secondly, we want to make sure that anyone, especially on the outside, can bring ha charge. if the charges truly felt list or spurious, giving it the credibility of document in the rebuttal instead of dismissing it -- >> just to stop you there, we're not combining outsider were talking about a recommendation made internally within the agency that is overruled by somebody within the management chain or this independent sod. sdo. >> we have read your recommendation 23 against a

contractor officially recommended for our department. that could be by anyone. >> officially could be by anyone? >> it could be from another agency, yes. we will take that chairman's notes. we will take these two which i regard as clarifications, maybe we misunderstood. you posed clarifications that i did not read when i read this. you said that they would -- that we would not have to put oversight on executive for an external/internal question. we will take those into consideration. >> thank you. >> i have just a few questions and we can let you close with any comments you want to make without any interruption.

commissioner hankey was making reference to dod pulling the rug out from under you and the department and saying that you have to provide protection and security to your embassy in kabul. it ended up that you hired a former group. in the dialogue you had in 2009, we realized that say you had to get the lowest price contract instead of the best value -- we jumped in to help you all deal with best value. but what is disconcerting is that the farmer group is still there. it is disconcerting because they jeopardized the security of the embassy and secondly they brought tremendous disrepute to our government because they were

defending our governments and the city. thirdly, the whistle-blowers' that step forward, their lives were threatened. they are still there. one of the reasons why we recommend that there be a cadre of people to step in is still a contractor like this cannot say to find someone else and you cannot find someone else in your stuck with them. my sense is that you're stuck with them and i want to know why you are still using them since the photographs came in in july-august of 2009, are hearing was in the -- at the end of 2009 -- why are they still there? >> they are there for two reasons. we have just recently awarded the new world wide protective security contract and we are completing the task orders. this is an example where the original low bidder for that

specific task order did not mobilize in time. that is why we're going to an. additional an replacement. this gives us the ability to have the world wide protective security contract cover static and movement security and allows us to move to a replacement entity. >> we wonder why there should not be within your department achondrite of folks who can step cadre ofately -- a cda a folks who can step in and immediately. >> the issue is that by my notes, we have something like

4900 static guards in afghanistan. that is a very, very large number. given that 4900 number, you have to at a 50% factor for training and movement. none of us will have a swat team of that size. >> we are thinking that may endanger our embassies and their good will. we believe that the expense may be worth it to have a cadre that you can turn to quickly. the bottom line is -- you are stuck with them. that should not be. let me make an argument for you to rethink your opposition to -- >> the number is 760.

even that, when you add the rotation which is over 1000 personnel, we simply are not it kind off the values was raised the attention for everyone. secondly, the very example that you are raising that sigur does not have the legal authority -- when they were signed, there were given only certain chunk of contingency. we believe that they should have the full breadth so they wouldn't and counter the very thing you're legal people are saying that they don't have the authority. we want a permanent inspector general that has the ability to cross different departments, to do interrupt and inter agency activities. we want them to be allowed to look at state, dot, u.s. aid.

i would suggest to you that we would like you to reexamine this in the light of the fact that huge savings could take place. you have a file were to close up and you could take as much time as you want. it is your time and i will say again that we appreciate the candid dialogue that has taken place between us and we look forward to you getting back to a sense of the things you said you would. >> let me respond quickly to your question. you are entirely correct, there was not a focus -- a fall in that focus that should have been in the very beginning. the corrections we have seen, dod now employing their personnel in theater, the state department opening a regional office in the region to do both iraq and afghanistan does address the question of focus.

secondly, on your question about the breadth of the scope of the inspector general -- i agree that we need full scope. at the same time, when you are receiving a request such as i am from sigur to investigate not the activities -- >> you have already addressed that, honestly. i am suggesting that if they had been given the authority, you would not have been in this legal question. >> i am opposed to having a third-party inspector general, said tuesday, as opposed to a second party investigate the platform the state department is operating under. one has to understand that platform. then there is what is riding on

the platform. i have no problem with that. if it is open to any inspector general, there are some 15 different united states government agencies operating overseas. could i have to have each one of them authorized to investigate my platform, i will not ever deliver any services under the platform. i will just be doing questions and answers. that is a detriment, i think, to the united states international interest abroad. >> the middle east of us was closed recently. >> they have not. if they have not closed the middle east regional office. >> ok. >> they are just doing another report. it is a reporter decided that they did last fall -- >> we're talking about people they're not here. you have a closing word now.

