because in europe we now have common standards for the way we accept asylum seekers. with respect to their dignity, the way we process the applications, and we have some criteria which our independent justice systems use to determine whether someone is entitled to be the national protection. but these standards need to be implemented entirely and respected in practice. and this is clearly not the case. before the summer, not after the summer. before the summer the commission started the first tiers of 32 infringement proceedings to member states of what they had previously agreed to do. it doesn't matter.

we are doing. we are ledge slating and we are not implements. it is a matter of credibility that they are implements and respecting commonly agreed international and european laws. [ applause ]. a second tier of infringement being followed in the days to come. current asylum standards are important, but they are not enough to probe the current refugee crisis. the commission, the parliament, the council said in the spring that we need a comprehensive european agenda on migration. we proposed this as a commission in may. and it would be unfair to say that nothing has changed that.

122,000 lives have been saved since then. one lost is one too many. it is too many. but many more have been rescued that would have been lost otherwise. an increase of 250%. we should be proud of that performance. [ applause ]. 29 member states are participating in the joint operation in italy. 102 guest officers from 20 countries, 31 ships, four fixed wing aircrafts, and four

transport strikers. this is the first measure of european solidarity in action. even more will have to be done. we have doubled our efforts to take among us and dismantle human traffickers group. they are not harder to come by lead to go larger people putting on unsea worthy boats. as a result, the mood has stabilized to 115,000 arriving during the month of august. the same, the same as last year. we now need to achieve a similar stabilization, which has clearly been neglected by all parties.

>> the european union is in global efforts for the refugee crisis. 4 billion have been mobilized by the european commission. that means by you too. that states humanitarian development and assistance for syrians, in the country and to refugees and their host communities in laboring lebanon, jordan, iraq, turkey, and egypt. indeed, just today, we launched two new projects to provide schooling to 240,000 refugees in turkey. and by the way, i would like to applaud the efforts of jordan, of turkey, and of lebanon. >> [ applause ].

these countries by far poorer than we are, they are making efforts we should applaud to and we should recognize. and in moral and in financial talks. we have collectively committed to resettling over 22,000 people from outside of europe over the next year. in solidarity with our neighbors. of course this remains very modest. too modest. there are efforts undertaken by turkey, jordan, lebanon hosting over 4 million syrian refugees. some member states are showing the unwillingness to step up resettlement efforts.

this will allow us very soon to come forward with a structured system to cool european settlement efforts more systematically. it has to be done. and it can be done. europe has clearly under delivered this uncommon solidarity with regard to the jeff rhees who are out of our territory. to me it is clear that the states where refugees first arrived and at the moment these are italy, greece, hungary, cannot be left alone to cope with this enormous challenge. [ applause ]. this is why the commission already proposed an emergency mechanism be made.

not now, back in may, to locate initially $40,000 people seeking international protection from italy and greece. and this is why today we are proposing a second emergency mechanism to relocate the further 120,000 people from italy, greece, and hungary. this has to be done in a positive way. [ applause ]. i call on member states to adopt the commission proposals on the emergency relocation of altogether 160,000 refugees at the council of interior ministers on the 14th of september. we are talk building 40,000. but 120,000. it is 160,000. that's the number. europeans have to take charge

and have to take in arms. and i really hope this time everyone will be on board. no rhetorics. action is what is needed tore the time being. [ applause ]. what is happening to human beings, we are talking about europeans. we are not talking numbers. human beings coming from syria and libya today could easily be the case in ukraine tomorrow. how we are making elections, are we distinguishing between christians, jews, muslims? this continent has made the bet appearance to extinguish. there is no religion.

there is no belief. there is no philosophy whether it comes to refugees and to those who are here. [ applause ]. ladies and gentlemen, winter is approaching. do we really want to have families speaking in stations in budapest and elsewhere, in tents, cold tents during the night. because we are in charge of the window period for those who have to flee their countries for the reasons i have mentioned. of course the location alone

will not solve the issue. it is true that we also need to settle way those clear need of international protection and are very likely to apply for asylum successfully. and those who are leaving the country for other reasons which do not fall under the right of a asylum. this is why today the commission is proposing a common use of safe countries of origin. this list will enable member states of countries that are presumed to live safe in. the presumption of safety must, in our view, certainly apply to all countries with european council. they have to meet the basic area for new membership.

notably, democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights. it should also apply to other potential candidate countries on the western balkans if that progress is made towards the candidate states. and of course the list of safe countries is only a procedural certification. it cannot take away, and i will a act strongly against that, the fundamental right of asylum for asylum seekers coming from albania, bosnia, the former yugoslav public of macedonia, macedonia, turkey. but focus those refugees which are much more likely to be granted asylum, notably those from syria. and this focus is very much

needed in the current situation. at least safe countries is not taking away asylum rights from those people from the countries listed. that's important. it is important. we are not neutralizing the geneva convention. [ applause ]. >> asylum is a right. [ applause ]. and the countries on the list of being safe countries have to know that they are taking off of this list because fundamental rights would not be assured in these countries. they are lose their chance to join the european union. these two things are going together. safe, yes. but --

>> [ applause ]. >> it is time we have more fundamental change in the way we deal with asylum applications. and notably the asylum applications be dealt with by the first country of entry. we need more europe in our asylum policy. we need more union in our refugee post. two european refugee, it requires solidarity to be permanently anchored in our policy approach and our rules. this is why today the commission is also proposing a permanent relocation mechanism which are permanent relocation mechanism which allow us to deem the crisis situations most willfully in the future, more swiftly in the future.

that means more swiftly than in the past. on account of refugee and asylum requires asylum policies after it is granted. member states need to take a second look at their support, integration and inclusion policies. the commission is ready to look into how you can support these efforts. and i'm strongly in favor, i'm strongly in favor of allowing asylum seekers to work and to earn their own money once the applications are being processed. [ applause ]. labor, work, being on a job is another dignity.

those who are working are finding back the dignity they had before they were leaving. and so we should do everything to change our national legislation in order to allow refugees, migrants to work since day one of their arrival in europe. a united refugee and asylum policy also requires stronger efforts to secure our eternal votes. fortunately in europe we have given that up in member states of the area to guarantee free movement of people. unique symbol of european integration and this giant system will not be abolished under the mandate of this commission. [ applause ].

but the other side of the coin is we must work together more closely to manage the external because. this is what our citizens expect. i said it during the election campaign together with martin, together with gee, together with -- no, no, no. i'm not pointing at mrs. keller. but i was just thinking cyprus. i'm not confusing the two. we need to -- bitte? [speaking foreign language]

sorry. we need to develop it into a fully operational european border and coast guard system. that is certainly feasible. it costs money. the commission believes this is money well invested. this is why we propose ambitious steps to a european coast guard before the end of this year. a united european migration policy also means that we need to look into opening legal channels for migration. [ applause ]. but let us be clear. this will not help in addressing the refugee crisis we are currently in.

