known travel paths of suspected terrorists, so we're moving to a model where we can better utilize the information that's available to make better judgments about how we assign our personnel. >> is there any new initiatives that you're planning for the phys physical year, the upcoming fiscal year? >> i was able to get that over the goal line. but in that construct, what we

did was we really looktook a look at how we were deploying our federal air armarshals. since the advent of 9/11 there were things that we were required to do. for instance, mandatory flight levels, looking at long haul flights and looking at the particular areas of the country and giving them certain priority levels. we have actually readjusted that and i think it's going to make us more productive, more unpredictable and we'll be able to, you know, be seen and have air marshals on flights where we wouldn't have coverage. i'd be happy to share that with you during your conversation. >> i appreciate that. you mentioned i think they call it a secondary door and that's something that some groups have been interested in with respect to additional airline safety. so when a pilot is coming out of the cockpit for that temporary moment when the door is open to

have some sort of barrier there i know now on flights they have a cart turned sideways and the flight attendant is standing behind the cart so someone isn't able to get up to the cockpit door right away. is a secondary door something that should be considered or necessary based on your knowledge and experience? >> i think it is absolutely necessary to take a look at it and see if it works if it's effective, if it's something that's going to you know result in less resources and more protection and security for the flight crews. as you stated the flight crew does bring out the cart and block the entrance for the pilot to use the facilities so we are working and have been for a number of years with boeing, the faa. i was just informed yesterday there were some foreign partners that have an interest in looking in this as well so that work

will continue. >> one other thing we touched on yesterday, there's been a concern within the industry about the federal air marshal service booking flights close to the time the plane is set to take off over a 24-hour period for example, and oftentimes if first class is full, someone, if you're sitting in first class, they get bumped out of first class. they can't tell them why. that leads to some consternation and also leads to some difficult explaining to try and attempt to deal with the passenger who paid for a first class ticket and is no longer able to sit in first class. first of all have you looked into this issue since we spoke? >> i did look into the issue of deadheading, and i'll get to that in a second, but specifically to your question, mr. chairman, these young men and women who fly these flights, they're having to submit their

schedules and availabilities 60 days in advance. as i relayed to you yesterday, sir, i know more than anybody that what we do is necessary. it's important. but at the same time, it does impact the industry to some degree. over the course, i think it was 2014 june '14 and june '15, the amount of economic impact of federal air marshals was .11 in the entire industry. as you can sense, we are sensitive to that. and we make all attempts to minimize the disruption to their business. >> okay. i guess going forward, i would ask you, it might be advisable to reach out to the airlines and make sure you're on the same page to that. the bottom line is we want to make sure that the disruption to passenger traffic is as minimal

as possible but also allows you to fulfill your duties going forward. but i guess planning, planning planning is the best we can do. to the extent you can reach out to them, i think it would be advisable to do so. >> absolutely. i'll make sure -- >> appreciate that. the chair recognizes the ranking member of the subcommittee, ms. rice, for any questions she may have. >> thank you. >> mr. allison if you were given a wish list of improvements that you could make to your agency what would they be? >> the first thing i would put on that wish list in big bold letters the ability to hire. you know as i go across the country and i talk to federal air marshals the number one question i get is what is the future of the organization. not being able to hire has a debt detrimental effect on the work

force. if i was able to hire i'd open up and allow employees to move to places where they would want to go conceivably. the workforce is getting older. a lot of people that we hired in the beginning of 9/11 as i told the chairman yesterday, they're going to be walking out the door 2020 2021. i asked the chairman for his support in working this problem to where we want to be in five years, so that is the number one issue i'd put on my wish list in big bold letters. i think the other thing that the men and women of the federal marshal would say, this is a tough, tough job. all of us have flown and we have crossed time zones. we know how tough that is. these men and women do this job. and they are exceptional men and women. i can't tell you just how proud i am of the work they do. it's tough to recognize them for that, and i think over the years the constant reporting of the

misconduct, which is a very small percentage of our workforce, and i would submit to you, congresswoman that every organization has misconduct. and i'm not condoning it because i'm going to tell you i'm zero tolerance when it comes to that. everybody has an internal affairs division and they're all busy, but the challenge of leadership is to make sure that our people know what the standards are, know what the expectations are, and know what they're going to be held to. and that starts with me on down throughout the organization, so to your point, the second highlighted bullet would be a little bit more support and recognition for the tough job that they do. >> so two other questions. you started a thank you campaign to help improve morale. can you help explain what that is? >> sure. when you think about the