any comments you like to make -- >> commissioners, there is no doubt that the activity the state department is engaged in in iraq and will be engaged in in afghanistan when the time line is fixed for the withdrawal of the united states troops is unusual. it is beyond the scope of anything we have ever done in the past. that is acknowledged. on the other hand, the state department has starkly stepped up to challenges, the fall of the berlin wall resulted in the opening of 24 new diplomatic offices. this happened in the short period of time and then there was the tragic attacks on our embassies in nairobi and dar salaam which caused additional

funds. we now have 77 new embassies built in the past decade or 11 years. we know how to mobilize for this activity. we have the confidence. we have the personnel. we absolutely in this case have the fall and on every support and partnership with the department of defense from every level from secretary dates and chairman mao led all the way down -- secretary gates and chairman mullin. this has provided us almost 4000 pieces of equipment. there is a lot of work to be done. it is entirely correct that when the inspector general took his snapshot last fall, there was more to be done. as i outlined in my oral testimony and in the longer written statement, many, many,

if not most of the issues raised by the inspector general correctly in that moment, that snapshot in time, have now been resolved. in the remaining six months, we will result the remainder of them. we have the contractor vehicles in place. we are in the process of awarding them. the congress has provided us funds, not all the funds we might have liked, but we have adjusted the mission, not the safety or security but the mission to comport with the dollars available. this is what any executive branch office does in our democracy. i want to thank the commission for calling attention to issues that we have to address. your assistance a year or so ago in allowing us to make contract awards on best value was

incredibly helpful and as part of the new world wide protective security contract that we have awarded the master to and several guests orders. it is a long road. it is a marathon. i think we have already crested heartbreak hill. we have only so far to go. the time is short. anything can go wrong and i am sure that something will go wrong but with the teams we have and the executive steering group and the team in baghdad and it seems that states, dod, joint teams and the staff that i brought with me plus many more staff who are there who have phone calls i think three times a week at 8:00 in the morning with everyone in baghdad, we will deliver on this mission because it is in the u.s. national interest that we do so. thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. >> thank you very much and have

a good afternoon. this hearing is closed. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [no audio]

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[no audio] [no audio] >> yesterday, congressman

anthony wiener admitted to sending inappropriate photos of messages to women on line. we will have his remarks next. we'll get reaction to his announcement on this morning's "washington journal" at the top of the hour. this morning, german chancellor angela merkel is in washington today of will be with president obama at a news conference. there'll be live coverage here on c-span. >> are watching c-span, bring you politics and public affairs every morning, it is "washington journal" our live call-in program connecting you with the elected officials, policy makers, and a journalist for weekdays, watch live coverage of the house and weeknights congressional hearings. on the weekend, you can see our signature interview programs. on saturdays, "the communicators." you can watch your program anytime at c-span.org and it is

all searchable in our cspan video library. cspan, washington your way, a public service created by america's cable companies. >> after more than one week of the niles, new york congressman anthony wiener admitted that he sent suggested photos and messages from this twitter account to several women. he apologized for lying but said he would not resign from the united states congress. his news conference from the york is next. -- from new york is next. >> i would like to make it clear that i have made terrible mistakes that hurt the people i care about the most and i am

deeply sorry. i have not been honest with myself, my family, my constituents, my friends, and supporters, and the the media. last friday night, i twtwee ted message as a joke to a woman in seattle. i panicked and took it down and said i had been hacked. i continued with that story which was a regrettable mistake. this woman was unwittingly dragged into this and there's absolutely no responsibility. i'm sorry to have disrupted her life in this way. to be clear, the picture was of me and i sent it. i'm deeply sorry for the pain this has caused her. and her family. my constituents and my friends, supporters and staff. in addition, over the past few years i have engaged in several inappropriate conversations conducted over twitter,

facebook, email, and occasionally on the phone with women i've met on-line. i have exchanged messages and files of an explicit nature over the past six years. these communications took place before my maris though some have sadly taken place after. the clear, i have not met any of these women or had physical relationships at any time. i have not told the truth and i have done things that i deeply regret. i brought pain to people i care about the most, people who believed in me --and for that i am deeply sorry. i apologize to my wife, our family, as well as to our friends and supporters. i am deeply ashamed of my