but a man safe, controlled open to europe we can manage migration better and make it work and illegally less attractive. let's not forget we are an aging country in demographics. we will be needing talents. talents coming from everywhere in the world. over time, migrations:n8; must e from a problem to be tackled to a well-managed resource. the commission forward to be well designed legal immigration package in early 2016. this is highly important. migration has to be legalize said. it's not sufficient to protest against illegal immigration. we have to organize legal ways to europe. [ applause ].

a lasting solution is going to come if we address the root causes. the reasons why we are facing this important refugee crisis. our european policy must be more assertive. we can no longer think like this in regard to war or stability rights with our neighbor. we have to find a solution. maybe that we are to be achieving this. we have to address in a more solution the syrian crisis.

i call it an offensive european diplomatic offensive to address the crisis in syria and in libya. we need a stronger europe when it comes to foreign policy. [speaking foreign language] . our highly determined, highly represented because she is highly determined has prepared the ground for such diplomatic success in europe. she has prepared to go on for such initiative with a diplomatic success in the iran nuclear talks. and i would like to congratulate

frederika for that extraordinary experience. [ applause ]. in order to facilitate the work, the commission today is proposing to establish an emergency trust fund starting with 1.8 billion from our common new financial means to address the crisis to all of africa and north of africa. we want to help create lasting stability for instance, by creating employment opportunities to communities and thereby address the root causes for displacements and illegal migration. i expect all, all new member states to pitch in and match our ambitio

ambitions. we need this in order to prevent future crises. [ applause ]. and to be higher development budgets. i don't like the expression development. a corporation, budgets. it is abnormal that member states of european union are reducing their budgets. they have to be increased. [ applause ]. i do not want mr. president to create any illusions that the refugee crisis will be over any time soon. it will not. and we have to know that. but pushing back boats from piers, setting fire to refugee camps, or turning a blind eye to

poor and helpless people, that is not europe. [ applause ]. europe, that's the baker who gives away his bread to hungry and weary souls. europe is the students in munich and in pasa who are close for the new arrivals at the station. those standing at the munich station applauding refugees. [ applause ]. the europe i want to live in is illustrated by those who are

helping. the europe i don't want to live in is a europe refusing those in need. the crisis is dark. and the journey of course is beyond. i'm counting on you in this house, the house of european democracy and of member states to show european going forward in line with our common values and history. [speaking foreign language] >> translator: dear friends, as many of you are, i realize that i have already exceeded the speaking time which would normally be allocated to me for my state of the union address. as has been the case for a president in the commission, but i do need to take some time given the situation to talk about a number of other issues.

first of all, greece, of which is very close to my heart. we've had very serious debates about the greek crisis. it's a debate which affects us all very profoundly. it's been a difficult debate. and i endeavor at great lengths to explain to the president of greece that we were a democratic country on a democratic basis. and here you are members of parliament and parliamentary subscribe to the principal of parliamentary democracy which is paramount in the 18 other countries which form the eurozone. the commission has been attacked by certain member states who felt that they were not necessarily able to accept the

proposals aimed at finding a solution to the greek crisis. i said then and i would reiterate here today, as i said before, that the commission has a weighted duty and one of them is to be the custodian of the general interest. so the commission has to deal with the greek issue because failing to do this would have been a great weakness on our part and it would have been a failure on the part of the commission and dereliction of its duty. therefore, we did what we thought was right and we felt was our duty. and in that context, obviously, we have been subject to criticism from various quarters. but i felt that it was important that i was engaged in this debate. despite the excellent work done

by the staff, civil servant necessary brussels throughout the holidays and the parliamentary recess. i did not feel that it was correct or proper to leave it up to the civil servant toes resolve the greek crisis. we ourselves are deeply involved in it but myself and the other commissioners are deeply involved in trying to find a solution to a pressing problem. the commission and its president felt that it was not an option to fail, to find a solution to the nuclear crisis. the grexit was not an option.

the greek authorities at the time, it was important that they understood and this means that they would be -- at any cost. i was not a magician, as i said to you. i couldn't pull a rabbit out of a hat and so forth. i had to make sure he understood that grexit was a possibility but it was not something that was absolutely excluded as a last resort. so we felt we did what we had to do. and i have always believed that this is our responsibility. the greek issue is not just a question of consolidating public finances and structural funds, although that is extremely important, yes. it is towards a much more weighted problem than that affecting the whole issue of economic growth in the country, especially in the european union

and so forth. and i think that the european utah is delighted to have greece as a member and i have been profoundly perturbed by comments in recent months that greece should leave the european union and that it wasn't a serious minded partner in europe. i think that the greeks who were least well off are hard working people who are doing their absolute utmost to try to ensure that their country does make progress. and i think we need to show respect to the greeks and there has been a failure to do that in some quarters in recent times. we have agreed on the program, as you know, and i would like this by the greek government and negotiated it and be future greek governments. there are aing in open -- and in

the past, some of these agreements have been floated in the european union and the eurozone. but i think this time we all need to realize that we are serious and for real. and we require respect of the arrangements and agreements that have been reached. 35 billion has been allocated to this fund to generate economic and social growth in the republic of greece and i would like an offer which is not simply a gift in generosity, but it's an offer made in the european spirit. i would like it to be respected and accepted for what it is in greece and to think that we can make progress. the crisis is, of course, not finished. for all we feel that we have managed to make progress in the greek crisis and bring it towards a resolution are over 17

million people in the eurozone who are unemployed. and the levels of unemployment are absolutely unacceptable in europe and economic recession will only be over once we have full employment in europe. sometimes i pause to reflect on why it should be that a country which is as rich as europe is should be so far away from respecting the fundamental rules which should be respected by all men and women, old and young. every individual has to be entitled to a job, and this is something that is of paramount importance in europe. we need to return to a situation of full employment. this is far from impossible.

of course, this will presuppose that we continue to consolidate our budget. and to work on structural reform and to invest. these are three strands of our vital policy and the council has before it an investment plan, 315 billion investment plan which we hope will be launched in detail in the foreseeable future. i think that all those who are in positions of power and responsibility in companies, unions and politics in the european union should be working in favor of growth in europe. this should be their mantra. the plan, of course, paradoxically has been up tight, the juncker plan.