challenge of security work in any security profession, you do your job. nothing happens. and it's tough to recognize people for that sort of activity right? so what we really did was took a hard look at what our people are doing and we get reports every day of federal marshals that are providing medical assistance to people on aircraft that are in distress, whether it is oxygen ivs, or putting on devices, stopping roadside traffic accidents on their way to the airport and from the airport. there's a whole lot of activities that really, you know have an indirect effect on the core mission, but are commendable activities none the less. as thigh reportese reports come in, they comb the reports and it is very

simple. we write a thank you letter. i understand you were involved in this activity yesterday. thank you. i've lost count. maybe 600. 200 something this year alone, so we think it is a low cost way to show appreciation to our workforce, just a pat on the back. >> couldn't agree with you more. how do you make the determination as to what offices are going to be closed? i don't know there are two upcoming. what analysis do you do to come to the conclusion that it's okay to close this office and to redirect people to another one? >> congresswoman i believe two years ago, if not three, the former director embarked upon a study where they looked at the flights that were in those offices that were identified for closure closure. i think it's important to note that the airline industry has undergone major consolidations over the years and in one

particular pittsburgh cincinnati some pulled off those airports. would they be better utilized putting them to some of the larger offices that we have? there were ten offices that were identified identified that we would allow these people to go. >> well thank you for your service and for the service of all of your employees. i yield back my time. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, ms. rice. i want to echo ms. rice's sentiments about thank youing you and your employees for the great job you do. i was speaking with ms. rice before the hearing began and both of us are willing to come to your offices to provide additional support to help boost morale a bit. >> i appreciate that. i think that would be most appreciated.

i think you'd enjoy it. >> well good. now the chair will now recognize other members of the committee for questions for which they may ask the witness. i plan to recognize members who are present at the start of the hearing by seniority of the subcommittee. the chair now recognizes a gentleman from georgia, mr. carter. >> thank you. i've got just a couple of questions. i'm just inquiring, okay? i'm not going to be confrontational. i don't want you to be defensive, but i need to understand some things. first of all thank you for what you do. this is important. it's my understanding that many countries assess a fee or a tax, if you will, on airlines whenever we have a passenger from the u.s. landing in their

country. is that true? you have to understand i've not traveled much. in fact i sit before this committee yesterday i've only been to two countries in my life. that's one more than i wanted to go to so i'm asking you is that true? >> mr. congressman, i'm not aware of that. >> well, that's the way i understand it. what i understand is the airlines are having to absorb this fee because the federal air marshals don't compensate for it. whenever they are flying over there, the airlines are having to absorb this fee and that's just something i need to understand and need to inquire about. >> i'll provide you a follow-up on that point. >> i want to follow up on a line of questions that i believe mr. katko had addressed earlier and that's about our air marshals flying first class. i've heard some horror stories to be quite honest with you. in fact, i've heard a story

that's been communicated to us where there were like six air marshals flying first class. there was another group on a competing airline that the flight got cancelled and they came over and wanted the first class cabin and the whole first class cabin was taken up by air marshals. that doesn't seem right. can you provide to us how often your employees are flying first class? i flew first class one time. that wasn't by choice. that was the only seat that was available. my three sons got to fighting about who was sitting in first class and i resolved it by sitting there myself. >> mr. congressman, i can't elaborate in an open hearing about our tactical seating. i would be happy to discuss it with you in private and answer any questions you have.

i will assure you our impact upon the aviation industry, we view it as a partnership. and as a matter of practice, those things are managed to a very high degree so i look forward to having a private conversation with you in a closed setting, and i'll give you the full plethora information of where we sit and why we sit there. >> i certainly respect that. i understand there are probably situations where you would, but it seems to me you wouldn't need the whole first class cabin. >> i would agree with you. >> i suspect you would. and i can certainly understand if this is sensitive or not, but it would appear to me that it would be -- especially in light of the fact that we've made so much progress on the doors the cabin doors now, to where they're secure that the real target is going to be around the wings and the fuel tanks and

that's where we really ought to have the agents or the marshals. am i correct in that? >> sir when you get to the notion of as you're referring the evolving threat ieds, every day in tsa, we start our day with intelligence briefings. i don't have to tell you gentlemen the threat to this country has never been higher. certainly debatable, i would agree with. has the threat evolved or have our adversaries chosen additional methods of which to cause us harm, which doesn't mean that the old ones went away and we can't ignore them? now we're not sitting around waiting for the last threat. we are watching for that, but we're also looking for the new threat. you know, we've got our eye on that and we're looking at ieds on aircrafts and the potential to do so. i will tell you, mr.

