relatively easily treated, except in some children who have serious immune disorders. this is an issue we have to confront and i suggested some ways that we might want to look at it.. i think this is good news for parents. the diseases these vaccines prevent are bad. you don't want to have them and you do not want your children to have them. host: dr. ellen wright clayton, thank you for your time this morning. here's a look at the study at the institute of medicine website. you can see this report that was released on august 25. guest: and it is freie.

host: have a great day. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., september 13, 2011. i hereby appoint the honorable john j. duncan jr. to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 5, 2011, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes each, but in no event shall debate

continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. poe, for five minutes. mr. poe: mr. speaker, this weekend we honored those killed by an attack on america on 9/11, 10 years ago. many of those that were killed and gave their lives were first responders, and after the smoke cleared that day from ground zero, from the pentagon down the street and that special field in pennsylvania, america went after islamic terrorists who would murder in the name of religion. the wars against our enemies have taken us to the desert of the gun and the valley of the sun in afghanistan and then off to iraq. i've been to afghanistan and iraq as many members have and i can tell you, mr. speaker, our

military that is there representing us is the finest military that has ever existed in the history of this country. afghanistan is the land that seems to be cursed by god. it is a hard land, and in afghanistan on august 6, 2011, specially trained united states military were head out to root out the taliban and help our army rangers who needed their support. the chinook helicopter they were in was shot down in a province in afghanistan. 30 americans gave their lives that day as well as eight loyal afghans. they were our first responders abroad who go where the timid are not found and the weak of soul are never seen. here are their names, mr. speaker, and their photographs. the first one here, david carter, chief warrant officer of the united states army, national guard, from colorado.

next is heath robinson, chief petty officer, united states navy seal from michigan. next to him, mr. speaker, is alexander bennett, sergeant, united states army reserve from washington. next to him is craig vickers, senior chief petty officer, united states navy seal from hawaii. number five on this on this top line here is jared day, petty officer first class, united states navy seal from utah. and the last one on the first row is jonas kelsaw, lieutenant commander, united states navy seal, from louisiana. i continue with the second row. jon tomilson, petty officer first class, united states navy seal from iowa. next to him is michael strange, petty officer first class,

united states navy seal from pennsylvania. aaron vaughn, petty officer first class, united states navy seal from florida. patrick hamburger, staff sergeant, united states army national guard from nebraska. next to him is john foss, chief petty officer, united states navy seal, minnesota. and the last one on the second row is matthew mason, chief petty officer, united states navy seal from missouri. i continue with the third row of our warriors. robert reefs, person known by members of my -- reeves, person known by members of my staff. chief petty officer, united states navy seal, louisiana. chief petty officer, united states navy seal from the great state of texas. next to him is lewis langless,

master chief petty officer, united states navy seal from california. next, christopher campbell, petty officer first class, united states navy seal from north carolina. the next warrior is derrick benson, petty officer first class, united states navy seal, california. and the last one on this row is jason workman, petty officer first class, united states navy seal from utah. i continue, mr. speaker, and i hope you can see these photographs. jesse pittman, united states navy seal from california. next is nicholas speer, petty officer second class, united states navy seal, minnesota. andrew harvill, united states air force from california. david zirbi, from pennsylvania. john brown from florida.

kevin houston, united states navy seal from massachusetts. and the last row, mere, byron nichols, chief warrant officer, united states navy guard from kansas. nick class knowl, united states navy seal from west virginia. thomas ratliff, chief petty officer from arkansas. byron bill, united states navy seal from connecticut. and john nugara, first petty officer from nebraska. mr. speaker, these are the men who gave their lives so that others could live. and while we mourn the lives they gave for the rest of us, we should thank the good lord that such men as these lived. the americans, the american breed, the rare breed, the finest we have. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the time of the gentleman has expired. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from oregon, mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: mr. speaker, there's been much talk about jobs and economic recovery. sadly more talk than action. today's consideration of extending the surface transportation act and the f.a.a. authorization, both of which have expired, is a positive development. it puts a little more certainty for our partners in the state and local government. it avoids disastrous revenue losses. it's a positive signal of cooperation with chairs mica and boxer working with majority leader reid and speaker boehner. and it leaves important policies intact. the 1991 icetea framework provides economic activity.

now, let's concentrate what we do need. we need more money, not less. certainly we must reject the 30% transportation cut that is called for in the republican budget or a 34% reduction that's called for in the transportation appropriations bill that is being considered. we need longer term legislation, not shorter. three months for aviation, six months for transportation is better than what we've been putting up with but certainly not what our partners deserve. finally, we need more partnerships with our regionals engines of growth at the local level, not a pullback by the federal government. we need a full re-authorization, one that is right sized for america's needs. we need to be more ambitious in terms of what we spend.

remember all the expert bipartisan commissions that called for much greater levels of investment five years ago. the need has not declined at all. we can and we should combine these efforts with deficit reduction and economic recovery. this is what happened with ronald reagan in 1982, with bill clinton in 1993, what was called for by simpson and bowles, the chairs of president obama's commission. make no mistakes. unmet infrastructure needs threatens the health and safety of our communities, our environment and our global competitiveness. congress will find a tremendous coalition supporting bold action from the business community, organized labor, contractors, environmentalists, engineers, architects, local

governments, the list is extensive, broad. many have stepped up on their own. it's now time for the federal government to be a better partner, reclaiming the legacy of abraham lincoln, teddy roosevelt, franklin roosevelt and eisenhower. back when infrastructure investment was not partisan or particularly controversial but a national vision that brought us together. we can begin by passing this legislation later this afternoon. we need to move to larger and a longer term agenda as we rebuild and renew america, jump-start the economy and make our families safer, healthier and more economically secure. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from north carolina,

mr. jones, for five minutes. mr. jones: mr. speaker, thank you very much. like all my colleagues, i was home during the august break, accepting opportunities to speak at civic clubs, at town forums and i did speak to a couple of military retiree groups. every time that i would make a statement that it is time to bring our troops home from afghanistan, mr. speaker, i'm not an excellent speaker. i'm not even a good speaker, but i got applause, strong applause from every one of those groups that i just named. they agree with me and many of my colleagues that is on the floor, including my colleague, jim mcgovern, that it's time to bring an end to our time in afghanistan. the loss of lives is astounding. and i have beside me a poster that depicts of pain of war. this lady and her little girl are accepting a flag, folded

flag off the coffin of her husband's and the little girl is looking up like, i don't know what's happening. the wife is crying. how many more families have to cry. how many more children have to say, i didn't know my daddy because i was so young when he died? mr. speaker, the president is asking for a jobs program. i think he's doing the right thing, and yet we're spending $10 billion a month in afghanistan to prop up a corrupt leader. it makes no sense. it doesn't make any sense to the american people and it makes no sense to many of us in the house, both republican and democrat. i understand from the newspapers that there's a conversation now going on between the united states and afghanistan which provides so-called strategic partnership agreements between the two, america and afghanistan, and this means we would keep approximately 35,000 to 40,000

troops past 2014, 2015. this is not -- does not make any sense. i hope this is not true, but i'm afraid that it is true. and something else that bothers me about this conversation is that it will not be called a treaty. because if it's called a treaty had has to come to congress and be approved by congress. this, again, takes away the voice of the american people, especially on this issue of afghanistan when the american people in large numbers in all the latest polls are saying, get out, get out, get out. history has proven that afghanistan will never be anything more than what it is today. great nations have tried in the past to try to create a national government in afghanistan and it never happened. here we are going to spend $10 billion a month, $120 billion a year to rebuild afghanistan and we don't even have the money to rebuild america.