but it is, in fact, a plan for investment and i certainly amount xhipt committed to making it a success not just because of its association with my name personally. and i like to think that everybody involved with it will do their utmost because it is vital for growth and employment. >> translator: ladies and gentlemen, members of parliament, this is all very important, but on its own, it is not enough. we need to have a clearer strategic vision of where we are going in the future and this is why. we have the five presidents program on deepening the european union. not just on the interest of my autobiography, but on principal, i wanted my partialment to be

involved in this work. we have produced this report for the european parliament. this is a report which looks forward to the future of european monetary unions which, of course, will involve the european parliament intimately. this is why i wanted your president to be involved right from the outset in the work that was being done. he presented a collective vice president on our proposal. we weren't all happy all the time, but we thought it was up to the essential that we had an constitutional discussion and approach on all of this. therefore, i can assure you that all have been factored in this report and i feel it is essential. looking into the future, that the parliament has a much

stronger role to play. it should be involved in economic government in the european union. and i have been -- since 1991 when i was the minister finance in luxembourg and working closely at that time with nicola schmidt. when i was chairing the intergovernmental conference, there were a number of people who were in favor of economic governance. other than myself, i am still here and i'm still with you. apparently eternal in my position in europe. at that point, we wanted to come up with a treaty which enshrined

the rules which governed the eurozone. there are many who don't understand that the government is something to which we subscribed a long time ago. >> 25 years. >> translator: so against the backdrop, we hope to work towards a deeper economic and monetary union, a system of deposit guarantees. and various other initiatives. i think it's also that we have a guarantee scheme and do this in the form of an insurance scheme, it won't be mutual zag of debt, but it will be a re-insurance scheme and we feel it should give greater certainty to its

investors and, therefore, we are very much in favor of this. we are also in favor of introducing a european treasury. obviously, this is something which will need to be discussed in greater detail and it may sound like a slogan. i think it's important that the european union should have a treasury which can work with a stability mechanism and can dovetail with the work being done by that institution in order to get into a greater sustainability and stability. as to fiscal policy, there is a lack of interest in europe and the commission has taken note of this and, therefore, has decided that the exchange of information on fiscal matters and tax

arrangements should be implemented by the council. we are, therefore, going to produce draft legislation to that effect. when i was 17 or 18, i remember very clearly understanding that tax was imposed on revenues where they were generated and we feel that this is a principal which is part of economics and should be expected in the european union. we also feel that it's absolutely essential that we work on the basis of this simple rule which is all too often been -- in the past. and, therefore, we feel throughout europe, it is absolutely essential that we have for the rules which are in place.

and we feel we should have a fair remuneration in europe, the same work for the same job in the european union. that is only right and proper. as far as social policy is concerned, a range of social policy measures are buying arranged because the european union is rch more than the european union. on which our union is subdescribed and to i form perfectly. >> prosecu >> mr. president, i have a serious problem.

i am in the middle of my speech. i will simply add that the european parliament will need to remain the parliament of the european union beyond the confines of this debate. yes, i am selecting the salient points from the remainder of my speech. he think it's essential that we have international representation of the eurozone and we need to improve on that. it is abnormal that the institution and the international monetary fund are

bodies where we don't have proper european representation, but all countries that presented so the eurozone should be represented in these bodies. we do need to have sympathy representation in the institutions and the imf as a master of priority. i think that the country specific recommendations which are issued by the commission should be complied with by the member state. we've reduced the numbers to some three per country in recent times. we submit them to the council and the council takes note of the forms which are necessary. and it is essential that the reforms per country are implemented and enforced because it is essential that this

happen. it's important that the member state take responsibility at national level for the recommendations put forward by the commission and endorsed by the council. >> i'm koeltsly convinced that we will have a fair deal with brittant. i've established the commission specifics for the negotiations. we wouldn't undergrowth wsh by the way, as a good citizen who is a european. that is a contradiction. yeah, i was -- [ indiscernible ].

and neither, of course, supports that. so you have to come around. you will, of course. >> of course. >> the unite kingdom and the british government and the british militant. and the european union for this overdoss of speculation. it is did program of my commission to bring down this regulation and the leadership of the first vice president. we are doing everything we can do in order to make sure that regulation and european union will be a better one. but that regulation does not mean destruction. does not mean that the european union should send away from everything which has to be organizing a proper way in euro

europe. we are launched the energy union. we are step by step progressively completing the internal market because the internal market is -- we are taking initiative after initiative to promote prurpship in europe. the british government and more lovely than that of the british policymaker. the problem is that this cannot be rejected from this commission because this commission is doing exactly that and i would like our british friends to support the initiative of the commission in that very field the same is applying to the need to include and many trade agreements and regulations in the world,

including the transatlantic fraid and investment partnership. i'm in favor of the ttp. but i am not in favor of giving up european standards. as indicated, the freedom of movement of workers cannot be touched. the same applies to the transatlantic partnership. we have our basic values. we have our principals and these principals cannot be given up during these negotiations. the it's and i am strongly in favorite, the trade commission,

i'm in favor of the maximum. but i am against the negotiation positions of the european union. we are weak and we are in favor, but i'm also in favor of -- and negotiations have to be conducted in a serious way. i just have one word, one power, one -- from your friends. we are supporting the democratic efforts of the now president of ukraine. we have to support this man. because he has the courage of supplements. and in this country, this is not an easy thing to be done.

and those who are doubting about our involvement, in the you can case, will be wrong because we have offered in so many talk toes president poroshenko all the need ukraine was asking for and to continue in that way. we were helping to broker a deal that will secure wind and gas supplies and we are advising our friends there on the reform of judiciary. i will do everything to enable the european council from this

visa to ukraine if the conditions are fulfilled, it has to be done. as was being said a moment ago, madam, you were not only about democracy, about a number in european union, people there and people living in ukraine now, they don't want to have a country where russia is playing -- corruption is playing the role. the ukrainian democrats wants a corruption free dunn and so we have to attend them in that very field. i would like to say because i'm very attentive and i have these things on my -- at that time to -- our even number states,

that the security and the boarders of the member states is untouchable and along this to be understood clearly in moscow. we are there now and we will be there if -- as it is needed. mainly for the baltics club. yeah, i don't done fuse the two. very important. we will not be there, anyway. their security and their boarders would be in danger.

we have an obligation to protect if need today security open everyone. i don't know if you mentioned luxembourg when you are playing army. the luxembourg army is an excellent army. luxembourg's army will not be a -- help but others can be if needed. i like to interrupt. but i like to. because these are inspiring because they are reminding me and reminding me of what i go through before.

yeah. i will never forget the meeting i have for beelg appoint ed tha was only quality we excel, humor. it does something. could i have permission of the presence of parliament to distribute the text on climate change. because that important, but i'm running out of time. i'm speaking 72 minutes and 15 seconds really. i don't want to -- more. yeah, yeah, okay. okay. i have new friends. those sitting in the middle of

parliament are saying, we are starting to become tired. but those sitting there, they want me to continue. >> so i have -- >> this is fine. >> 258 has got a mask on his face or mrs. merkel's face. you may not like her, but you have certainly made her very pretty. >> i think you've had your fun, mr. banana. would you please sit down again. please, do continue.

