the history of abuse of government power is enough to give us pause here and you try to set in force and play some kind of of counterpressure if you would, to the people who want more and more intrusive measures. i think all the members of the commission felt that you needed a robust civil liberties lord to push back and to try to protect our liberties and our core values and their privacy. i am very disappointed that we have not put such a board in place. i don't think the job is easy and i think it will be very very difficult but you need some counterpressure, some pushback to the security agency which press for more and more power, more and more ability to intrude

into the lives of americans. in many cases, at the very least, you need a rigorous oversight of that in order to protect our core values. i think it is terribly important that board be reated and i haven't fully understood frankly why it has not been createbut it has not and let's get about the busness of getting it in functioning order. >> i would like to add very briefly to i certainty one associates with my colleagues remarked. when congress passed the enabling legislation creating the department of homeland security, in his wisdom and frankly foresight, it anticipated the challenges associated with a department that may be using information that they certainly wanted to use an appropriate a way.

the congress mandated and they were the first privacy officer mandated by congress and any of our government agency so i think that mindset, that appreciation of liberty and privacy is very much a part of howthe congress thought about the agency, but i think as my colleague has pointed out you need to take that concept to the broader oversight community over the intelligence community gerally. > did you want to share anything? >> yes, setting aside the board recommendation because i think that is started and commented on, we have look at how the privacy officers and the agency's have implemented their responsibilities and dhs is doing more in this area to do these privacy assessments. our recommendations have been that they need to be embedded in all the decisions that are made when new systems are put in place to collect information and

that this concern needs to be addressed up front. we think that will help further solidify the balance between security and civil liberties protections. >> thank you mr. chairman. >> the time of the gentlelady has expired. i thank the gentlelady and i yield to the gentleman from illinois mr. davis for five minutes. we have more than enough time for your questions. >> mr. chairman let me tanker you in the ranking member for holding this hearing. i also want to thank are witnesses for their expertise in this arena and also for the tremendous services that they have all provided to the country and continue to do so. i think all of us can reflect on september the 11th, 2001. i happen to have been in tel aviv, israel at the moment and of course we were there for a week because we couldn't leave.

i have had the opportunity to reflect upon the tremendous impact not only to our country and our way of life but what has happened internationally around the world. i am also reminded and i am pleased that the last few minutes we have had some discussion of budgets, of priorities, of the economy and its impact and i am always reminded of something that frederick douglass said when we talk about what we need and what we want. he would often say that you can't have the rain without the thunder and the lightning. meaning that priorities are very important and you have to determine what you are willing to give in order to get what it is that you are trying to get.

we have now had almost a decade of spendi money in the homeland security arena, and my colleagues have mentioned cuts and cut backs and i guess my question as i have listened would be, what have we really learned since 9/11 about what spending works and what does not work? what seems to work best? how do we adequately prepare or make the best use of the resources that we are willing to spend, and what areas have we been most successful in and

which ones prhaps we have been least successful end, and how do we prepare to the best of our ability for the future? if each of you would just respond to that question, i would thank you very much. >> wile it is a very very broad question. you can look at the rsponse in terms of the cup being half full and the cup being half empty. we have really made a very great deal of progress i think at all levels. when you get on an airplane today you are safer than you were when you got on it prior to 9/11. i think that the sharing of information and the intelligence community is much much better than it used to be. in all aspects of preventing attack, we have made some progress.

we spent the morning talking about areas where we think more progress needs to be made and that would need in your category i think where we have been less successful. in erms of unity of effort and who is in charge of the communication problem, and many other areas that have come up today. so, i think you have to think of homeland security in terms of a work in progress. a lot of process having been made, but it takes constant effort to make the american people less secure is that we ought to be and could be. that is why oversight is terribly important. so that is a quick summary. i think we are safer today than we were but we are not as safe as we could be, and that would be my summary of where we are

after 10 years. >> thank you very much. >> i think the question highlights an issue that we have been hearing through the course of this hearing and that is the need for a much smaller group in the congress of the united states to take a far more holistic approach toward its ovsight over the still relatively new agency, to set in a very thoughtful and judicious way the nds of priorities that you need because there are plant yield wants that you need to address and the priority should even needs first. you highlight that. and a couple of areas we have decided we have aired when we thought more was better. that article that one of your colleagues referred to about the