congressman, christmas day i was at home and i got the call of this guy that tried to set his underwear on fire. if there's an incident on an aircraft, i'm very confident that our folks are going to respond regardless of where they are on that aircraft. i guess to your point, wherever that incident is, we're going to respond to it. >> you see where i'm going with this. i give you the benefit of the doubt, but just please let's make sure we're taking care of this. >> thank you. >> thank you mr. carter. the chair now recognizes mr. walker from north carolina. >> mr. allison, thank you for being here with us today. it's a privilege to get to put a face with a title there. my question is as a matter of policy, do federal air marshals

fly out of an airport proximate to their home and are their instances where a federal air marshal needs to fly out to an off-duty commute to where an assignment begins? >> the chairman mentioned that to me yesterday, and i have not heard that. we're actively looking through the industry engagement office to sort of get some more information. as a matter of policy that's not something we do. that's not something we've ever done. and as long as i'm director that's not something we will do. i don't see a need to do that. >> but you're looking into that as far as the reports that we hear, you're taking a look at that? >> yes, sir. i just want you to understand been pretty busy over the last year but my strategy going forward is to really start looking out and having some more conversations with the airline industry, airline ceos, some of the law enforcement association groups and things like that.

so more discussion but i am going to look into that and make sure if that is happening -- it needs to be reported. that's misuse of position and it shouldn't be happening. >> it does need to be reported. and in your position a lot of us come from different backgrounds, ministry, law, business. and a general manager doesn't necessarily know how to do every specific position underneath the scope of the country but as an overseer, are you able to get caught up on all the different things going on or are you overwhelmed with the specific tasks you should be accomplishing? >> i assure you mr. congressman, i am not overwhelmed. i've got the right staff. >> okay. >> i'm not immersed in the

day-to-day business. to the degree i'm blinded that i don't see things i need to be focused on, as i stated in my opening statement, getting out in the field and talking to the employees and the managers about what's going on and using the employees in the advisory groups and listening to people outside the organization it gives you that perspective. >> i appreciate the confidence in which you answer that. i know we probably can't talk about this in a open setting but i would be curious with percentages. what sort of physical and psychological evaluations are conducted to maintain the federal air marshal suitability? do you feel good about that? do you feel the guys are in a good condition to be doing the job? >> that is a constant monitoring. that's one of those things where you shoot for perfection. you know, you aim for perfection knowing you'll never get there

so we do have a mandatory physical for -- myself included, for all the credentialed personnel. once a year, you get a physical. and in that physical there's psychological screening. you have to answer a series of questions about what you have experienced or not experienced physical fitness. you know we have a pretty good physical fitness program. you know it's not mandatory. it's mandatory to participate, but we can't remove people from federal service because they can't do 20 push-ups. that's what i'm getting at. it's mandatory participation, and we provide a number of exercises and altiveernative exercises for people to participate in. are we watching our personnel, do we give them avenues for assistance? >> absolutely.

>> the last thing i want to touch on. i'm married to a trauma nurse practitioner. if on the way home there was an accident or scene or situation, she would be the first one out of the car jumping in. my question is this, for guys flying off-duty is in a protocol to react if there was something? can you tell me a little bit about that? i know once they fly to a certain place, maybe their hours have expired. can you talk about what the protocol is if they're off duty and the situation arises? >> i can assure you that any of our personnel that see something in their presence they will react. >> thank you. my time is expired. i yield back to the chairman. >> thank you mr. walker. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey mr. payne, for questions. >> timing is everything.