>> the european parliament, there you can meet everyone. union in diversity. i would like mr. president to say a few words, given the time constraints that we have on the climate change.

the text of my speech will be to a large the populous. all i simply wanted to say that i do think that we have to be very ambitious as the european union on our way to tariffs. i do think that we are doing major efforts, probably not enough, but more efforts, huge efforts, than others are delivering. of course, the next migration, the next coming if we are addressed in a proper way to climate change, that is because tomorrow morning we'll have climate to our duties and we have to know that. we have to act now because we have -- we don't have time to lose and that's why i want

european union and the number states to be as commissioned as possible on our way to tariffs. but i would like to say here, that i do think that the european union could not find just any deal. has to be ambitious, global, and finally global climate deal. that's the european duty and we have to find for that and to have -- -- those go-between our numbers. they are not sharing that. union is not borrowing from others.

sgloot ladies and gentlemen. the state of the entire union that i didn't wish to deliver a poem on the european union to you today and that the end of an address that i admit was too long which i shortened brutally. i have to confess the european union isn't in a great state, but we mustn't sit back and do nothing else and criticize the states of the union. gaus of the past year, we have managed to carry out a member of important and substantial reforms, if i say it. i'm talking here about the commission. we have an agenda on migration. and i wouldn't have put to me

and accepted that on my gragz the commission has done nothing. just this morning, on the german division, i heard the minister criticizing the absence of the upan commission. yes, i was on holiday. weren't you on holiday at some point? you're quite right. but i was on holiday for ten days. i worked four days on greece and the others on migration and the commission came up with proposals in may. this is too readily forgotten. this isn't a problem that we discovered in may. it was to realize with the terrible photos that we have this huge problem. we knew it.

we have adopted a number of important decisions to the complete the market on energy and with my colleagues, i would like to warmly thank the agreements that we had. that i have to say, it wasn't easy. i am proud because in the first month of that date, we sent off to the of the of the union regulatory pieces of legislation which include the 10 priorities on the basis of which -- and i'm

proud of this. i was elected by this assembly. not everything is signed. it isn't the best of both possible worlds. the world would be better if we were better and it is incumbent on us, therefore, to ensure that we keep this work up. i know the weaknesses of europe, but i also know how weak these countries of europe would beudb the european unit doesn't -- so let us not fence in our words, but make further headway. let us continue.

>> members your father was severely sick because of this.

and is now in hospital and that you put your duty now before your personal feelings, duty was prized and i think i can speak for everybody to say thank you for that and voicing our sympathy to you. we really feel for you because of your personal situation. and we feel for you because of the death of your mother. >> our coverage of the iran-nuclear agreement continues on the next washington journal with representative martha mcfally, a member of the house armed services and homeland security committees. and then foreign affairs committee member congressman dave trott. later, walter buffus head of the association of community colleges will join us to talk about president obama's efforts to expand access to community colleges.

washington journal airs live every morning, 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. and as always, we welcome your comments on facebook and twitter. middle school and high school students and your teachers, we're happy to announce the launch of c-span's 2016 student cam video documentary competition. .and with 2016 being a presidential election year, we're really excited about this year's theme, the road to the white house. what's the issue most want candidates to discuss during the 2016 presidential campaign? our competition is open to all middle or high school students, grades six through 12. and c-span is awarding $100,000 in cash prizes and, students, you can work alone or you can join a group of up to three. your goal will be to produce a five to seven-minute documentary on the issue you've selected and you'll need to include some c-span programming and also to

explore opinions other than your own. the $100,000 cash prizes will be shared between 150 students and 53 teachers and the grand prize of $5,000 goes to the student or team with the best overall entry. this year's deadline is january 20th, 2016, and our winners will be announced on march 9th. so join us this year. be a student document arian. you'll find more information on our website, studentcam.org. couple at 8:00 a.m. eastern, the second day of the intelligence and national security summit. senator dianne feinstein of california and congressman nunes chair of the house permanent select committee on intelligence talk bes the role of congress in national security. live coverage at 8:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span3. at 10:00 a.m., a house select

intelligence committee hearing on worldwide cyber threats, witnesses include cia director john brennen and fbi director james comey. that's also live here on c-span3. and later, the house armed services committee examines the iran nuclear agreement and the possible implications for a missile defense and nonproliferation. you can see it live starting at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on c-span3. he was a nazi. he was a concentration camp comendant. and he was responsible for the murder of thousands of jews. >> this sunday night on q&a, jennifer teagua on her life altering discovery that her grandfather was the nazi concentration camp butcher of plassau. >> he was a tremendously cruel

person, a person who was capable of -- i had dogs, two dogs. and he trained them to tear humans apart. i think this sums it sup really good. there was a pleasure that he felt when he -- when he showed people and this is something that when you are normal, if you don't have this aspect in your pers difficult to grasp. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's q&a. tuesday, former new york city mayor rudy giuliani join current new york city police and fire commissioners to discuss the lessons of september 11th. this house homeland security committee field hearing took place at the national september 11 memorial and museum in new

york city. it's 3 and a half hours. >> the committee on homeland security will come to order. i'd like to introduce joe daniels, the president of the 9/11 memorial and museum. joe. >> good morning. thank you, chairman mccall and thank you to all the committee members for being here this morning and choosing to hold this field hearing at this location. this is the first time we are holding this event. and i on behalf of the organization, our board of directors and the hundreds of thousands of people who worked to make this place a reality thank you for your shaurt and, perhaps, more importantly, your

steadfast commitment by the members of this committee and working to secure the safety of our nation. which is especially profound, given our current location at the very foundations where the towers once stood. i had the honor of giving some of you a space last night. i'd like to thank you some of our partners who are here, along with representatives from the september 11th education trust and the 9/11 help watch. it is, of course, fitting and appropriate to acknowledge that in just a few days, the memorial will host, once again, the solemn ceremony marking the anniversary of the attacks. this year, the 14th anniversary. this anniversary is, of course, significant for all of us, to the entire nation, but particularly for the victims'

families as well as the first responders, the recoveries workers, survivors and all others impacted by the attacks. including those who are still dealing with the lingering and devastating health effects so many years later. on the 10th anniversary just four years ago this week, we opened the memorial and since then we've welcomed over 21 million visitors from every state in the country and 175 countries around the world. making this one of the most visited historical sites in our cup. we have seen a tremendous outpouring of positive feedback. in just over a year, we've welcomed more than 3..5 million visitors to the museum. in addition to the general public, we've had visitors from across the political cultural and military spectrum. but for every visit from prince