i hope that the congress would join those of us, again, mr. mcgovern and myself and many others i could name in the house that want to bring our troops home. it brings me back to an article written by andrew basovich. he was a vietnam veteran himself. his son was killed in iraq, and he wrote an article in "the american conservative" about two years ago called "to die for a mystique," "to die for a mystique," talking about afghanistan. . i hope we will continue to bring forward on the floor of the house the issue of afghanistan. it's not right to those families. it's not right to our military. many have been there five, six, seven gloiments. they are tired, worn out, they have done their job. bin laden is dead. al qaeda has been moved out of afghanistan. it is time to bring them home. and rebuild america. and help our veterans find jobs.

i want to thank the president for mentioning that yesterday. we've got to help our veterans find jobs. mr. speaker, i'm going to close now as i always do because it comes from my heart. i have signed over 10,374 letters since we went into iraq. that was a mistake on my part to give president bush the authority to go to war that never had to be fought. i ask god to please bless our men and women in uniform. i ask god to please bless our families of the men and women in uniform. i ask god in his loving arms who have given a child dying for freedom a iraq. i ask god to please bless the house and senate that we will do what is right in the eyes of god for god's people. and to president obama that he will do what is right for god's people. i will say three times, god please, god please, god please continue to bless america. i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. mcgovern, for five minutes. mr. mcgovern: mr. speaker, at the end of august i was part of a week-long fact-finding delegation to colombia coordinated by the washington office on latin america. our first stop was hailed during 2005 and 2008 as the so-called miracle, we now know it was more illusion than reality. created by the iron fist of the paramilitary. he controlled all criminal activity in the forest districts that surround central mediene. since his 2008 expedition to the united states, hell has returned to the community has neoparamilitary drug lords fight for control of drug trafficking,

extortion, and other criminal activity. but the miracle wasn't a total illusion. during those years of relative calm, the municipal government under the mayor and his successor, the current mayor, made significant investments in youth organizations, education, and basic human services in the poorest neighborhoods. in greater mediine, investments resulted in greater parks, spaces, culture, and a new public transit system. these changes large and small have helped civil society to better weather and confront the current explosion of violence that keeps them in the ranks of latin america's most violent cities. there are an estimated 3,800 or more gang members there. and about 70% of their ranks are made up of young people between the ages of 11 and 17. in the past two years, nearly 2,000 young people between the ages of 11 and 25 have been killed. we spend an entire day meeting

with people and youth organizations in three of the city's most violent districts, 13, 8 and 5. our guide wased debt kated staff. they introduced us to john sanchez, the director of an batah, an acrow colombia group that has achieved international fame by using commusic to help the young people find alternatives to violence. we visited local ymca with the director. the ymca has long served as an anchor and neutral space in communea 13. there we met with leaders from hip-hop. and the school, a music training school named in memory of a young boy killed in communea 13. the groups reach young people through the use of music and dance, helping them become leaders. these youth then use their art to reach others in their schools and on the streets with the

message of nonviolence. we went across-town to casa della cotoura, one of the few neutral spaces. we met students in youth groups, ak-47, new dance, and others. their determination and enthusiasm to create a better future were undeniable. rap group ak-47 joined with students playing classical music. they put on a stunning rap program against gang violence. i could have listened to their words of powerful music all day. we ended the day sitting on the ground above a small park in communea five talking with more than 20 youth leaders about their daily lives and how they try to promote human rights and create a better community. i told them they should run for office because the future depended on their leadership. the next day our dell case returned to communea 5 this time with the catholic church. we met former and current gang

members. we heard impassioned stories about how they want to leave the gangs and the endless violence. it's not an easy choice. they fear retaliation and not being able to support their families. many people there are helping them lay down their arms, but their futures are dangerous and limited. they also lack confidence in their -- police, some of whom are allied with one faction or another in the gang wars. these youth put themselves at risk for advocating alternatives to violence and envisioning a future far different from the reality that surrounds them. they deserve our respect and support, not just with funding, but by increasing their visibility and illegitimatecy. rarely on my trips to colombia have i left the place with such strong and positive feelings. after spending time in the most dangerous areas of the city, i came away with a sense of hope. i often speak of what's going wrong in colombia and the many problems that need to be addressed. there i found many examples of what is going right. i yield back my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house

deadly, double suicide bombing against the of syrian military. we are working with our regional partners in france to counter, and those efforts have helped to protect a significant attack against -- from aqim. in nigeria, there was attacked against westerners. our regional counterparts have stepped up their efforts we worked closely with our partners on this threat, and we will seek to intensify our support. al-qaida in iraq, has sustained significant losses since the surgeon 2007, and this much further than it was in 2007 of realizing its goal of overthrowing department of baghdad or controlling some

portion of iraq. nonetheless,aqi remains capable of attacks. its core members share al qaeda's desire to expand the global geoid. --jihad. finally, the number of operatives has been significantly reduced over the last decade thanks to aggressive counter-terrorism efforts by governments. the group responsible for the bali attacks in 2005 and 2005, has, for example, suffered major losses. additionally, many terrorist leaders in southeast asia are now dead, such as the planner of the 2009 bombings, or in jail, such as the spiritual leader of extremism in southeast asia.