terrible judgment and actions. i would be glad to take any questions you might have. >> should you go ahead and resign? >> i came here to except the full responsibility of what i have done. i am deeply regretting what i have done and i am not resigning. i have made it clear that i accept responsibility for this and people who draw conclusions about me are free to do so. i have worked for the people of my district for 13 years and in politics for 20 years. i hope they see fit to see this in the light is which is a regrettable mistake. >> [inaudible] why did you make a distinction before you're married and after you're married? >> i think it is more

inappropriate the things i have done since i have been married. my prayer -- my primary regret and apology goes to my wife. i should not have done this and i should not have done this particularly when i was married. that is what made the distinction. >> why would you do this after you were married? what were you thinking? >> i don't know what i was thinking. this was a destructive thing to do. i am apologetic for doing it. it was deeply hurtful to the people i care about the most. it was something i did that was just wrong and i regret it. >> [inaudible] is this a violation of the public trust? >> did you use congressional e- mails of perfect --

congressional time? >> no, i did not. what i remember is that might blackberry is not a government blackberry and my home computer is where i did these things. i don't have the knowledge of every last communication but i don't believe that i used and the government resources. >> andrew breitbart was standing up and implying that he had an x-ray photo of you. can you say that is not true? >> nowak cannot. i cannot. this was a big mistake. i was embarrassed. i was humiliated. i am still to this moment. i was trying to protect my wife and myself from shame. was a mistake and i really regret it. >> [inaudible] are you going to get into some

kind of clinic to get some kind of help? >> this was a mistake and i'm very sorry for it. i take it seriously but where i go from here, i take it seriously. this was a destructive thing to do that i deeply regret. >> your wife is not here. [inaudible] >> i love my wife very much. we have no intention of splitting up over this. we have been through a great deal together. we will weather this. i love her very much and she loves me. >> where is she? >> [inaudible] >> in some cases, i initiated these messages and the is or what i generally met on facebook. i am deeply apologetic first and

foremost to my wife and to the many people who put faith and confidence in me that watched me make this terrible mistake. everyone that i misled, everyone in the media, my staff, people that i lied to about this, they all deserve an apology. >> after eliot spitzer, why would you do such a thing? >> this was a very dumb thing to do. it was a destructive thing to do. it was not part of any plan to be hurtful to my wife. it was not part of a plan to be deceitful to you. it was not part of a plan. it was a destructive thing that i did that i accept responsibility for. if you're looking for some kind of deep explanation for it, i simply don't have one. except that i am sorry. >> [inaudible] >> i did not think of it that

way. from time to time, i would say to myself that this is a mistake for this conversation, someone could listen to or translate to someone else. i know there is the sense that everything is part of a plan and it was thoughtful and calculate and in this case it was me doing a very dumb thing. for that, i accept responsibility. >> [inaudible] i did not see any pictures released today. they were women that i had conversations with any inappropriate things worse sent by me and i accept responsibility. >> [inaudible] >> when i have done this harm to

my wife and family and i am standing before all of you and accepted responsibility for this shameful thing, i am thinking about the election and the election after that. the first thing i need to do is to make sure that obviously this never ever happens again and i make it up with my wife and to my family and to all the people i have harmed. >> [inaudible] >> i will try to handle this. i have not ruled out perhaps seeing someone. i'm not blaming anyone. this is not something that can be traded away. this is my own personal mistake. this is a deep weakness tell yo? >> she has known about some of these on-line religious before we were married and we spoke frankly about this. she did not knowntil this morning that i had not been telling the truth whether i had posted the posting last week. >> [inaudible]

i am here primarily to express my apologies to my wife and family. all of you who were misled, people who i lied to, i have an apology for all of them. >> [inaudible] >> i believe that everyone deserves an apology here. >> [inaudible] where is your wife right now? >> i apologize to andrew breitbart and other members of the media i have misled. i apologize first and foremost to my wife and family. my primary apologies to my wife but she made very clear that she thought what i did was very dumb and she was not happy about it.