william and the duchess of cambridge and various heads of state, the most meaningful visits have been from the nearly 75,000 active military and veterans, including three recent medal of honor winners, the former u.s. army chief of staff ray ardiarno, including members from his team and last september we had the entire corp of west point cadets on the 9/11 memorial. later this month, we will host one of the most important and beloved figures in the world. pope francis will lead a multi religious meeting for peace, speaking about the idea of what ewe nights us being stronger than what divides. and for a group of religious leaders will be with him that represent all the world's major religions. this memorial and museum not only serve tess place for people from all walks of life to visit

and pay their respects, but also as a place where future generations will learn bl what happened that day, what led up to that day, and the increasingly complex state of world affairs. let's not forget that children now entering high school were born after 9/11, 2001, and for them, we risk that 9/11 is simply a historical fact. it is to this institution where thousands of educators bring their students every single year to learn the full history of 9/11. that's why i would like to thank chairman mccall, representatives king and jackson lee for already being cosponsors of the bill hr-3036, the national 9/11 memorial at the world trade center act, which would designate the aboveground beautiful memorial as a true national memorial. those beautiful pools will

ensure that this place is here to preserve the memory of those who were killed and will make sure that we fulfill our obligation to educate future generations. i would very, very much encourage from the bottom of my heart that all members of this committee, this incredibly important committee support hr-3036 as this is a momentous opportunity to take the lead in preserving the memory of one of the most important events in the entire history of the united states. this memorial has truly become not only the location to remember and educate, but is the physical im bodiment of the unity that coming together that was so prevalent in the aftermath of the attacks. thank you for your time here today and for your continued support. >> thank you, joe. and on behalf of the committee, let me thank you for your dedication, your service to the victims and their families. let us never forget and may it

never happen again. and i -- was inspired at our dinner last night to hear from you and your efforts. i'm proud to be a cosponsor of the legislation that you talked about. and, again, thank you for being here. >> thank you, chairman. >> thank you. >> i think it's fitting that this committee be the first committee to convene at the 9/11 museum. this committee was formed in response to the tragic events of 9/11. there is a historic event to have a committee on homeland security have this hearing in this museum at this time. this week. the other witnesses to service to this great city and to our country. this morning, we are meeting on

hallowed ground, koconsecrated the loss of thousands of innocents the valor and sacrifice of those who were to save their lives. they needed to embark generational struggle against islamist terror, 14 years after that fateful day we are still engaged in that struggle. though we have entered a new phase. the viral speed of violent extremism has allowed their memories to spread globally and has brought the war back to our doorsteps. but we will now bow down. we have come here today to look at the lessons we learned after 9/11 to assess how we can make our country more secure and to

honor the memory of those we lost by rededicating ourselves to victory in this long war. we have made progress since 9/11. which was the largest attack in world history. our first responders are better equipped. our intelligence professionals are connecting the dots and our border authorities are keeping terrorists from stepping foot on our soil. but our enemies have come a long way. gone are the days of bin laden when extremists relied on course yours and caves to catch their plot. today's terrorists are openly reciting online across boarders and at broadband speed. radical groups like isis have enlisted citizens from over 100 countries to join their terrorist army in syria. and islamist terror outposts have spread throughout the region and beyond.

this includes ranl iran, the world's largest state sponsor of terror which has extended its reach and the results are alarming. last year was the deadliest year on record for global terrorism. and terrorists still have their sights set on the west. on average of almost one mrern per week on terrorism. even at its height, al qaeda never reached this kind of operational tempo. yesterday in an age of peer to peer terrorism and cyber jihad, extremists can inspire new recruits online, tweet marching orders and wait for fanatics to

act. their travelers can act easily to join them overseas where they are trained to wage wars. but even though our adversaries evolve, the battle test of principals we learned from 9/11 are still relevant. first, we must remain vij lengths. the 9/11 commission found a government-wide failure of imagination contributed to the surprise attack. so we must repair for the worst and stay a step ahead of the front. we must also take the fight to the enemy before they can attack us here at home. and we can do this by eliminating terrorist sanctuaries overseas. condoleezza rise noted wisely, if we learned anything from september the 11th, it is that we cannot wait to all dangers gather. in 2004, the 9/11 commission made the same point with an ominous prediction when they said, quote, if, for example, iraq becomes a failed state,

they wrote, it will go to the top of the list of places that are breeding grounds for attacks against americans at home. and if we are paying insufficient attention to afghanistan, its countryside can once again offer refuge to al qaeda or its successor. the lesson is clear. we must not let power vacuums develop in new places like libya or an old safe havens like afghanistan. terrorists are supposed to be kept on the run or else they will build larger armys and have the freedom to plot against us in relative safety. 9/11 taught us that in the long-term, we must counter the ideology that the core of islamist terror, because when left unchecked, it can spread to all corners of the globe in the same way communist and fascism led to decades of destruction. i hope we will have a chance to examine these principals today

and how to follow them in a new age of terror. but i also hope we can explore what the resolve of our 9/11 heros can teach us about prevailing against those who seek to do america harm. on that day, we saw the fees of evil. as terrorists sought to attack our economic, military and political centers of power. and we also saw the true heart of america as ordinary men and women showed uncommon courage. first responders and pedestrians rushed into burning buildings and stormed cockpits to save one another. there were americans with children, families, but they did not hesitate because they knew the people inside these buildings and with them on those airplanes had families, too. driven by common humanity, they knowingy put their lives in the

hands of god. and the bravery has rightly earned them a certain measure of immortality. he did not know it at the time, but when todd beamer said let's roll westbound to his fellow passengers, he was leading them and us to the first victory in the war against islamist terror. the day after, we were still reeling, but our nation came together. we were americans first. and even though we were uncertain about what the future held, we were united in our resilience to tragedy and in our resolve to deliver justice. here today is a final piece of debris removed from the world trade center site. and those who cleared the rubble and scribed it with the name, stories and photos of people who perished as well as the intoesy

of patriotism, so it is fitting that this last piece of the lower towers wreckage now stands here as a permanent symbol of remembrance and resilience. we are a country that did not invite aggression from dark corners of the globe. but when it came to our shores, confidence and hope, not fear, rose from those ashes. i want to thank everyone for being here today on this solemn occasion. i want to thank the witnesses and the chair now recognizes the ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i want to thank new yorkers in particular for allowing us to hold this hearing here. every time i come to this place, i am always overwhelmed. mostly because i had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in my earlier career here in the twin tower buildings.