the cia's global campaign against al-qaida and affiliate's acquires offensive and defensive measures, and will need to be sustained to be effective. we target terrorist leaders to deny them the resources and breathing space needed to plot operations against us and our allies. of course, we cooperate with foreign partners wherever possible. it is often better to have them carry out operations them for us to do it, nonetheless we act in the modeling one we must. our officers work in which unilaterally when we must. our officers -- on unilaterally when we must perish -- when we must. in a similar fashion, we worked closely with and the services in the middle east stop printer bonds before they could get in it. we all of these successes to

improved integration with other agencies in the military, to the sharing of intelligence with foreign partners, and to these committee's support. reassess the agency and its elements are better at each of these actions that we were before 9/11, but al qaeda and affiliates have proven resilient. we cannot underestimate our enemy. we must continue to refine our tactics, techniques, and procedures. over the past decade, intelligence collectors, analysts, and technical experts have forged more relationships, leading to vital information, and new insight into how and where terrorists operate. that integration of analysis and operation each feeding each other has been a part of almost important successes. our relationship with others in the intelligent -- intelligence

community are more cooperative than ever. improvements in the watch listing program another enter- agency reporting methods allow us to quickly disseminate a actionable intelligence to a federal state and local agencies at the lowest levels. we continue to work with the national counter-terrorism chanter to enhance the process and to improve the application of community resources. the relationship with the intelligence community and partners in taking down osama bin laden reflected advances our government has made toward achieving a more unified counter-terrorism effort. that was, as the dni noted, a success borne of cooperation. all corp. of governments in europe, south asia, and elsewhere around the world is very strong. working with allies and partners with disrupted dozens of

terrorist plots, and arrested dozens of key operatives and facilitators. all of this must and will continue. the intelligence community must be a learning organization. the cia will do all it can to contribute to the effort. in some policies put in place, we have become more capable and effective in carrying out our counter-terrorist mission and protecting fellow citizens. the key in the central intelligence agency has banned its people. the individuals who -- has been its people reaching the individuals in our headquarters and stations around the world have gone abroad the hard work of defending americans from the constant threat of terrorism. they, our people, have been the key. in so doing, they and their families have made great sacrifices, and we can never

thank them enough for that. it is my privilege to serve with them, to be their director, and indeed, to be their estimate. -- activision -- advocate. thank you very much part >> thank you, general petraeus. >> director petraeus, i think your remarks were a 10. thank you. you give us a well-rounded view. it is very much appreciated. i wanted to talk to you a little bit about afghanistan. we were out in the waiting room, and we were speaking of the bombing that just took place at our embassy in kabul. whether it was called on, the question that that raises -- taliban, the question that

raises because 2014 is not too far away is what would be the implications for the security of the west if the taliban, with its connections were to return to rule afghanistan? in particular, what would it mean for women? >> well, thank you very much, madam chairman. as i mentioned to you, i spoke to the ambassador crocker a few moments ago. he was my great diplomatic partner in baghdad during the surge. he reported that all embassy members are accounted for. there are no injuries to any embassy members. there were four afghan citizens that were injured when the old chancery building was hit, and three of those, very lightly.

one, a small girl, needed to go to the hospital across the road. apparently, the situation is a handful of individuals, five or so, perhaps wearing suicide bus were able to move into a building that is under construction and to launch small arms into the area of the embassy. at least one of those, as i said, hitting. again, no interest to any of more embassy officials. -- injuries to any of our embassy officials. this is also a time to be thankful to a true public servant like ambassador crocker to agree to come back into service, to take on an important mission. an individual who was then under fire a great deal as you will recall, especially in baghdad. with respect to the situation you mentioned, were the taliban

to takeover afghanistan as they did before, and indeed to do sell in some week with some of the other movements that make up the syndicate, as the sometimes called, of the insurgents and extremists, i think what we would see is a return to what we have sought -- seen before. we know that women's rights are tremendously limited under such a regime. the fact is that under the taliban there were very few girls in school at all. if any, they were had hidden schools, at great risk to them and their students. there are now over 8 million, and 30% of the students are

girls. i do not think that would continue to be the case were the taliban to return. beyond that, the central issue for western security, and the whole reason we are engaged in this effort is to ensure that afghanistan is never again a sanctuary for f -- 4 the telethon or any other extremists -- for the taliban, or any other extremists. that prospect remains real, and a concern, and is, of course, why we're working so hard to enable our partners to secure in the government itself, so we can continue the orderly process of transitioning security tasks to them. i might note that even in kabul, even though there have been sensational attacks periodically, the frequency have been reduced, and it is afghan

forces that are in charge of security in the capital, and i'm talking about the entire province of kabul as well as the municipality. indeed, it is the afghan forces better in the lead for even the night raids and targeted operations which we often enable, but do not do for them. it is afghan forces who are this afternoon, now this evening in afghanistan, clearing the building from which the attack took place there are very good afghan forces that -- took place. there are very good afghan forces that demonstrated the ability to do this and they're doing it right now. >> the cox are set up for 5 mccourt grounds. -- the clocks are set up for five-minute rounds. i hope we keep them so everyone has an opportunity. chairman rogers. >> to a real your predecessor --

two of their predecessors recommended a complement of authority. you also referred to bureaucratic impediments t paret can talk about both of those cases today? -- impediments. can you talk about both of those cases today? >> i am mature and east of the first part of your question about what the previous budget i am not sure i understand the first part of your question -- i am not sure i understand the first part of the question about the predecessors. >> about the role of overseeing intelligence agency. >> i have not found that to be the case. i think you are specifically referring to a position that john brown and occupies. i think he performs -- brennan

occupies. i think he performs a crucial function as the in-resonant chord nader for -- coordinator for counter-terrorism. he is a great colleague and someone i have known and worked with for many years. i've not found to be the case. john, and anyone, i think is very receptive to what the authorities and the responsibilities of the director of national intelligence are. my observation has been in the past months i've been on this job is that this is a team operation. there is an intense interest in and support for intelligence in the white house, particularly in the national security staff the national security advisor, tom donilon, on down. the cia is an integral part of that and i am confident that will continue. i've not found that to be an

issue. i alluded to in my testimony to one area that i think could be improved, which would be managed the national intelligence program as an integral whole, as opposed to the fragmented manner in which it is now managed. so, that is one area. >> can you give us an example of how you might do that? >> right now, it is spread across six capital departments. 90% is reflected in the department of census program. the other five programs is where the other 10% is reflected. if i were king, which i am not, and i am not speaking on behalf of the administration, and certainly not on behalf of the congress, because this would require me to get into an area

that is more hazardous than terrorism, which is congressional jurisdiction, but i think if it were manage as a unitary whole, it would promote accountability, transparency, efficiency, agility, and those kinds of things. >> you're suggesting a military intelligence program and the national intelligence program emerged in some way? >> no, i am not. it is entirely separate. i was a program executive for the military intelligence program for over three years. i do not believe that that should be part of the national intelligence program, particularly as the lion's share of that are those intelligence resources that are embedded in each of those services. to include or attach resources that are organic too tactful operations, i think that to be the province of the secretary of defense. the arrangements that we made,

secretary gates, and myself, in a private capacity, which to designate the undersecretary of defense for intelligence as the director of defense intelligence of the department of national intelligence position. he is headed that way. we are working together to insure coherence, corp., and coordination between those two programs. we recently completed a two- year-long effort. as we approach the impending budget cuts, we have already begun to work very closely together, so we are attentive to the dependencies. if we cut in one program, we have not done unintended harm to the other. -- it shouldk the th

be rolled into the other. i think the mechanisms we of developed a for the appropriate oversight and insight, and conversely, my successor intended insight into the national intelligence program. in regards the other part of your question, in my over 13 months on this job, and it feels like it, i have not noted very much pushed back from within the intelligence community, particularly on the thing i am pushing on integration and collaboration. >> thank you, chairman rogers. vice-chairman saxby chambliss? >> there are several provisions in the intelligence eck and patriot act better subject to sunsets. even though director mollen has