good morning. let's see. mr. allison, could you detail for us your thoughts on the future of the federal air marshal service? >> how do i see the future of the federal air marshal service? >> yes. >> what i see, mr. congressman, is a viable counterterrorism force that supports the counterterrorism efforts of this government. we may be smaller and leaner and budget dollars are tight but we have to do our part. but i will assure you that the threats that we face now unfortunately they may be with us a little bit. and we're constantly looking for ways to make sure we're adding that value that i was talking about, assessing the threats,

watching the intelligence, you know making sure that we are operating in line with the u.s. government counterterrorism efforts led by the fbi, looking at the secure flight data as we had talked about earlier, and making sure that we are well positioned within the aviation industry to thwart any threats along with the fto program. it was mentioned about the office closures. where we are now we are situated with 80% of the traveling public is where we are in line as we speak today. that's a pretty powerful sort of statement. >> okay. you know when the committee last held a hearing on fams in the 112th congress, they examined allegations of discrimination, cronyism among other issues within the workforce. detail for us the state of the

workforce today, what the practices -- what practices were put in place to address these concerns and also what is the attrition and retention rate of the federal air marshals? >> so as we sit here today, the attrition rate is 6%. it was a 5 at the end of last year, so it is 6% at this time. to your point about the ig report, i testified at that hearing. i was deputy director back then. it's important to note that it was allegations of discrimination and retaliation, which they found none, but they did highlight that there was a rift between the workforce and the leadership. a lot of that came from how we were stood up. the workforce was hired and then a leadership was brought in. i will tell you today as we sit

here 92% of the leadership is from within the rankin file of the organization. the ranking member about pre- pre-9/11. i left and came back. that was in large degree part of the issue between the workforce and the leadership, so what did we do about it? clearly, there was a need to enhance communication within the organization, provide more transparency, more opportunities with respect to ground-based assignments, more transparency and objectiveness to the promotion process, so there were a number of workforce initiatives that were put in place right after that. and then since my return, i've sort of upped the ante so to speak, on the communication efforts and making sure i'm more

visible to the workforce. i was sharing with the chairman i'm out once a month and i'll continue to do that. >> thank you. so you're saying that these allegations of discrimination and what have you were unfounded? >> well, the ig said they had no evidence of widespread discrimination. but they did a highlight i believe the perception of that was sort of prevalent. >> okay. let's see. well i only have 25 seconds left. in the interest of time i'll stay within the rules and yield back. >> thank you, mr. payne. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. radcliffe. >> thank you. director allison i thank you

for being here today. one of the roles that we have here obviously is to make sure that our airlines and airports are as safe as possible. and at a cost of nearly $800 million a year to sustain the federal air marshal service, we obviously need to look closely at its viability, its efficiency, and it's effectiveness, so i appreciate you being here to answer some questions. as you know, we've had some gaps and issues with respect to airport and airline security here at the subcommittee. we've convened hearings. we had former acting tsa administrator here melvin caraway back here in april talking about the improper screening of employees at airports. back in june we had the inspector general here talking about the fact that tsa failed

to identify 73 airline employees that had links to terrorism so we all know that we've had some issues with tsa security that we need to address, and so i want to focus on your agency efforts here or the air marshal service issues. so one of the things that happened back in april was -- there were reports that an on-duty air marshal left a loaded pistol in a bathroom at newark liberty international airport, so i want to ask you about that incident in particular. can you give us some background about your investigation into that particular incident? >> sure. so whenever there's an allegation of misconduct, that allegation is referred to of the office of inspection. they do the investigation and the former administrator had set

up an office of professional responsibility that administers discipline. that incident like any other incident was investigated and referred to office of professional responsibility. and i think there's discipline pending. >> so it begs the question, though, that one became publicized because of how the pistol was recovered, but to the extent that you're able to answer this question are there less public breaches of protocol like that that have occurred and has it been a particular problem for you? >> you have mistakes and you have misconduct. you have, as you stated breaches of protocols, so the number of incidents that we have to deal with in that realm, it happens. as i told the chairman yesterday, people who engage in this activity, they don't confess and they don't wear

t-shirts. you've got to find them and what we do is emphasize the rules, emphasize the standards, and we help people who make mistakes and deal with people who engage in egregious misconduct. this young man i think unfortunately made a mistake and probably going to cost him. >> director i am by way of background a former terrorism prosecutor myself, so i certainly understand the threat that that issue poses to our country generally and specifically to air safety and obviously i believe in the core mission, but i would like to understand if it's possible for you to talk about when we look at the cost of maintaining this service, can you give us any

idea how many onboard threats have been minimized or e emil ameliorated by the federal air marshal service. >> the aftermath of 9/11 when the buildings were smoldering we were removing the wreckage from pennsylvania and we were burying 3,000 of our countrymen. we were asked as the federal air marshal service to make sure that never happened again and that hasn't. i would like to take credit for that, as i told the chairman yesterday, but i really can't. it goes to the terror apparatus that this country has put in place. now, we are a part of that apparatus. together as a country we have