in fact, my former husband's office was here. and because i was in the financial industry, we had plenty of friends at cantor fitzgerald. so every time i come here, i remember all those innocent people who were taken on that day. i want to that long our panelists for being here today. i want to say that i'm very proud of america because seeing this here today reminds me of how resilient we are. it is really a testament to never forget that the future is what we look forward to as americans.

so 9/11, we have changed our policing and we changed the way that we engage our communities in order to prevent terrorist attacks and this committee has been on the forefront of trying to understand that and to help locals in particular because we know that you are the first responders. i believe that law enforcement has become a great community facilitator engaging in all facets of the cities that they patrol and i see that they do it at a time, mr. chairman, when we are cutting back on the federal funds that we send to the local jurisdictions. in fact, it's been a little alarming to me that the congress has cut back on the funds. for example, in 2011, congress reduced the funding to only $1..9 billion to our local agencies.

and as a result of that, 32 cities were eliminated from the program, for example. the following year, we appropriated only 1..35 billion to these important programs. and then we increased it a little bit. then we brought it back down again. and because of sequestration, we are looking again at cuts to our local law enforcement agencies. for all the work that they have taken on, ever in particular since 9/11, i'm also interested, i'd like to hear from the loels about how that budget uncertainty, the amount of money that we put forward does with regard to their programs and what you're trying to do to ensure that a 9/11 or a boston bombing doesn't happen.

and beyond dealing with that, i would like to hear about what you are doing with your local communities, including, for example, i represent the largest -- the second largest arab american community in our nation back in orange county, california. and i think that it's critical that we don't profile, that we don't unduly harass and that we don't detail individuals simply because of how they look or what their religion is. so i would like to hear from you in particular, commissioner, on how the new york police department engages communities such as muslim americans. especially after it was revealed that plain clothes detectives went into muslim initiate toes spy on the community. i understand the nypd dropped that program, but i'd like to hear about how you're rebuilding that relationship and that trust

with the community that we need to have on our side to help us with respect to local terrorism plots. and i look forward to hearing from both panels and i want to thank, again, the chairman for holding the hearing. i think that we have come a long way since 9/11 and that we still have a ways to go. but, again, i am always amazed at the resiliency of our paem and at the resiliency of new yorkers. and i look forward to the testimony. thank you and i yield back. >> i thank the ranking member. other members, opening statements for the record we're pleased to have two distinguished panels of witnesses before us here today. the first, the former mayor of new york. mayor rudy giuliani will testify on the first panel. and the second will consistent of mr. william bratton,

commissioner of the new york police department and mr. daniel nagro, the commissioner of the fire department from the city of new york and mr. lee ielpi, the president of september 11th families association and finally mr. gregory thomas, president of the national organization of black law enforcement executives and senior executive for law enforcement operation in the office of kings county district attorney. let me first introduce the mayor. if you would have a seat at the table. mayor rudy giuliani serves as a partner and chairman of the chief executive officer of giuliani partners. previously, mayor ghoully annie served two terms of new york city as mayor and was with the city during and in the aftermaths of the 9/11 attacks. i can't think of a more important witness to be here today than you, sir, and we thank you for your service, both

before and particularly after 9/11 where you brought such a tragedy, brought this country together, sir. and it's with great honor that we have you and i now yield to you for your testimony. >> mr. chairman, it's a great honor for me to be here. i thank the committee for holding the hearing here. as you said, there could be no more appropriate place. this is not just a museum. it's a sacred ground. there are people buried here who were never recovered. so this is a very, very special place, not just to me, but i think to everyone. when i look at the wall behind you, i think of the days and weeks in which we worry that that wall wouldn't hold and this whole place would be flooded. we expended a great deal of

time, energy and money in trying to prevent that. and then probably most of all i think of all the caskets and people that would carry it out here with american flags draped on them in great solemn procession. and i think of father judge who was the first body we found here on september 11th who was brought to st. peters church and remember his last words to me about eight minutes before he died, which was god bless us. so maybe we should begin that way with god blessing us. this museum is many, many things. and you will hear how one of the most important missions of this museum is so that people never forget and that is truly the case. they should not.

because we do have a tendency to repeat the mistakes of history. we've done that in the 20th century several times. in dearming after each war and facing another war that we weren't prepared for. hopefully we won't make those mistakes again and the reminder of what happened here will remind us of the fact that we face a very im plaqueble and difficult foe. the first point i would like to make is the point that i made shortly after september 11, and that is that the islamic terrorist war against us did not begin on september 11, 2001. i remind you that this very place was attacked in 1993, again, by islamic terrorists who were taught their terrorism in a mosque in union city, new

jersey, by an imam who was spending 100 years in jail now, sentenced by judge michael mulcasey, who eventually became attorney general. that wasn't the only mosque in new jersey that was planning attacks on new york. it is unfortunately the case that there is a interpretation of the islamic religion that calls for the destruction of our way of life. it is certainly not the majority view, it certainly doesn't reflect the views of most people of the islamic religion. and on the evening of september 11 with a dust of september 11 on my jacket and in my eyes and on my face, i said to the people of new york that we should not view this as an attack by a particular group, and assign group blame.

that's the worst thing that we should do and we should not attack anyone. and i said to the point made by congresswoman sanchez, i sent my police commissioner, bernard carrick on the mission of tracking the number of attacks on the arab community on new york. and after eight days i stopped doing it because there were none. we expected it. we expected it because of the anger and the hatred. so to the many things that new yorkers deserve credit, one of the things they deserve credit for is they don't engage in group blame. but although it is a matter of group blame of the word profiling has many meanings. if we're profiling based on objective evidence, that is exactly the way we investigate. i was in law enforcement as you

were for more of my life than anything else and i caught criminals by profiling. when the victim told me the person was 6'4", had blond hair and blue eyes, i didn't go look for a 5'4" person with brown eyes and brown hair. if i did, i would have been a fool. i look for a person that met the description of the people who committed the crime or might commit the crime. the reality is that whatever euphemisms we want to engage in, they are at war with us. by they, i mean islamic extremist terrorists. they kill in the name of allah, they kill in the name of mohammed. they interpret the koran and the hadith, which is the ex

plication of the koran. they interpret. unfortunately, they use mosques as breeding grounds for that. not all, but some. congresswoman sanchez, i'm the mayor who authorized the placement of new york city police officers in mosques in new jersey and elsewhere and mayor bloomberg continued it. i believe by doing so, i saved the lives of many new yorkers because we uncovered plots that have never come to light. it's unfortunately the case that that has to be done. i believe it was a mistake to withdrawal those patrols. so as we sit in a museum, when we go to museums, we think of history, don't we?