testified about the need for permanent authorities, and there's no evidence of abuse, i am concerned that each time we debate these laws the intelligence community tells us that they can "live with" suggested changes, and never -- although i never hear anyone say they would have to do the jobs better. how do short-term extensions effect the ability to operate, and secondly, if you are asked if you can live with certain changes to these laws, will you commit to giving us the full story of how those changes might harm your collection capabilities as well? dr. klemperer? >> thank you. -- dr. pepper? >> thank you. it is disruptive when we are constantly on the cost of having these very important tools expire on us. so, particularly when we are dealing with commercial segments

who help us do this, it is disruptive and not settle in for them in terms of their long-term commitment to committing to corporate with us. so, i think from that standpoint, it is not healthy to have these constant short-term extensions. having said that, it is extremely important to us that obviously we must have the support of the congress representing the american people. obviously, the issue here that is of concern is civil liberties and privacy. i assure you, and i've been a personal witness to this in this job the last 13 months or so, that we go to extraordinary threat -- lengths to do repetitive checks and balances over the actual execution and

administration of these authorities, which we all understand have the potential for rendering harm to civil liberties and privacy. as to the specifics of what we could live with, i guess perhaps offline we could discuss what those provisions as you understand them are, and i could give you a more exclusive answer on a case-by-case basis. >> certainly. vice chairman, obviously, there are domestic issues, but nonetheless, there are options that employed the authorities, as we all work together, as we did last weekend with the program -- credible, but still unconfirmed threat. short-term extensions make

planning more difficult than do long term extensions. that is pretty straightforward. beyond that, i will commit to providing the same -- the full story. >> thank you very much. you both expressed concerns about the rising recidivism rate of guantanamo bay detainees, it did administration it is sticking with its policy to close guantanamo bay, and refuses to send newly captured terrorists there. does it make sense to foreclose the option, and what can the intelligence community do to stop the recidivism rate from going up? >> well, sir, as you know, the

administration policy expressed in an executive or the president obama signed almost tunisia after taking office was -- that president obama signed almost immediately after taking office was a commitment to close guantanamo bay, not the least of which was due to the assembled at guantanamo bay has become. what we have tried to do is treat each case on a case-by- case basis, depending on the circumstance of capture, the importance of it, is there sufficient evidence for prosecution, etc. in the end, this is not really an intelligence issue. i think our concern is the ability to interrogate and glean information from these detainees, regardless of whether there are incarcerated, and regardless of whether they

are tended to through a military commission or a civil courts system. so, our interest, and my interest, and whether they are mirandize or not, it is getting intelligence from them. you're quite right about the recidivism rate. it is on the order of 27%. there are some 161 -- there have been 599 detainees that have been repatriated from guantanamo bay. when 61 of them are either confirm, whirs -- 161 of the are either confirmed or expected to be recidivists, and i should tell you that they have been taken off of the battlefield. that is a concern. what they can do to stem the recidivism rate is to ensure that in the inter-agency deliberations that are

conducted, to make judgments about whether or not to repatriate someone, and where, is to make sure we get provided the maximum, connecticut, and current information on the contest -- accurate, and current information on the potential threat posed. >> i will second the director's comments on guantanamo bay, but i want to note as well that as a commander even before the administration took office, based on my sense of the situation and the central commander responsibility, i called for the responsible closure of guantanamo bay, as you will recall, and as we discussed in previous days. that has obviously proven difficult to do, but it is something that, again, over

time, and now executive and legislative branches are seeking to come to grips with. with respect to the recidivism rate, again, very careful analysis has to be done as to the countries in which the detainees might be returned, and i can assure you the agencies will conduct forthright analysis, and the ability of the countries to safely and he mainly keep these individuals behind bars if there is a requirement, 02 -- humanely keep these individuals behind bars, or to oversee. >> i will give you two wishes to stay within the five minutes. my first will be about space-bar at our national security depends on -- space. our national security depends

on space. it deals with a lot of issues. i am concerned with an over- reaching plan for space and for launch. the problem associated with the cancellation of nasa's consolation program have gone through the industry.h the industry. the good news is our corporate sector has responded with competitive ideas. i've said this many times. our current capabilities, although extremely reliable, are too expensive. i a big concerns -- i have big concerns. the largest u.s. satellite owners and operators -- i recently had a conversation -- they're not using u.s.- services, and the reason is it does not maintain a reliable schedule. i know a program that i have followed for years that is very important to the security of our

country -- it took them one year after it was ready to go to launch. that is not acceptable. we need to stimulate our commercial launch industry to ensure there are no barriers to competition. now, this same, major, u.s. owner, manufacturer, they used launch program facilities with france, russia, and india, not the united states, because of cost and schedule. my first issue is, when we're dealing with russia, or we have to launch in another country, especially russia, and i believe a lot of these countries, including china, who is going to the moon, what are we going to do to assure we have no barriers to competition, the cost of the launch, and the system itself? people ask me on the intelligence committee -- we all know that we hear threats and dishes all over the world --

what keeps you up at night. the two areas that concern me most are weapons of mass destruction and where we are protecting our country from cyber attacks. in my opinion, we will have a catastrophic cyber attack. we need to do more, and it needs to start at the top, and i mean with the president. we need a cyber bizarre. we have an individual right now who is not doing a bad job but does not have the authority or the staff. i think we need to create a system of education. i think they are doing their job. now that is the second issue. where do you feel we are with respect to cyber? what would you recommend to make sure we are stronger and better system to protect our country from cyber attacks? >> very quickly, first, i agree

with you about the importance of space, and protecting and preserving, and in advancing the industrial base. having an alternative source of launches quite critical, and as soon as we can get a second, where an alternative launch capability -- or an alternative launch capability that we are confident -- confident we can certify, and all for that. are technical means is ever crucial from an intelligence standpoint, particularly as we look to some of the other threats we confront. nation stands, where there is extensive denied -- nation states, where there is extensive and denied excess. with your second concern on cyber terrorism, we have had discussions on what keeps me up at night, and it is the things that we do not know.

certainly, the nexus, and i think director petraeus alluded to this, is the nexus of wmd and terrorism is a huge concern. with several concerns, -- cyber concerns, key among that is the national security agency. this is where the department of homeland security has an important role to play, interlocking with civilian infrastructure, engage in them, helping to educate them, and involving them in solutions. the intelligence community responsibility is to ensure as much of this is available on an unclassified basis as we possibly can. >> thank you very much.