explosion of the infrastructure around the counterterrorism was a perfect example where we thought if we employed now thousands and thousands more private-sector contractors we would be safer but in spite of the all of that we had fort hood and a few other instances where it we were lucky that things didn't happen so i think we have learned perhaps a more judicious the identification of priorities an candidly and respectfully with more aggressive oversight on the part of the congress of the united states which united states which again is very difficult to do throughout the entire legislative ranch. i think it is a very appropriate question. i am not in a position to assess a basic outcome. and balance i think congress has identified some of the most immediate needs. i do think there have been dollars that have not been expended very appropriately. i think congress along the way

has lost sight of the admonition that was involved in the legislation and that has taken commercial off-the-shelf, technology and apply it. i think we are still in a search for the perfect technology. i don't think we are going to find it at the border. i don't think we are going to find it at the airport. i think we might want to be a little bit more judicious and encouraging and review the procurement in the testing process about these technologies within the department, but i think if someone who was privileged to have served and worked in congress and worked with my colleagues during those first couple of years, i think they did a remarkable job. remeer there was no architecture and there was no plan. no one was prepared for that attack and the nature of that attack and frankly what this country endured afterwards. we went from unprecedented -- to

unprecedented guard. we foundolidarity at the outset and we have made some mistakes along the way but as my colleague lee hamilton has said one reason we are safer in our country is because the work the 9/11 mmission accomplished. we have made a great deal of rug rats. let's not a reckless about the threat. american can manage this threat. to that and i would love to see a broader role for a smaller roof of congress in the house and senate to help to continue to build on the success and the security and effectiveness of the department. your question was very well stat and i'm sorry i gave you such a long-winded response to it. >> thank you very much. it's a congressman the other panelist to talk more broadly about this and i read we have spent a lot on addressing the aviation area and airtime security.

that, all of biological and nuclear area and the cyber area needs more attention going forward. as these threats evolve, as it relates to resource investments narrowly, think what we have learned is the cantor rush ployment of untested echnogies. that has not worked effectively. there are the airports, so-called sbinet, the advanced spectroscopic radiation monitors all have failed because they haven't had adequate testing and also in the secure flight area was on the success side. i think they took the time for congress to enumerated specific areas that needed to be met including the protection of civilliberties and privacy in that system and i think that was a good effort on that site so going forward here needs to be a risk-based approach to

investment decisions. funds are unlimited and also there has to e a careful application of good management practices and testing in the technologies. >> thank yomr. chairman. i want to thank you in the ranking member for your leadership as well as the witnesses nd i've personally feel much safer now than i did then. >> thank you sue davis and let me take the witnesses. the ranking member and i were discussing the testimony. the test of knowledge and have about the subject complex issue and how unfortunately there is too often a political debate especially on the issue of homeland security. how many few sound bites there. you take a complex issue, too many people in politics saying both parties take the most complex issue and reduce it to a 102nd soundbite and while there are specific answers, as

the three of you have indicated today none of this is easy all of his is complex and there are many people who are well-intentioned trying to do the right thing and actually i want to thank you for your service especially thank you for your testimony today and now i will yield to the ranking member for any fine or marks he has. >> thank you mr. chairman and i would like to support your comments. we have a lot of people on this committee who consider themselves experts but i have not had any greater depth of knowledge resented her this morning by the three of you. that depth goes beyond your affluence and i think it is a tribute to whayou do every day and i want to personally ju as the chairman said thank you for your service and thank you for hopefully getting this committee

where need to be as the committee on homeland security. your leadership in getting us there in this testimony will go a long ways towards accomplishing that and i thank you. >> thank you ranking member. in closing i would say chairman hamilton and secretary ridge, members of the committee may have additional questions and we will ask you to respond to this

>> vice president dik cheney will be at the american enterprise institute on c-span 3 at 9 a.m. eastern. at 11:40 a.m. eastern, president obama will be just south of washington following up on his speech last night to congress. speeching at the university of

richmond. >> this weekend, the ten year anniversary of 9/11 with live coverage from each of the sites. saturday at 12:30 p.m. eastern from shanksville, pennsylvania. and sunday, a memorial ceremony from world trade center site. honoring those who lost their lives on united flight 93. 9/11 remembered this weekend on the c-span networks.