if we were to go to pearl harbor, we would think of history. the terrible attack on pearl harbor and the fact that that is now confined to history. our enemies in those days are now our friends. and some of our best friends. germany. italy. jap japan. that war is over. we can go to civil war memorials and migration memorials and that war is over. you're in a museum about a war that's still going on. and don't fool yourself into think that it's over and is it worse now or better now is debatable. it may be an irrelevant issue because it's very bad now.

in certain areas, we've improved dramatically. airport security, airline security. cooperation is considerably better between the federal government and local government. all of that is true.h'n but the threat remains and the income of attacks in recent years have increased and the number of threats have increased. and the hemy has become considerably more diverse and in that way more difficult to track than when we were facing one major enemy, bin laden. but we made a mistake then and i see us making the same mistake again if we're not careful. we made a mistake in not taking seriously what they were saying to us. when they attacked us here in 1993 and killed our people, under the orders of an imam from new jersey, they had declared

war on us. we treated it as a criminal act. it wasn't a criminal act like the 5,000 or 6,000 i prosecuted as united states attorney. it wasn't like the criminal accounts of the mafia and michael milken and ivan boski and corruption politicians. it was an act of war. we have largely ignored those attacks. our response was tepid. our response to the uss coal was nonexistent. we allowed american service men to be slaughtered by bin laden and our reaction was nothing.

just in case we weren't paying attention, bin laden declared war on us. we weren't paying attention. did that lead to september 11? did that lead to a sense of arrogance and did it lead to a sense of an america that was weak? an america that was unresponsive, an america that could be taken advantage of? no one will ever know. but it's safe to assume it did because it will protect us better in the future. then we had september 11. i lost numerous close personal friends as did many of the people who are sitting here and it is extraordinarily difficult for me to return here. i've been to this museum only three times and the last time i came with a group of rangers who

were going off on a mission and their general wanted them to see where the war started that they are now having to continue. but it didn't start. it started way before here. the attack on the munich olympics was in 1972 on the israeli team. the killing of leon klinghoffa was in the 1980s. we weren't listening, we weren't watching, we weren't paying attention and we were taking peace dividends with people declaring war on us. i could trace the history of the evermath of world war i and world war ii and show you the same thing. we're getting all the warnings again. yes, we have isis. isis has many causes, part of it the withdraw of our troops from iraq.

part of it our unwillingness to engage in syria.a of our troopsm iraq. part of it our unwillingness to engage in syria.l of our troops from iraq. part of it our unwillingness to engage in syria. part of it the president drawing lines saying if assad used chemical weapons, he would act and the president's red lines disappeared which made america a hollow vessel. a nation one could assume you could take advantage of. you don't draw red lines and then erase them. and expect that im plaqueble foes are not going to take advantage of that. we have isis doing things that take you back to the sixth century and the seventh century to the acts of ali and some of the followers of mohammed. beheading of people, mass

graves. and our response to isis so far has been, at best, to play defense. at worst to be rather in effect. one of the great things that president bush did for us for which i said at the time will give them a place in history that can't be denied is after this attack took place, he immediately put this country on offense. and by putting us on offense, he saved our city from repeated atta attacks. there is no one, absolutely no one who on the day of september 11th, sdi or anyone else that briefed me that didn't warn me that my city was going to be attacked. numerous times in the future and beginning with commissioner carrick continuing through commissioner kelly and now bratton, new york city has continuously grown its response to terrorism because we expect

to be attacked again. but we weren't attacked and we weren't in larnlg measure because of the bravery of the men and women who went and engaged in afghanistan and kept them so busy that they couldn't plan attacks. that presence of our military brought us incalcuble amounts of intelligence, warning us about attack. consider how that's diminished when those troops aren't there. if you have 100,000 troops in a country, they're in villages, they're in towns, they talk to people, they gather intelligence. that intelligence gets to the cia, it gets to the fbi from the joint terrorism task force, gets right down here to the streets of the city. that is now gone. we do not have the benefit of that intelligence.

it could be part of the reason we thought isis or isil was the jv. because we weren't getting the intelligence we were getting in the past. it's part of the reason we miscalculated them and let them catch up real fast and now we're playing catch up, not offense. but isis is not the biggest threat to us. a determined strong strategy of engaging our special forces could do a good job of eliminating isis. a major threat and let's not take our eye off it as we watch isis is iran. the iranian empire that began with the overthrow of the shah and the first ayatollah and now the second has killed well over a million people. we're talking about mass murder.

the eye toll la and prime minister rohani have engaged in mass murder. president rohani was the one that order the execution of the jewish people in argentina. there are more people being killed in iran today than under act ma den jad. they do not want the people in iran to drink the kool-aid of thinking there's a reform going on in iran. they're trying to get us to drink that kool-aid, but they're killing people to remind their people we control iran. so let's not taking our eye off iran and lets remember that we're negotiate, an ayatollah who has pronounced the destruction of the state of

israel, the death of americans and has on his hands the blood of very, very many young americans who were killed by the kud forces during the war in iraq and we're negotiating with them. at the same time, we're goeshding with him and he's calling for our death and destruction. we're not calling for regime change in iran. if they can have a two-part strategy in negotiationing, why are we so unsophisticated that we can't have a two-part strategy? if the eye toll la can negotiate with us, and call for our death and destruction, why can't we negotiate with him and call for regime change in iran? if egypt needed regime change and we supported it, and overthrew mubarak, a friend of

the united states and a friend of israel, if we supported regime change in iran and removed gadhafi who had been neutered, gadhafi, a terrible man. i investigated him for some of his acts as i did yasser arafat, by the way, if we could remove gadhafi, who was useless as a threat, terrible to his own people, but useless as a threat, if we could remove these people, why are we not for regime change in iran. iran has killed thousands of americans. iran supports hezbollah, hamas, the hudis in yemen. iran controls iraq. we gave iraq to iran when we withdrew.

do you see what is developing? a per shah empire. a shia empire. to the south, saudi arabia, jordan, the emirates, emirates, israel, egypt. we've got a dangerous situation developing in the middle east where we have a divided middle east and america is sitting back and not taking action to prevent it. instead, they recognize an agreement for a milwaukee here iran which will make it a bigger empire.