i think mr. tom lee, mr. conrad, -- conway, mr. conrad -- we are alternating sites. the next one will be congressman blunt. >> thank you, chairman. i am glad to be back in the room with attali said i serve with -- i am glad to be back in the room with many colleagues that i served with in the house. i want to say bad -- that i think there has been real progress said to me, and least, has appeared in the last year to be significant in terms of coordinating the intelligence community. i wondered a number of times over the handful of years between the time we created the dni, and you taking this position one year ago, whether

this was a system that would work or not, but it does seem to me that it has come together, and i listened carefully to what chairman rogers questioned and commented about about how we can make that happen, and certainly the cord and nation shows what can happen when the intelligence community and defense department can work together. the agency as a big presence in missouri and the cia special forces have worked together, and my hope is that this community is becoming what we all hoped it would be, whenever the dni's job was created. one of the things i want to ask about, and i think i will have an answer on this later it is of you, director clapper. one of the things the

intelligence reform and terrorist act did was allow dni authority over infrastructure i.t. if you could briefly respond to that. are we looking at a unified area that would be a location outside of washington? i know there was an area that as been in the process for a long time, but that seems to be winning there. just a quick answer, then i have one or two other questions. >> thank you. i appreciate the mention of nga. i have the honor of serving as its director for almost five years. i want to recognize the fact that even with the new campus there are about to open up, almost completely in the next

couple of weeks, a very important contingent remains until the will locations in missouri. -- remains in two locations in missouri. as we approached the inevitability of budget cuts in the intelligence community, i think this is the area of greatest potential for efficiencies and a reduction in the amount of funding we now spend on i.t. we are very deeply engaged in an approach to a more unitary architecture across the intelligence community, and, frankly, it is something we've talked about for years, but now we are running out of money, so we are in think mode. that is serving as the stimulus, if you will, to do more creative things. i think this will do wonders in terms of saving money, efficiency, and promoting

integration. >> i do, too, so let's go to that topic. since we are talking about budget cuts, i will let you close to discuss how that will impact 2, how you prioritize those things, and maybe you just gave -- impact you, how you prioritize those things, and maybe just gave part of the answer, producing a better results with less money, but some of the things we do we cannot do with less money. >> let me start, and i'm sure director petraeus will have some comments here, too. i was around in the early 1990's, as serving as the director of the defense intelligence men. -- then. we went on a seven-year down slocan intelligence resources, which came to a screeching halt at 9/11, and we went on a sudden

upswing. now we are in another cycle of production. the first comment i would make, and this gets to dni. in the last 10 years, whether it was the dci or dni, all we had to do was presiding over handing out more money to more people every year, and that encompassed the entire existence of the office of the director of national intelligence. now, we are in a different mode. i do this as a litmus test for this office to preside over these inevitable cuts we're going to have to make. profit from the experience of the early-1990's, and not do some of the things we did then. everything we do in intelligence is not of equal merit. some things are more valuable than others, particularly as we look to the future. i think it is important to protect the valuable, and most

valuable resource we have -- our people. we must continue some way of hiring every year, which we did not do in many cases during the seven-year hiatus. we must sustain healthy research and development for the future, and i think we have that is kind of the approach we will take. i have engaged with the program managers because it does have to be a corporate thing. but i am confident that we can come through this without a great deal of harm. you make a good point. we're going to sustain all the capabilities we have. >> i would love to hear from you. i am pleased to see you here

today in this job. >> thank you, senator. the court nation is better within the agency itself -- the coordination is better. it is better within government. i think that there is a better approach in terms of sharing and supporting your efforts to provide the oversight that is also an important function. the key is protecting core capabilities. we're working hard to stay riveted on the counter terrorist fight and to balance that and to not lose sight of the global mission. we were able to reestablish a number of different bases in the global coverage mission.

we have to evaluate the future in that regard. we have had 10 years of steady increases. now we have to tighten our belts. we think we can achieve some savings. we cannot return to the kind of period that we had during the peace dividend days where we're not hiring or we were cutting. we have to protect our most important resource, our people. we need to continue to hire so there is a continued addition to the work force and that youth is continue to be brought in. we have to continue to invest and make our work meaningful and important so the best and it.ghtest will stay with t >> thank you, senator.

we are going to go in order of arrival. conaway. be, mr. conaway. >> thank you for coming this morning. you mentioned two spheres of emphasis. senator blunt started on this a little beit. we have decision makers that have accurate data and try to get this as efficiently as we can. what is the expectation that you have communicated to the 15 agencies -- we have financial

statements across the board. give us your thoughts on that. general petraeus, to mr. thoughts -- give us your thoughts about the importance of getting this systems in place. this is about the day in and day out work that has to get done across the system to provide the right kind of data at the right time. >> right now our stated objective is to be at fully -- by 2016. we need legislation on the treasury funds balance provision. and then -- thereby making us

less reliant on certain systems that are not audible. there is language in the house appropriations committee bill that would preclude that'. their fear is some doubt that is part of my conspiracy to separate -- they are separate and distinct endeavors. regardless of how the nip is managed. to have that treasury funds balance provision enacted into law. >> it is early in my time on this topic. we're doing reasonably well and on the right trajectory. you have my commitment to getting the systems in place.

>> i appreciate that. we have been at this on the department of defense side as well. leon panetta left and we still maintain the same kind of emphasis. i appreciate your commitment to that. help us to understand that the resources needed to make this happen -- somebody has to break the tie among these folks. can you put a team in place to break the tie? do you have the authority? >> i do, sir. so far, nobody is questioning it. i believe that we have assembled the right group. prime among them is the cia and nsa to lead this effort and come

up with a more integrated enterprise architecture for across the board in the intelligence committee. the potential for savings here are huge. >> i would say that from the agency perspective, there's no question the dni is in the lead on this. the cia has provided the session deputy director who is quite good in this director with a good team to be part of that effort and to work it as a team. >> one of my early hearings, the team brought over the nip illustrated in the charts. they had countries that were listed and a variety of initiatives and was nicely done so as to how it would be spent

across the deal. can you tell us if that is exactly what happened? they said, no, we cannot. one benefit is that on the front end, we planned to spend in a variety of areas, that is actually what happened. getting your commitment is helpful. >> i can attest that this is a challenge to watch execution. we simply don't have the tools in order to watch how the money is being spent after it has been programmed. that is another objective here. i appreciate your support. >> thank you. >> i want to thank the chairman and the ranking members for this open hearing. we can see already how useful

these open hearings are and i hope we will continue to have open hearings. this is good for our security and our democracy. i want to associate myself with chairman feinstein's comments. i want to congratulate president obama for his leadership in the intelligence community for careful work and our navy seals for their courage in making sure that osama bin laden whenever threaten our country again. here is the nature of my concern. and adherence to u.s. core values such as respecting human rights and upholding the rule of law. i will ask a series of questions and hope to do that quickly.