thwarted a lot of terrorist attacks. some we were involved in. many others we weren't. it's known all over the world that we have federal air marshals on these aircrafts and i can't point to a fact, mr. congressman, but i can assure you that's something everyone knows about and in some small way, that's probably why we haven't had something in this country since then. i know that wasn't your direct question, but that's my thought. >> terrific. thanks for being here. my time has expired. >> i have a quick follow-up question from the chair and then we'll convene. we'll take a brief recess and go to the second panel. you mentioned something with ms. rice. there's been a hiring freeze at the federal air marshal service? >> yes, sir. we haven't hired. our last class was in 2011.

we ramped up to the tune of 400 or 500 air marshals. >> there was an increase at that time, but you haven't done any hiring in the last few years? >> no. >> you have approximately an $800 million budget? >> yes, sir. >> are you doing anything -- what are you doing with the extra money because i know there's attrition? what's happening with the additional money? >> well, there are no additional funds because the budget is planned in accordance with attrition. >> all right. now do you have sufficient funding moving forward to have another obviously the process is still going on, from what the initial reports that

i've seen, probably not this year. we are going to make another run for next year. we will submit here through the department, to the congress, a comprehensive report on what i believe -- we believe as a department what the size of the federal air marshals should be. that's coming up here very soon. >> two quick questions and then i'll be done. the first one is -- actually just one question. there's been some discussion in law enforcement circles that if other law enforcement personnel are on the flights whether it's necessary to also have the federal air marshal on those flights. are you familiar with that suggestion? and how do you think it would work? >> yes sir. so when we first set up the organization, we took a hard look at that. it really relies on us getting that data and that travel data,

and getting to plan towards it. we do our scheduling to minimize the disruption of the airlines. it starts 60 days in advance. so there are a lot of times when our plans are on flights. they're traveling and made their reservations maybe days before. we don't have the ability to sort of look and plan around that. on a strategic level we did look at that with respect to places where we see a large number of law enforcement officers and trusted travelers and we reduced our coverage levels there. individually by flight, it is sort of challenging. >> the very last question, i promise. that is, what percentage of overall population of employees at the federal air marshal service actually are air marshals in the air as opposed to the administrative aspect that's on the ground? >> of the federal air marshals

the majority -- i don't have a percentage for you, but i'll get you one -- our flying federal air marshal or direct support, work in the office, do the operations, do the training. when you go back to the operations center, we have federal air marshals there. we have federal marshals that work on the joint vulnerability assessments. and our mission support staff, we're very lean in that respect. >> if you can give us those percentages, that would be great. i would want to thank the witness for his testimony. that was very helpful. we have a second panel coming up in a few moments. but the members of the committee may have additional questions for this witness. if you would respond to them in writing, mr. allison. the hearing record will be open for an additional ten days. without objection this subcommittee stands adjourned for a very brief recess.

the chair will now introduce our witness for the second panel. our second witness is captain tim canoll who began serving as

the tenth president of the alpa. captain canoll pre sides over the meetings of the association's governing bodies and oversees daily operations of the association. the chow recognizes captain canoll to testify. >> good morning chairman katko and congressman payne. i am captain tim canoll president of the airline pilots association international. alpa represents more than 52,000 pilots who fly for 31 passenger and all cargo airlines in the united states and canada. thank you for inviting me here today. for several decades, alpi pilots have had a strong relationship with the federal air marshal service. alpi leaders meet on a regular basis to make sure we have the most current and accurate understanding of the roles, responsibilities training and methods. we focus in particular on

learning how fans interface with people like me when we fly the line. throughout the fams history, alpi members have been deeply impressed by the dedication of the program's leaders. including assistant administrator allison. every day fams put their lives at risk to safeguard the passengers and crew members on their flights. for that alpi and its members are and will always be extremely grateful. in alpi's view, flying u.s. airliners with highly trained experts aboard is immensely valuable. they also serve as a powerful deter tent for someone hijacking an airline flight. it's a risk based security philosophy for many programs. the federal flight deck officer program also serves in another