she is very disappointed. she also told me that she loved me and wanted us to go through this. >> [inaudible] >> i did a regrettable thing. for that i apologize. >> [inaudible] did you have phone sex with these women? >> i never met any of these women. i never was in the same room or had any physical relationship with them. i am reluctant for their privacy and since their names are coming out of characterizing our exchanges except their consensual. i will not rebut anything or dispute anything that any of the women who have come forward have said. they have every right to do so. i will not make any effort to characterize -- >> does this file your oath of

office to do this? >> congressional time could theoretically be anything. i don't believe i did anything here that violate any law or my oath to my constituents. what i did was something that demonstrated a deep personal failing and that is why i am here to apologize. >> is there any other type of behavior conducted as a congress member [inaudible] that you solicited or engage in any service of women? >> i have never had sex outside marriage. i have done these things and i regret them but i have never done anything that you described. >> [inaudible]

i am not making excuses for my behavior. i don't do drugs and i was not drinking. that was not the cause of this. this was me doing a dumb thing and doing it repeatedly and lying about it. that is all there is. i'm here to accept responsibility. i'm not asking to shift the blame to anyone else or to any and external force or anything else. >> do you have any contact with ms. cordoba. >> i did. i did not speak to her. we exchanged some text messages. it was mostly from me to express my abject apologies for how she got dragged into this. >> [inaudible] >> we have exchanged some perfunctory direct messages. we had never spoken. >> [inaudible] >> i have not.

my wife is a remarkable woman. she is not responsible for any of this. this was visited upon her. she was getting back to work and i apologize to her. >> [inaudible] >> i still have to make that determination. i'm here to express my apology. i am here to take responsibility. beyond that, my constituents have to make the determination. it is up to them that they believe this is something that means they don't want to vote for me, i will vote very hard to win back their trust and persuade them that this is a personal failing of mine and i worked very hard for my constituents for a long time with long hours. nothing about this should reflect in any way of my

official duties or in my oath of office. >> [inaudible] >> i will -- i used bad judgment here. that is for sure. if someone's a draw the conclusion, i cannot stop them. i'm here to except responsibility for a very bad decision. >> [inaudible] she was 21 years old. does that bother you? >> i don't know the exact age of the women. i don't know if you do. i will respect their privacy that they are all adults to the best of my knowledge. they were engaging in these conversations consentual it. ly. >> have you know they were adults? >> all i know is what was published in public media. someone could have fibbing about

it. >> [inaudible] >> no. >> what about the reactions of your colleagues? >> i was not telling the truth. i had done something that was dishonorable. i had lied. i don't begrudge anyone for leaping to my defense. this is not anyone else's fault. this is not anyone else demonstrating their bad judgment or their mistake. this was made. i did it. and i take responsibility for that. i am not looking to point by more share responsibility with anyone. >> [inaudible] >> i will go back to work and i will try to continue that this is a personal failing from which

i have learned. all i can do is keep doing what i have done with his work very hard every day. there was not anything about this that changes my ability or my record of getting a bill passed or filling potholes or fulfilling community service. this is a personal failing and i hope they see it that way. i don't begrudge them if they see it as such a personal feeling that there would not vote for me, that is their decision. i will have to work very hard. >> members of the democratic leadership have called and other examples. [inaudible] want to get into anyone else's situation. i can tell you about my. it is one that i regret. it did not have to do with my government service and had to do with a personal weakness. people can draw their own conclusions about that.

i am not resigning and i will try very hard to go back to work a better person and a better man and i will try to be a better husband, too. >> [inaudible] >> she was very unhappy. she was very disappointed and she told me as much. she also said she loved me. she said we were going to get through this. she deserves much better than this and i know that. >> why come out now and say this? >> my primary concern about the entire incident to begin with was my concern about some of these relationships that i had becoming public. it seems that what i had done by denying the original action and only serves to make things worse and only serves to lead to people being asked longer and tougher questions. the smarter better thing to do would be to tell the truth and

let the chips fall where they may even if they came to this place. that is why i am here. >> can you characterize what you it did you teach? cheat?idn't you >> i will leave that to other people. i never met these women and i never had a desire to. it was a frivolous exchange among friends that i don't think i made an important enough distinction about how hurtful it was and how inappropriate it was. >> certitude is not something you can rely on. how'd you know these women are not truthful about their own selves? >> no one ever knows that i know