in that traumatic surveillance -- did the u.s. violates its core values in the aftermath of 9/11? there was an article entitled "a key 9/11 legacy." concerns about the approach of using electronic surveillance to find patterns that lead to evidence of terror -- do you agree one legacy of 9/11 is the increase of domestic surveillance? do you believe this level of surveillance is justified? the cia and new york police department have worked close to ogether. they have blurred the line

between domestic and foreign spying. do you believe domestic -- spat has crossed the line? did you leave the intelligence committee relies too heavily on the counter terrorism cooperation of other countries that otherwise violates american values and principles? thank you. >> let me start -- i am sure general petraeus will of commons as well -- will have comments as well. some things that were done in the aftermath of 9/11, and i importance is an thinkf

remember. to i do not think there is "too much domestic surveillance." is transmittede through this country. a lot of this is u.s.-dominated. we go through extraordinary lengths to ensure there are not violations of privacy. this is a concern to me because i am a citizen, too. i care about my own privacy and my own civil liberties. i take this very seriously. as far as the cia involvement, there has been help and there is

an embedded analyst, not anyone from cia. i think that is not a good optic tube cia involved in any city level police department. i think cia is going to address that. an investigation to be asked for. >> if i could start with contractors. we're looking hard at that. we will achieve some savings. our contractors have served alongside our officers. there are blue badgers represented by the blue stars on the wall in the entry to the cia headquarters.

that i published a memo titled "living our values" while in iraq. we also oversaw the development and publication of the army field manual that lays out what is acceptable in interrogation techniques. i don't think anyone in uniform has had more experience than i have, given that i commend both an iraq and afghanistan. we believe in that field manual and believe it is in line with the geneva convention and that the techniques in a worit work.

that will provide my thoughts on that. i will second with the dni said. my sense is that is now time to take the rearview mirror off the bus to look forward, to practice what we have learned and we believe is right and move on in this regard. with respect to the cia support for nypd, there is an adviser there who tries to ensure that there is sharing of information. that is essential and advisable. we're sensitive to privacy and civil laws and there is an ag investigation that i will

continue to follow up on and make sure we're doing the right thing in that case. thank you. >> thank you, madam chairman. we tend to focus oftentimes on iraq, afghanistan. however, often times in the media we fail to pay attention to the problems that are close at home. we are facing challenges what violence at the border. jobalize you've been on the for a week, general petraeus. ulo t both of your thoughts as to the ever escalating violence that we are watching across the border from

us and what if anything this committee should be doing to ensure that our borders are safe and that nothing bad happens, which i think -- the more unrest of the border, the more unlikely the -- what can happen with the mexican cartels and inviting folks from other parts of the world to participate in the mischief. >> you alluded to something that is a great and growing concern to all of us in the intelligence committee and in the ct domain, which is the growth of the homegrown variety of extremists. that is fed by -- motivated by

engaging online with al qaeda and other extremist forms. the reason that is such a critical challenge for us is the homegrown variant often doesn't use a signature which are detectable. this is a great concern to us. this is an endorsement of the need for the involvement of state and local officials, police officials notably. one of my few remaining advisory groups consists of a number of very distinguished senior law enforcement officials from all over the country. i will be in chicago next month.

this is in my second year and i need to push harder, and outreach to the state and local. the other issue you raised is what we're doing with mexico as partners. there are a number of initiatives that we are working with the mexican government which probably would be best discussed in a closed session. we are concerned as they are about the effect on the national security of both of our countries. >> if i could augment that a bit. your question speaks to the issue of global coverage. we should be riveted on the counter terrorism mission. we must continue to prosecute that aggressively.

that is the most immediate threat. we capital-letter will kids in a soccer game and lose sight -- we cannot be like little kids in a soccer game and lose sight of the field. we are talking about other countries besides mexico. there's a good government approach in this regard when it comes to northern command and then southern command -- i am reasonably familiar with this. i'll get into this more as overseas travel commences. that will be high on the list of places to visit. >> i want to reflect similar

comments you have heard from other folks on the path out that thank you both for your service to our country. congratulations, director petraeus on your new role. i yield back, madam chair. >> thank you, madam chair. thank you for your lifetime of service. the 9/11 commission recommended -- should transfer to the defense department. that has not happened. you are in a unique position to comment about whether that should happen. there are some pros and cons. is that something you will push for? do you think the recommendations

of the commission have been overtaken by improve cooperation between cia and the defense department? general clapper, the arabs bspring -- the war in afghanistan, the military efforts have done more to provide a military body blow to the control of al qaeda than anything else. the arab spring has been a body blow to the ideological underpinnings of al qaeda. how will our intelligence approach change? >> thank you very much, congressman. title 10liar equiwith

50.tleand title i am very clear on which is which in any given time. i was comfortable as a geographic calm and commander with the respective roles of the agency and of conventional regular -- the special mission units that were under my operational control in those different situations. the special ops commander, the most recent one testified he did not think there was a need for all these operations to be under the military. that has never been my view when

i was in charge of these different operations. there is more than enough work to go around. we have very good cooperation and that has improved in recent years quite substantially. is an example of that. i'm comfortable with the way this has evolved since those recommendations were made. i think the participants sure that comfort level. with secretary panetta and with the admiral and the new commander and where i am and others in other key positions, this is going to be a very much

a team effort and the court nation has been is essential to some of the past successes will be augmented and improved in the months and years ahead. >> i think there is great strength in having capability residents in both places to give the president as many arrows in his quiver as possible. we've done some introspection on the arab spring. i have some pretty direct guidance from the president on that. what it has shown -- it has served to marginalize the al qaeda message. al qaeda is trying to catch the train after it left the station. this is not consistent with al

qaeda -- with what al qaeda has advocated. it has reinforced something we knew -- the importance of paying attention to social media and when a barometer a candidate for the sentiment of people in the streets. it is yet another capability in our arsenal to understand what is going on. it will not enable us to predict future events. here's a certain amount of -- remember the distinction between mysteries and secrets. secrets are kind of noble, and mysteries are not. >> thank you very much.

>> mr. thompson. >> thank you. >> excuse me. i made a mistake. senator udall is next. >> i am happy to yield. >> you mean mr. thompson. follow -- >> you are being very gracious. thank you for being here today. i would like to know, general clapper, how we're doing in regard to the guidelines that you have set forth in regard to the gao working with the

intelligence community when that is appropriate. this committee and congress has taken a keen interest in making sure that we have this corporation. you have had some experience with this in regard to the reform efforts and the security clearance issue. i would like to know how we're doing in that regard, what sort of progress we're making. >> we did have some intense but professional and cordial discussions with the general accounting office and we arrived at what i believe is a good compromise document, which is fairly general as those things tend to be. what we agree to is, let's try

this out and develop sort of a body of law and see if we have issues that we cannot work out. we have not had any issues. i've had a lot of experience with the general accounting office, most notably under the clarence reform and where i believe the gao performed a very useful service by keeping after us and keeping us honest on sustaining the momentum and the pressure to bring about clarence reform which is still ongoing -- earanceg about claren reform. i would suggest we watch how this unfolds and see what comes