so i will conclude by saying that if this museum exist toes remind us that we shouldn't forget. and we shouldn't repeat the mistakes of history. let's let it do that. and let's realize that we are at war. if we don't want to call it that, they call it that. we have to respond in a way in which we are strong, assertive, intelligence. it is absolutely necessary, as you pointed out during your opening statements that we are now dealing with many diverse and smaller attacks and it requires the sdi and the federal

authorities to think of our police as their eyes and ears. there are approximately 12,000 or 13,000 fbi agents. there are 35,000 new york city police officers. new york city police department is a much bigger law enforcement agency than the fbi. and that is only one police department. and i can tell you attacks when i was mayor before september 11th that was thwarted by intelligent new york city police officers who were trained to look for what commissioner bratton originally termed pass precursors of terrorism. we're going to need more of that in this committee needs to encourage it. it's hard to get agencies to work together. we all know that. but the work of this committee under you, mr. chairman, and under mr. king has really been excellent in helping to bring those law enforcement agencies together and i original that you

continued to do that because although the threat may not be as large as it was with kaet, it is more diverse and harder to find and the threat of iran is greater than both. thank you. >> thank you, mayor, for those profound remarks. you are clearly the expert on this in the room. and i also want to commend the ynpd and the fbi and homeland officials who have worked well together, i have never seen these organizations working as well as they do today which is evidenced by the number of arrests that we have made, over 60 in the past year to stop

that. but they ohm have to be right once. people ask me what keeps me up at night? it's the cases that we don't know about. you talked about 1979, it transformed the middle east. we're still reeling from that today. we had flags, warning signs along the way. usef, '93 world trade center bombers original targets, 12 jewish synagogues, 12 tribes of israel, 12 airliners. plotting with sheikh mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11 that eventually came back to this target and unfortunately brought the twin towers down. the job of this committee is to ensure that never happens again. but we have to see the warning signs along the way. i look at the uniform of the navy s.e.a.l. team six, the man that killed bin laden. the s.e.a.l. team six who

brought him down. the threat didn't die that day with bin laden. and i think many have tried to downgrade that it's over, the war on terror is over. i agree with you, sir. i was a federal prosecutor like yourself. these are not criminal cases. this is a war that has to be clearly defined who the enemy is and that's radical islamists, extremists. and only through that can you defeat that enemy. that was a great day. when bin laden was killed, but it didn't end the threat. now the threat is evolving. i believe this policy's containment against isis is not going to win the day and as long as they can fester over there after the arab spring, we've seen power vacuums full, we've seen it filled by terrorists in northern africa and all throughout the middle east.

and as that threat grows overseas over there, so, too, does a threat to the home legion because they have greater territory to launch external operations, including operations over the internet ta we have seen more recently. so i guess my question to you, sir, is there are many facets to this militarily, politically, from an idea logical struggle. what more needs to be done to defeat this enemy? >> well, i think i obviouslied some of it, which is there should be considerably more engagement in the parts of the world where people are plotting to kill us. it has always seemed to me it made sense to have american military in the places that were of most danger to us, which is the reason we kept our military in germany for so long and in south korea for so long.

i think the withdrawal of our troops from iraq and afghanistan on a timetable will prove historically to be a horrible mistake. i believe it was the again siz sis of isis and our inability to properly assess isis. i think the failure to have american troops in areas of great concern to us, meaning where people are plotting to kill us, deprives of us intelligence because it's the military that can gain a lot of that intelligence for us because of their iraqi with people, informants and others that they come in contact with. so i think there has to be an acknowledgement on the part of the administration that whether we want to call it a war or not, it is a war and the military should be engaged. i also believe there should be more support for local policing.

because this has come down to now trying to find the so-called lone wolf. well, there have been so many lone wolfs, that it's a pack of wolves, not just a lone wolf. and they're hard to find. they require training police officers and looking for, as i said before, the precursors of terrorism. it's a different kind of training. it's very specialized. and it could use considerably more federal support and help at the local level. we can no longer rely on the fbi, the cia, the nsa and even the military because not all threats are coming from abroad. some are. some of the threats are coming from someone's home and we need police officers who can observe suspicious activities. and we should not allow political correctness to

override sensible law enforcement decisions about what needs to be done to protect lives. we shouldn't lose a single american life to political correctness. >> and i think the foreign intelligence gained by the fbi and the intelligence community combined with the street intelligence from our state and local police working together is the above the r boast way to protect the homeland from these threats. from your testimony, you appear to be opposed to the iran negotiation, the iran deal. why do you oppose that? >> i oppose that because i do not believe it makes sense to reach an agreement on the controlling of nuclear weapons with a mas murderer. i think history has proven negotiation wes mass murderers

only lead to substantially more problems later. i am extremely upset about the fact that the goals of that negotiation have changed. you might remember the goal of the negotiation, including the u.n. sanctions originally was for iran to be now nuclear. it now becomes how nuclear should iran be? they should not have their hands on nuclear weapons. iran does not need the peaceful use of nuclear power. it is not an energy staunched country. it is absurd to think that iran needs the peaceful use of nuclear power. if we accept that, i would imagine the ayatollah and his wise men are laughing at us that we accept the idea that they

need the peaceful use of nuclear power. they are a developing nuclear power for one reason and one reason alone, because they want to cede an empire which we are letting them do. they control iraq. we do not. they control syria, we do not. and they are basically at war with saudi arabia and yemen through the houdis. this is an enormously aggressive foe and i learned a lesson from the cold war. i had the great honor of working for president ronald reagan. and president reagan always had a nightmare. and that's why he ended the cold war. but he ended the cold war by pointing mimps at the soviet union and by telling them he would be using to use those missiles. he ended the cold war by developing or or beginning to develop a nuclear shield that was laughed at and ridicules.

the nuclear shield that worked in israel. the reality is that we have to realize that we are putting the nuclear button in the hands of mad men. if the eye toll ayatollah and t in iran is not sane, it does a great pretense of being insane. to deny the holocaust, to call for the destruction of one of our strongest allies, the state of israel, to call for the death of americans to be responsible for american hostages for 444 days, and for killing thousands of americans, i would have to say this is an insane regime.

ronald reagan's nightmare was murchly assured destruction was an immoral way to keep the peace because if a mad man got in control of the button in either place, the soviet union or the united states, the war could come to an end. nuke clear arms, nuclear capacity should not be put in the hands of mad men. >> thank you, sir. the chair now recognizes the ranking member. >> thank you, mr. chairman and, again, thank you, mayor, for being before us. there are some things i agree with you on and there are some things we differ. certainly you and i have been on the sameside with respect to iran and its really terrible acts of violence that it does in inciting in particular the middle east and to its own people. so on that, we definitely agree they're a terrible player.

b but i really -- you know, i've been 19 years in the congress, 19 years on the military committee, number two for the democrats on the military committee now. 17 of those 19 years. being on the subcommittee that does nuclear warfare, etcetera, doing special forces. i was the chair woman for special forces, subcommittee, etcetera. and i know your expertise is not in the military. i really want to get to the area where i do believe i have extreme expertise in and i want to elicit from you some information that we can use. >> sure. >> so i won't argue with you about what's going on with the military. i definitely have a different vice president. but i want to talk to you about the funding