[applause] >> the president of the united states. [applause]

>> thank you. how are you? good to see you. thank you. thank you. pass >> members of congress, i have the distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the

united states. [applause] >> thank you. >> mr. speaker, mr. vice president, members of congress. we meet at an urgent time in our country. we meet with a crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless and a political crisis that has made things worse. this past week, reporters have been asking what will this speech mean for the president? what will it mean for the congress? how will it affect the polls and

the next election? but the millions of americans watching right now, they don't care about politics. they have real life concerns. many have spent months looking for work. others are doing their best to scrape by giving up nights out with their family to save on gas. skipping out on retirement to pay for college. these people grew up with faith in america where hard work and responsibility paid off. they believe in a country where everyone does their fair share. if you stepped up and did your job and were loyal, that would be paid with loyalty and benefits, maybe a raise once in a while. >> if you did the right thing,

you could make it. anybody could make it in america. for decades now, americans have watched that compact erode. they have seen the decks too often stacked against them. they know washington has not always put their interest first. the people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. the question tonight is whether we'll meet ours. the question is whether in the face of an on going national crisis, we can stop the circus and do something to help the economy. [applause] the question is whether we can

restore some of the fairness and security that has defined our nation since the beginning. those of us here tonight can't solve all our nation's woes. ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by washington but our business and our workers. but we can help. we can make a difference. there are steps we can take right now to improve people's lives. i am sending this congress a plan that you should pass right away. it's call the american jobs act. there should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. everything in here is the kind of proposal that's been supported by both democrats and republicans, including many who sit here tonight. everything in this bill will be paid for, everything. [applause]

>> the purpose of the american jobs act is simple, to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those working. it will create more jobs for construction workers, teachers, veterans and for jobs for long-term unemployed. it will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers and cut payroll taxes in half for every working american and every small business. it will provide a a jolt to an economy that is stalled. there will be customers for their products and services. you should pass this jobs plan right away. [applause]

everyone here knows that small businesses are where most new jobs begin. you know while corporate profits have come rolling back, smaller companies haven't. for everyone who speaks so passion atly about creating jobs, this is for you. pass the small bill and starting tomorrow, small businesses will get a tax cut when they hire new workers or raise workers' wages. they'll see their payroll cut by 50%. if you have 50 employees making an average salary, that's an $80,000 tax cut. all businesses will continue writing off the benefits they take in 2012. 50 house republicans have

proposed the same cuts in this plan. you should pass it right away. [applause] >> pass the jobs bill and we can put people to work rebuilding america. everyone here knows we have badly decaying roads and bridges all over the country. our highways are clog with traffic, our skies are the most con guested in the world. it's an outrage. building a world class transportation system is part of what made us a superpower. and we are going to sit backs and watch china build newer airports and roads at a time when we could build here right here in america. [applause]

there are private construction companies all across america just waiting to get to work. there's a bridge that needs repair between ohio and kentucky on one of the busiest trucking roads in north america. a public transit firm that will help clear up one of the worst traffic problems in the country. there are schools in the country that desperately needing renovating. this is america, every child discerns a great school. we can give it to them if we act now. [applause] >> the american jobs act will repair and modernize at least

35,000 schools and put people to work right now fixing roofs, windows, installing science labs and high-speed interer net in classrooms. it will rehab ill tate homes, businesses and communities hit hardest by foreclosures and kick start programs across the country. to make sure this is properly spent, we are building on reforms already put in place. no more earmarks or bridges to nowhere. we are cutting the red tape from getting some of these started as quickly as possible and set up an independent fund to attract private dollars and issue funds based on two criterias. how badly the project is needed and what it will do for the economy. [applause]

this idea came from a bill written by a texas republican and massachusetts democrat. the idea of a big boost of construction is compared to america's largest business organization and labor organization. the kind of proposal supported in the past by democrats and republicans alike. you should pass it right away. [applause] pass this jobs bill and thousands of teachers in every state will go back to work. these are the men and women charged with preparing our children in a world where competition has enough been tougher. while they are adding them in places like south korea, we are laying them off in groves. it's not fair to our kids. it undermines their future and

ours. pass this bill and put our teacher back in the classroom where they belong. [applause] pass this jobs bill and companies will get extra tax credits if they hire america's veterans. we ask these men and women to leave their careers, families, risk their lives to fight for our koirnlt. the last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they come home. [applause] >> pass this bill and hundreds

of thousands of disadvantaged young people will have the hope and dignity of a summer job next year. [applause] and their parents, low income americans who desperately want to work will have more ladders out of poverty. company also get a $4,000 tax credit if they hire anyone who has spent more than six months looking for a job. we have to do more to help the long-term unemployed in their search for work. this jobs plan builds on where people participate in temporary work as a way to build skills while they look for a job and it ensures unemployment insurance for another year. if the millions of americans

stopped getting this insurance, it would be a devastating blow to this economy. the prolonged hardship, you should pass it again right away. [applause] >> pass this jobs bill and the typical working family will get a $1500 tax cut next year that would have been taken out of your pocket will go into your pocket. this expands on the tax cut the democrats and republicans already passed this year. if we allow that tax cut to expire, middle class families will get hit with a tax inees at the worst possible time. we can't let that happen. i know some of you have sworn oaths to never raise taxes.