up in a way of studies and investigations the gao wants to do. i pledge to them that we will cooperate. >> thank you. director petraeus, with that tremendous technical successes in this fight against terrorism. i'm interested in the strategic successes and whether or not we're devoting enough resources and we have the information that we need to strategically go after this issue. do we know and do have the resources to fully understand the root causes, the

motivations, and the goals of the folks who are trying to do less harm? if not, what do we need to be doing differently? i think it is an important part of the overall fight against terrorism. >> that is a hugely important part. the tactical level successes have been important. when you kill a solid bin laden, that has strategic significance -- when you kill osama bin laden, that has strategic significance. someone is willing to blow themselves up for an extremist cause. there still is an attraction out there among some elements of a global society to what osama bin laden was espousing, and that is

a huge concern. understanding the root causes and what motivates individuals to do this is very important. we have put a lot of effort into that in the intelligence committee. some of these are greater problems of society, lack of education and lack of opportunity, jobs anad sd so fo. there require whole government responses were -- they require a whole government responses. this broader area of the information has potential. this is not just something that can be handled with public affairs efforts. it requires in many cases real reforms within society's so that

extremists are discredited. the fact that the arab spring has resulted in changes to these long regimes and that came about because of the people, because of the popular movement and not because of the violence and extremism that osama bin laden said it was necessary to change the regimes. that narrative has been discredited in that sense. there are other elements that was some individuals still ring true. how do you help the governments of these countries deal with that?

>> two comments only i would like to make. i would like to ignores the tremendous work -- this is a tribute to the intelligence communication that has been expanded since the terrible events of 10 years ago. we have to be right every time. our enemies only have to be right 1 timone time. good to see you here, general petraeus. i still am a strong opponent of intense interrogation. if we are focused on the goal of winning hearts and minds, this

undercuts our capacity to do so. >> let me respond. i have been very clear. again, it was on my watch to develop the army field manual that now governs how interrogations' are conducted. i've overseeing the detention operation. we adhere to the army field manual. we just said we will fall the geneva convention period. and then beyond that, the army field manual techniques do work. i do not want there to be any implication.

and the agency does not to interrogations' at this point anyway, nor have detainees.l >> your record has been sterling. let me ask a simple question. 10 years have passed since 9/11. do you believe al qaeda will exist 10 years from now? director coppelapper. qaeda att believe al 10 years from now wilexist in te form it does today and in the form it was in 10 years ago. the so-called franchises we have talked about i think will probably be a threat to us. a setter, there

could be of the chapters of those -- etc. we have achieved dramatic successes in damaging core al qaeda. the notion of franchises will be with us for some time. >> i would agree with that. i would say extremist groups at large will exist. perhaps some as they are now. not all extremist groups are islamic extremist groups. there are a variety of others. on sure there will be movements out they're motivated by a variety of different objectives -- i am sure there will be movements motivated by a variety of different objectives. >> let me jump around in the

time i have remaining. the country has the oversight board, as you know. most agencies have their own officers. can you describe the interagency process? director clapper? >> the -- this is an important aspect. i would first -- closer to home, a function of the civil liberties and privacy officer by what is required -- that

function i have learned in my tenure as dni is extremely important. i attempt to engage -- alex joel, a superb intelligence officer but very mindful of the importance of civil liberties and privacy. i endeavor to engage him as much as i can't along with the general counsel assigned as a part of my office in these important endeavors. we have many overseers. the advisory board, the oversight board, and you all here provide a very detailed and multilayered oversight over the

protection of civil liberties and privacy. one of the functions of this office is to do our reach with the constituent groups, the aclu and groups like that. it is important to maintain an open dialogue with such organizations. we do dialogue and try to be as transparent on this things as we possibly can. >> thank you for that. i count on you to concede to the focus. paraphrase ben franklin. easy to say, a challenge to implement. this is crucial. thank you. >> senator widen.

>> thank you for this important session. i want to ask a couple of questions about intelligence reform. let me start with you, director petraeus. you're the current cia director. have there been instances where you have said frank god there is a -- thank god there is a national counter-terrorism center? can you give some examples since you've had both of these experiences where you looked at specific instances and said, this is a place where intel reform has many big difference. >> this past weekend where we

were working through to confirm the various threats streams. there was a credible threat and it was an important one, and just because of 9/11 but of all the pieces that were coming together. it started with information gathered by individuals. we very quickly -- the ctc within the cia began piecing all this together and open up the dialogue with the ntct. that is how you get into the law enforcement agencies and sherry threw up the rest of the interagencies. i can't say i blurted out, ctc."k god there's an nt

the fbi and others in seeking to get to the bottom of this and to take various actions to alert the law enforcement at the local state and national level. that is a topical example of that. if i could go back to where i was at 9/11. i happen to be at bosnia at the time. i was a one-star general and the deputy commander of a special unit. we had the largest special mission unit deployment in the world. we started doing counter terrorist operation. boston was a bit of a conduit into europe -- bosnia was a bit of a condoduit.

there were mujahedin elements and some ngo's that were facilitating this kind of activity. we established a joint interagency task force for counter-terrorism. we found the information had entered a stovepipe and then we had all the other military intelligence agencies represented there as well. what was good coordination, broke down as one back to washington. since that time, and a large part because of intelligence reform, these talisman of the dni position, those stovepipes have been broken down. there are still some out there and some within my agency

itself. we're working to do that. you have to share responsibly so that we do not have exposure of material to individuals who cannot have a need to know in that case. to share responsibly. still not there. >> those are good examples. director clapper, you were an advocate for intelligence reform. you mentioned some positive examples. can you give me a sense of the big challenges that remain to be tackled in intelligence reform? i think it picks up where director petraeus left off. give me a sense of the big challenge is to remain.

>> we're going to have a big challenge in managing the cuts to intelligence funding. how we do that and still attend to all the responsibilities that have been thrust on the intelligence committee is going to be a huge challenge. my own agenda now is to focus much more on the domestic round. we made a lot of progress in opening up the corporation and flow of information both to state, local, tribal, and private sectors and the other way. there needs to be focused the other way. i will be working closely with the department of homeland security.

this is an area where need to place more emphasis. that whole realm is not as mature because we haven't been doing it as long. that has been a profound change over the past 10 years. there was a fire wall between foreign and domestic. we're working on ways to break that firewall down to and ensure that information is shared responsibly with our domestic partners. >> thank you. >> the big challenge is to make the existing structures processes and systems work well and work quickly and smoothly. that can only be done by working together. everybody has to work as a team.