critical layer and contributes to the risk based approach to security. in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, alpi conceived of and advocated for the fdoo program that became a reality when arming pilots against the terrorism act in 2002. ffdos are airline pilots who voluntarily undergo thorough screening by the tsa. once qualified, these individuals have been dep you tidesed before assume inging responsibilities of protecting the cockpit. thousands of pilots who fly passenger and all cargo airlines have volunteered to become ffdos. they protect the cockpit on about 1 million flight segments each year. in addition they volunteer their personal time to receive the training, required to join the program, and many pay of their own expense. ffdos are the last line of defense in protecting the cook about pit. like fams, ffdos provide passengers, cargo shippers and

flight crews with an additional layer of security. alpi applauds the many supporters of the program in congress and particularly those in this committee. we believe that the funding level agreed on by congress is adequate now for the tsa to continue to train new ffdos while providing the management and oversight required. the ffdo program is successful efficient and effective program, and should be expanded to meet the risk based security objectives objectives. the office of training and work force engagement for setting the stage for the program's continued success it's given out by the members to observe the most current training methods and procedures. they've been responsive to alpi's feedback. we look forward to continue to work closely with them. finally, since we're focused on the overall security of airline operations, i would be remiss if i did not underscore alpi's strong support for installing secondary cockpit barriers on

passenger airliners as another essential layer of security. i would be pleased to discuss the details of how they work if you're interested. simply put secondary cockpit barriers create a common-sense additional layer of security by protecting the cockpit when the hardened door must be opened. installing secondary cockpit barriers on passenger airlines would be an important security enhancement for many reasons, not the least of which which is that fams and ffdos would benefit from the layer of security. we are committed to advancing aviation security to protect our passengers, our cargo and our flight crews. we appreciate this subcommittee's shared interests in exploring new ways to make a secure air transportation system even more secure. thank you for this opportunity to be here. >> thank you captain. the chair right now recognizes itself for five minutes for questions. let's start with the secondary barrier issue. there has been some people

advocating for a secondary barrier for cockpit doors. i know when i'm on the airplane now, i always notice the flight attendant turning the cart sideways and standing behind that cart when someone comes out of the cockpit door for a moment. there's been some question whether the secondary barrier is necessary, given all that. and given how quickly they come in and out of the cockpit. i want you to comment on that, and tell me by way of background, whether there's been any attempts to rush the door that you're aware of since 9/11. >> i'm not prepared to speak exactly 40u78 rush the door issues, or incidents there have been. but they have occurred. the door is an excellent door. it's very well fortified, and it's completely deployed. it's everywhere. the one vulnerability is this period of time when you have to leave for essential purposes, even passing meals or access

the bathroom on the aircraft. even if it's for a very short period of time, and we take steps to make sure it's for the shortest period possible, that period is when we're most vulnerable. the installing of a very cost-effective barrier, we're talking $5,000 to $12,000 per aircraft once installed, it's forever, no operating cost of it you can almost completely if not completely eliminate that risky period of time. >> do you know what they look like? i've seen some renderings, but is it a full door, or screen or what? >> yes sir, it's a wire mesh retractable, lightweight and it's inexpensive as i mentioned. it goes from the floor to the ceiling of the cabin and it's installed after the cockpit door, but before the passenger cabin. so as you enter an aircraft, normally you see the cockpit door to the left and you turn right to go down the aisle of the cabin. it's in that period where you would make that turn.

unobtrusive. often you wouldn't see it unless it's deployed. >> i want to switch gears and talk about the federal air marshal service and the relationship with the airline pilots. that you're aware of. it seems like you enjoy a pretty good relationship. are there any concerns about the conduct of the federal air marshal service, or ways we can improve it going forward? >> so, we have no concerns over the conduct in the air marshal service whatsoever. i think part of the aviation safety and security is always seeking better ways to do business. so while we're satisfied we have good communications, procedures through otwe, and out there on the line flying the aircraft, we know we can do better. we're constantly looking for those better ways to do it. >> what better ways would you say -- how can you improve the air marshal service? is it more bodies in the seats, or is it better training for them, or what? >> i think one way would be actually to expand the ffdo program. the ffdo program is an amply

flyer for the federal air marshal service in the coordination on flights is executed at the tsa. so if you're covering more flights with ffdos, then you have the capability of covering more critical flights with the current fams. >> when you say expand the ffdos, what's preventing you from doing that. >> >>we would like to see the opportunity to expand to entice every pilot who wished to become an ffdo to become an ffdo? >> are there those who aren't because of the budget constraints? >> yes, sir. >> do you know how long the waiting list is? >> i do not. >> i think that would be very constructive for me. if there are pilots desiring to do this, and it's a question of funding, that should not be a question moving forward. we should do what we have to do to make that happen. to me, that's important going forward. can you tell me approximately