i never had any intention of having any interaction with underage women. my action now shows that i didn't. that is always true in social media that you are lying upon their characterization. i took them at those characterization's. s. >> [inaudible] >> i am sorry and i continue to be but i don't see that anything i did by late in rows of the house. i don't think i violated my oath of office. i engaged in inappropriate on my conversations with people that included photographs and it was a mistake to do that. i don't believe that i did anything that violates any laws or any role. rule. >> did you think you'd get caught at some point? >> i did not have the sense that

these are complete strangers. these were people i develop relationships with online. i believe we have become friends. that was clearly a mistake. i clearly regret that. >> [inaudible] >> yes. her and i still don't really know her. she was a follower. we had a cursory direct message contact and she was having trouble with people tweeting about her because she was following me. it was a mistake. i want to make it very clear. there are a long list of people i harmed. this poor woman was one of them and i deeply regret that she got dragged into it. >> [inaudible]

should all public officials remove their twitter account? >> no, i think public officials should interact with their constituents but not to things like this and be deceitful. they should not do things like this. there's nothing inherently wrong with social media. there is nothing inherently wrong with these outlets. what i did was a mistake. >> did you take down your twitter account? >> [inaudible] >> at no time did i or any member of my staff try to do anything to cover anything up. she reached out to me and expressed how she had been set upon. i expressed my apologies to. there is no coaching of any sort going on. it was basically me saying what i said today about how sorry i

was that it happens. >> [inaudible] >> my staff has never had any contact. they did not know the actual story. >> [inaudible] when did you tell your staff? >> they only heard the full story late this afternoon as i was getting ready to come over here. they are another group of people i let down and they knew nothing and i regret putting them in this circumstance. >> was there anything predatory about your behavior? >> the women that i have been in contact with without violating their privacy -- they are not uniformly young women. i don't know their ages. the people i have had these engagements with on facebook are not young, per se. >> [inaudible]

is this a violation of growth of office? >> i am deeply sorry that i lied about this. at the end of the day, i lied because i was embarrassed. i lied because i was ashamed of what i had done and did not want to get caught. did i violate the constitution of united states by lighting about posting a twitter post? i don't think so and i've not spoken to anyone who does. if people want to say this is a violation of my oath because i sawtw aet that i regretted and lied about it, people are entitled to that viewpoint. >> did you promise anything to these women? >> [inaudible] will uset believe i the account the same way. that's for sure. i deeply the regret the way i have used it to date.

this is something that i found useful and facebook is a way to get out the message. i certainly obviously would not do the things i have done that led me to this place. >> [inaudible] >> of course. of course, i would. >> [inaudible] >> i did not. >> [inaudible] >> yes. >> thank you. >> they were inappropriate. they're part of a consensual exchange of e-mails. i don't want to violate the privacy of the women who were involved. it was clearly a mistake and one that i deeply regret, thank you. >> were you fully erect?

>> house minority leader nancy pelosi has asked the house ethics committee to investigate congressman winner after he admitted to lying about explicit messages he said two women on line. republican presidential hopeful tim pawlenti is in chicago today. the former minnesota governor will be talking about the economy and laying out his plan to overhaul the federal tax code. live coverage from the university of chicago begins at 11:00 a.m. eastern on cspan 3. german chancellor angela merkel will arrive at the white house this morning for meetings. the white house will hold a state dinner for the chancellor and we will have live coverage at 8:00 p.m. eastern. before that, you can watch live coverage of guest arrivals.

we'll have more about angela merkel's schedule and a moment. >> jill abramson will be the first when an executive at"a tour of the new york times there c." she was editor of the legal times. you can watch clips of her online at the cspan video library. you can watch any time. it is washington your way. >> "washington journal"is next. we will look at the news and take your phone calls. before tonight's state dinner at the white house, president obama and german chancellor angela merkel will hold a joint news conference. we will have live coverage this morning here on c-span. this afternoon, a group of former directors of the congressional budget office will meet to discuss the federal debt. live coverage is at 3:00 p.m.

eastern. coming up this hour, a discussion on the global war on illegal drugs. we will talk with the group drug policy alliance for it last week,the tiel foundation gave $24,000 to people who a agreed to drop out of