now is not the time we should raise middle class taxes, which is why you should pass this bill right away. flu [applause] >> this is the american jobs act. it leads to new jobs for construction workers, teachers, veterans, first responders, young people and the long-term unemployed. it will provide tax credits, tax relief to small business owners and tax cut for the middle class. the american jobs act will not add to the deficit. it will be paid for. here's how. [applause] the agreement we passed in july will cut government spending by about a trillion dollars over the next ten years and charges this congress to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in

savings by christmas. tonight, i'm asking you to increase the amount to cover the full cost of the american jobs act. a week from monday, i'll release a more ambition jobs bill and stable jobs in the long run. this approach is basically the one i've been advocating for months. in addition to the trillion dollars in spending cuts, it's a balance plan that would reduce the benefit. by reforming our tax code in the way that asks the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. [applause]

>> or preventing small businesses and middle class families from getting on their feet right away. i know there's some that don't think we should make any changes at all to medicare and medicaid. i understand their concerns. but here's the truth, millions of americans rely on medicare in their retirement. millions more will do it in the future. they pay for this during their working years. they earn it. with an aging population and rise gs healthcare cost, we are spending too fast to keep paying for it. it won't be there when future retire ys need it. we have to strengthen it. [applause]

i am also -- [applause] i'm also well aware there are many republicans who don't believe we should raise taxes on those who are most fortunate and can best afford it. but here's what every american knows, while most struggle to make ends meet, a few of the most affluent citizens and profitable corporations enjoy tax breaks and loopholes nobody else gets. right now, warren buffett is in a lower tax bracket than a secretary. he has asked us to get this fixed. we need a tax code that will give e a fair shake, a fair share. [applause]

>> by the way, i believe the vast majority of wealthy americans and ceos are willing to do just that if it helps our economy grow. i offer reforms that bring a tax reform that stands as eamon ument. eliminating the loopholes we can lower one of the highest tax rates in the world. it should give an advantage to companies that invest and create jobs right near in the united states of america. [applause] >> so we can reduce this deficit, pay down our debt and pay for this jobs plan in the process but in order to do this,

we have to decide what our priorities are. we have to ask ourselves, what's the best way to grow the economy and create jobs? should we keep tax loopholes for all companies or use that money to give small business owners a tax credit when they hire new workers? we can't afford to do both. should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires or keep our kids in school ready to go to college and get good jobs? right now, we can't afford to do both. this isn't political grandstanding or class warfare, this is simple math. these are real choices. these are real choices we have to make. i'm pretty sure i know what most americans would choose.

it's time for us to do what's right for our future. [applause] >> now the american jobs act answers the urgent need to create jobs right away but we can't stop there. as i already did since i ran for this office, we have to look beyond the immediate crisis and start to build an economy that lasts through the future that offers good ors and pays well. we immediate need to make it possible for companies to take their businesses anywhere. we have to be able to out build, he had kayed every company on earth. [applause] in this task of making america more competitive for the long

haul, that's a job for all of us. for government and private companies, for states and local communities and for every american citizen. all of us will have to up our game. all of us will have to change the way we do business. my administration can and will take steps to improve our competitiveness on our own. if your small business owner who has a contract with a federal government, we'll make sure you get paid faster than you do right now. [applause] we are planning to cutaway the red tape that creates tomb rapidly growing start up companies from going public. we'll start with homeowners to help more people refinance home mortgages at interest rates now near 4%.

[applause] i know you guys must be for this. that's a step that can put almost $2,000 a year in a family's pocket and give a lift to the drop in-housing prices. so some things we can do on our own. other steps will require congressional action. today you passed reform that will speed up the patent process to entrepreneurs can turn a new idea into something as soon as possible. now it's time to clear the way for a series of trade agreements that would make it easier for american companies to sell their products and helping workers that have been affected by global competition.