what percentage of airline pilots have the fddo certification? >> i can't confirm or deny how many there are, sir. it is confidential. i don't even know, sir. >> at some point, perhaps in a more secure setting you could advise us. >> yes, sir. >> i do think it's another layer of the security that is an important deterrent. if there's something we can do to help you enhance that, we want to try to do that. this is far afield of the subject today, but i have a few seconds so i'll ask it. what happened with the german airlines, with the pilot going bad, and is there ways we can examine to try and help you prevent that from happening in this country, with our airlines? >> as you know airline pilots are subject to physical examination, in that there's an element of mental evaluation. the faa has stood up in the committee to examine the current

processes we use for this element. at the airline pilots association, we really have had programs in place for many many years. we have not only substance abuse programs, but professional standards committees that monitor peer-to-peer within the program. we have pilot assistance programs where pilots can access hotlines 24/7, to express their angst, whether it be a family matter, personal matter, financial matter. we feel these programs have been very effective, as evidenced by this exceptionally rare incident. but we're part of the program to -- we're part of the solution going forward in trying to examine what else we can do. >> i look forward to hearing the results of that. because to me, if there's something we could help you to do that, we would do so. i appreciate your questions and now i'll refer to my rank and minority member, mr. payne from emergency. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and as usual we're on the same page, and the same thought, i

was going to ask that same question in reference to the german incident. kind of stole my thunder. but captain canoll, we're really delighted to have you here this morning to testify before us. your credentials are second to none, as we look at them. and just definitely consider you an expert in this area. i want to ask you about the screening process for applicants into the federal flight desk officers program. are there any prerequisites for applying such as tenure or flight hours? >> thank you, congressman. so the prerequisites that i'm about to describe are over and above the prerequisites that you would have to maintain to be an active air transport category pilot. that would be the physical

testing requirements to be in the cockpit. the volunteers through an online process submit a volunteer questionnaire, which is extensive. then there is an in-person interview conducted with those who get through the first level. and then there is a background check of those who are conditionally accepted. the program training is essentially one week in length. they arrive on sunday they depart on saturday. and in any given five-year point, they need to be able to look back and find that they've either completed initial training or recurrent training. and maintain their qualification at all times. >> how has the training undergone by ffdos been tailored to address the evolving threats with aviation security? >> as i mentioned before all of aviation, both in the cockpit and in design and in the ffdo program, is an evolving training

process. it changes in each cycle. i'm not familiar with the actual recent changes they've made. they're not, of course for public consumption but they do evolve each training cycle so they're receiving the most current thoughts from the fams and all of tsa on tactics that they use. >> are there any incentives that could be created to encourage enrolling in the ffdo program? >> yes, sir. currently the ffdo program, there's a few elements here. first of all, we do not have widespread, or actually extremely limited international carriage capability for ffdos. so they don't deploy on international flights. in our larger airlines, pilots transfer in and out of national categories, sometimes on a daily basis. if we could work with the department of state to expand our ability to travel internationally as the familiar does with our weapon that would

be helpful. we also believe that the requirement for the employer to provide leaves of absence for the ffdo to attend training would be helpful as well. currently now you just have to coordinate it through your off schedule. finally, any assistance we could get for ffdos to offset the practices they incur while they travel would be helpful as well. they receive no remuneration for service. >> just for us, please detail the way the ffdos communicate with familiarss for vulnerability on flights. >> from a broad perspective, the ffdo program coordinates with the tsa, and so does the fam program. i'm not familiar exactly with the cross-communications between otwe and assistant administrator allison's department. but we are satisfied that it

does take place, evidenced by the very quick reaction we get from otwe on all our concerns. >> okay. well, i appreciate your testimony. and you being available to answer the questions. and with that mr. chairman, i'll yield back. >> thank you mr. payne. i have one quick follow-up question i neglected to ask, and that was, comparing the current safety strategies that is in place, absent the secondary barrier, and that is turning the cart sideways and having a person behind it, versus the secondary barrier, could you tell me the degree of difference you think there is in the security when a pilot's coming out of the cockpit? >> i've never really contemplated putting a mathematical measurement on it. >> not a mathematical measurement, but what are your concerns with the current way they're doing it? >> well i mean, without getting

into our common strategy elements, i think even the most uneducated passenger can see that a simple drink cart isn't nearly as obstructive as a floor-to-ceiling wire mesh. and the drink cart is guarded by a flight attendant, which also isn't nearly as strong as a wire mesh. i think it's intuitive that if you have a wire mesh, you're going to have zero capability to get through that in the time the door's open. the drink cart has wheels. it's meant to move. it's meant to move, and it only comes up about waist level. there are some serious considerations there. and i don't think you could find anyone who would argue that the wire mesh physical barrier is far more secure. >> now i've done a lot of hearings this year and i've never asked this question, but since we have a few moments, is there anything that we haven't touched on that you wish we did, or anything else you would like to raise before you conclude your testimony? >> i think we've been very efficient with our time.

>> i think so too. >> i think the program is running very very well in summary. and i think i would like to see an expansion of the program, as you mentioned. mr. chairman, i think it would work well. it has been a -- since 2001, we had secondary barriers in our agenda as something we wanted to see in our aircraft. a real enhancement to our security. we had some voluntary compliance. but in the last seven to eight years, it has waned to zero. no one's installing them because there's no requirement. if we could find a way to work a requirement in, and it doesn't have to be a requirement to have them installed by the end of the year on every aircraft, we can phase this in over a longer period of time. that's the best single enhancement we can do. >> i appreciate your time. as far as flight deck officers program, if there's any information you want to submit to the committee we would be happy to look at it and see what we could do. >> thank you, sir. >> i thank you for your testimony. i thank mr. payne for his questions. the members of the committee may have additional questions for you. and we would ask you to respond

to these in writing. the hearing record will be open for ten days. without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned. thank you for your time, sir.

one year ago, malaysian flight 117 was shot down over eastern ukraine. friday, a panel of investigative reporters presents its findings about the causes of that incident, at the atlantic council. live coverage begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. this weekend, on the c-span networks politics, books, and american history. a road to the white house coverage features nearly all of the presidential candidates and

begins friday night in iowa. at 8:00 eastern, we're live on c-span from cedar rapids iowa for the democratic hall of fame dinner. all day saturday starting at 11:00 a.m. eastern live at the family leadership summit in ames, iowa. a little after 6:30 eastern interviews with two republican presidential candidates. first lindsey graham, and john kasich. on c-span2's book tv saturday morning at 11:00 eastern live from new york city for the 17th annual harlem book fair panels on economics african-american identity and race and politics, with a story of journalist pamela newkirk and more. and ann coulter said the greatest issue facing the u.s. is immigration. "american history tv" on c-span3, saturday afternoon starting at 1:00 eastern, we're live with the warren g. harding symposium on modern first ladies from florence harding to michelle obama.

speakers include author cynthia bittinger and executive director of the first ladies library. and a little after 9:00, jake ursuline shows how the u.s. government showed propaganda during world war ii to persuade citizens to join the military, buy war bonds and keep national secrets. get our complete schedule at c-span.org. a recent report by the consumer financial protection bureau showed that agency actions resulted in financial institutions paying $114 million in compensation to consumers. cfpb director richard cordray testified at the senate banking committee about his agency's work. this is just over two hours. >> the meeting will come to order.

today the committee will hear from richard cordray, the director of the bureau of consumer financial protection. the bureau has grown to over 1,450 employees, and has been very active since director cordray's last testimony before this committee. among other things, it has recently increased actions to include the auto finance industry. these actions like others undertaken by the bureau since its formation have not been without controversy. many would say some of them go beyond what congress envisioned in dodd/frank. for instance, the bureau's regulation of auto lending now involves over 30 nonbank lenders, not previously subject to its supervision. this move has been called into question given the specific exemption for auto dealers in

dodd/frank. in addition to concerns with recent regulatory actions, issues remain with the bureau's lack of accountability. this has been demonstrated by concerns with the bureau's budgeting process, including the rising costs of renovation for the cfpb's new headquarters. according to the federal reserve inspector general, the estimated cost of actual renovation increased from $40 million in february of 2012 to $145 million in december of '13. this is over a 3 1/2 times the initial estimate. the inspector general also estimated that the total cost is now closer to $216 million. the administration has yet to explain who approved the renovation, and what happened to the documentation involved. unfortunately, congress does not have control over how