[applause] if americans can buy kias and hyundais, i want to see folks in korea driving fords and chryslers. that's what we need to get done. [applause] >> we need to work for ways ob side by side businesses. developing a new range of ideas to help companies grow and create new jobs. we've mobilized business leaders to train 10,000 new businesses a

year. other businesses are covering workers who learn new skills in community colleges. we'll make sure the next generation of manufacturing takes root not in china or europe but here in the united states of america. [applause] >> if we provide the right incentives and right support and make sure our trading partners play by the rules, we can be the ones to build efficient cars and biofuels that we sell around the world. that's how america can be number one again. that's how america will be number one again. [applause] now i realize some of you have a different theory on how to grow

the economy. some of you sincerely believe the only solution to our challenges is to simply cut most government spending and eliminate most government elections. i agree we can't afford wasteful spending. i'll work with you with congress to root it out. i agree that there are some rules and regulation that's do put an unnecessarily burden on businesses at a time when they can least afford it. that's why i ordered the refuse of all government regulations. so far, we've identified 500 reform that's will save billions over the next three years. we should have no more regulation than health, safety

and security of the american people required. every rule should meet that common sense test [applause] but what we can't do, what i will not do is let this economic crisis to be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protection that americans have counted on for decades. [applause] i reject the idea that we need to ask people to choose between their jobs and their safety. i reject the argument that says for the economy to grow, we have to roll back protection that's ban hidden fees or rule that's keep our kids from being exposed from mercury. i reject the idea that we have to strip away collective

bargaining rights to compete in a global economy. [applause] we shouldn't be in a race to the bottom where we try to offer the cheapest labor, america should be in a race to the top. i believe we can win that race. [applause] this larger notion that everything we can do is dismantle government and let everyone write their own rules. it's not who we are. it's not the story of america. yes, we are rugged individuals.

we are strong and self reliant. it has been the drive of our workers that has made this the drive and the engine of the world. there's always been another thread running through our history. a belief we are all connected. there's some things we can only do together as a nation. we remember ab ra ham lincoln as the leader who saved our union. in the middle of a civil war, he was also a leader who looked to the future. he mobilized government. building the informational radio, set up the first land grant college and leaders in both parties have followed the examples he set. ask yourself, where we would be right now if the people who sat here before us excited not to

build highways, dams, airports what would this country be like if we had chosen not to spend money on local high schools or community colleges. millions of returning heroes including my grandfather had the opportunity to go to school paid for by their g. i. bill. where would we be if they didn't have that chance? [applause] what kind of country would this be if this chamber voted down social security or medicare because it violated some rig i had idea about what the government could or could not

do? how many americans would have suffered? no single american built the country on their own. we have been and always will be one nation under god indivisi e indivisible. members of congress, it's time for us to meet our responsibilities [applause] >> every proposal i have laid out tonight is the kind supported by democrats and republicans in the past. every proposal i've laid out tonight will be paid for. every proposal is designed to

meet our urgent needs in the communities. i know there's been a lot of except six about whether the politics at the moment will het uz create any jobs plan. already the media has proclaimed that it is impossible to bridge our differences. maybe some of you have decided that those differences are so great, we can only resolve them at the ballot box. but know this, the next election is 14 months away, the people who set us here, the people who hired us to work for them, they couldn't have the luxury of waiting 14 months.

some had them are living week to week, paycheck to paycheck. they need it now. i don't pretend that this plan will solve all our problems. it should not be the last plan of action we propose. it hasn't been the search for a silver bullet but a commitment to stay at it and keep persistent and keep trying every good idea that works and listen to every proposal no matter who party comes up with it. regardless of the arguments we'll have in the past or future, you should pass it. i intend to take that message to every wocorner of this country.

[applause] i ask every american who agrees to lift their voice. tell washington that doing nothing is not an option. remind us that if we act as one nation and one people, we have it within our power to meet this challenge. president kennedy once said our problems are man made so they can be solved by man. man can be as big as he wants. these are difficult here's for our koisht but we are americans. we are bigger than our politics have been. let's meet the moment and get to work let's show the world once again why the united states of america remains the greatest nation on earth.

god bless you and may god bless the united states of america. [applause]

>> a couple of live event to tell you about this morning. former vice president dick cheney will be at the american enterprise the to to talk about how the u.s. responded to the 9/11 attacks. on c-span 3 at 9:00 a.m. eastern. also on c-span 3 at 11:40 a.m. eastern, president obama will be just south of washington following up on his speech last night. speaking about jobs and the economy at the university of richmond. in a few moments, today's headlines and your phone calls. live on "washington journal." the house agenda today includes intelligence programs and a resolution regarding september 11. live coverage is at 9:00 a.m. eastern. eastern.