timor is not optional in this important area -- teamwork is not optional in this important area. >> thank you. congressman boren. >> thank you both for being here today. director pretorius, congratulations on your new role at cia. i know you'll do a fabulous job. we appreciate all you have done over the past decade for this country. i look forward to watching you progress in the next few weeks and months. i do have a question about our foreign language capabilities. one of the united states' greatest weaknesses is in collecting intelligence around the world. we have a small cadre of intelligence professionals to

access-denied areas and blended as locals. we don't have enough people that have that kind of expertise. what has the intelligence community learned about penetrating terrorist groups over the past decade that we made sufficient strides in developing foreign language capability? and have we seen any improvement in our ability to collect intelligence as a result? >> the short answer is yes, we have. there have been tremendous strides made in penetration in general. i think, though, that details on that are probably best left to a

closed session. have been many successes in many new techniques that did not exist 10 years ago that we have developed and refined. line which will continue to be a challenge for us -- language will continue to be a challenge for us. director panetta has set a pretty high bar for language training. across the board, it has been a challenge developing native level fluency among natural born americans. it is just a challenge. these exotic languages that you find in the mideast that we must have proficiency in.

it was much easier for us to raise and have a country of qualified linguists in russian and eastern european languages. those come to our people much easier. this is going to be a challenge. this is something we're working at and will continue to do so. we're probably not where 1 todae we want to be. >> director panetta did establish ambitious goals for by 2015. the agency is generally on trajectory to achieve those. we do need to do more. i would be happy to provide for the record with those goals are.

there has been improvement. we need to do more. diversity in terms of recruiting is essential. we're working to of people that can operate in countries and cultures that are different from our own and to do so successfully. there have been some very important improvements in terms of penetration of various groups and i would be happy to provide that in a closed session. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank you, madam chairman. thank you. we have heard about information sharing. i've worked as an emergency planner.

in your september 7 opinion piece, you talk about changing the culture from one of need to know to responsibility to share. the nctc has improved but we a scene the growth of fusion centers. there have been some high- profile failures. it seems clear that information to not get outside the stovepipe or the seller of excellence -- or the cylinder of excellence. what more is needed to achieve that seamless information sharing will try to attain? how do you ensure the role of the dni is seen as a value added and not just another layer of bureaucracy? >> excellent question and very relevant and pertinent and at

the center of what i worry about in this job. i think in the minds of many, there is -- it is as though there was a symbol of aggression or formula that could be -- that can be applied so that the matter of automoticity, we can disseminate without regard to protection of sources and methods. there is a classic balance between scaring on one hand and security on the other. and this is a case of developing kind of a body of law in practice and we're getting better and better at it. the fusion centers are a great

step forward and something that did not exist 10 years ago. some are much better than others. i visited some that are extremely capable. information is shared quickly with state and local officials. something i want to work on in the second year of my tenure is improving that domestic intelligence enterprise. i have had that request made by many states and local officials and chiefs of police and others that have said we need this. i'm going to take that on and see what we can do to improve on

sharing. but there is no silver bullet. this is something we have to work on. which he leaks -- which he leikileaks and scaring and too much scaring and too much ubiquitous dissemination -- and much sharing and too and more people are monitoring and downloading. this is part of the balance. if this was a simple proposition of some mathematical algorithm, this is a lot more complex than that. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. i want to welcome general

petraeus and now director petraeus and thank you for your great service. i've had a chance to work with both of you over the years. one of the hard things in intelligence is sometimes we have the information, but we did not act upon it or doesn't get to the right people. this may have been asked. i would like to go to this question. the nctc has improved counter- terrorism information, there have been some high-profile failures. the fbi and the department of defense knew about major nidal hasan before opened fire at an army base in fort hood in november. similar figures with a more farouk abdulla -- similar

failures with the underwear bomber. information did not get to the right people to prevent the attacks. how do we improve that? i didn't expect us to be perfection. it's like 9/11. we had information about these people being trained. it came to the fbi and the fbi did not act on that. what you are trying to do to make sure that we do have the information, it gets to the counterterrorism center and somebody acts on it. >> you learned in intelligence school early on -- there is intelligence failure or success. i would say that the intelligence community like the

adversary has to be and it's a learning organization. in the case of the christmas bomber, the committee did an outstanding piece of critique for us. lessons learned from that experience, we need to do to improve. one of the things that has been done to hopefully preclude a similar experience has been the availability of more information that could possibly shed light on a potential terrorist travel. so travel records, immigration records -- >> this hearing continues and you can't follow what live online. fallout online at c-span.org -- follette online at c-span.org. or go to art video library -- or

go to our video library. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our guest chaplain today, reverend leroy adams jr. a morning star baptist church, omaha, nebraska. the chaplain: our god, we come with gratitude for another day and with thanksgiving in our hearts, for the privilege of life and opportunity to make this day purposeful. we ask for your blessings in

this legislative body as they govern the welfare of all people of this great nation. endow them with wisdom, courage and conviction, to engage the issues of our day and for the generation to come to be better off as a result of all decisions made within this assembly hall. finally, i pray to you that a spirit of cooperation and sincerity would transcend our nation to have solidarity, peace and equality for all. we ask this to be done this day and in the days to come, to give glory and honor, our god and we pray that your blessings be upon us always, in your name we pray, amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1,

the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from ohio, mr. johnson. mr. johnson: join with me, please. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman from nebraska, mr. terry, is recognized for one minute. mr. terry: unanimous consent to revise and extend. mr. speaker, i'm honored to recognize our guest chaplain, my fellow nebraskan and friend, reverend dr. leroy adams jr., who has served as the senior pastor of ome's morning star baptist church since september of 1999. prior to serving in omaha, reverend adams' ministry spanned more than a decade in oklahoma

and includes serving as the pastor in stuttgart, germany, for two years. reverend adams has earned his bachelor, masters and doctor al degrees and he is a graduate of the harvard divinity school's leadership institute. he has made his country a priority, he is an eight-year veteran, having served honorably in the united states army. he has made our omaha community a priority, particularly the more vulnerable citizens, our youth and our seniors. when youth violence arose in our community, it was dr. reverend adams who reached out to other pastors in north omaha to unify efforts and message against the

violence in our neighborhoods. he has reached out to help our seniors who needed housing. reverend adams is nationally known as a wonderful preacher, a great teacher, an irreplaceable pillar in our community and a friend to many. he is blessed by his two children, leroy and maria, and omaha is in turn blessed by this minister and his family. may god continue to bless his life, his family, his ministry for years to come. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair will entertain up to 15 further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york rise? the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. maloney: mr. speaker, data

from the bureau labor of statistics shows that while 14 million americans are looking for work, there are only three million job openings. this means that if every single job was filled outright there would still be 11 million americans unemployed and looking for work. passing the president's jobs bill will help these people and help our overall economy. according to mark zandi, moody's economist, the president's plan would add two percentage points to the g.d.p. growth next year, add 1.9 million jobs by next year and cut the unemployment rate by one percentage point next year. published reports indicate that economists across this country are giving the president's plan a thumbs up. this is a clear chance for all of us to say yes. yes to growth, yes to a middle

class tax cut and most importantly yes to jobs. and our overall economy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: jeament yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from south carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, last thursday the president addressed a joint session of congress in order to describe his second stimulus. this proposal would create $447 billion in new spending being paid for by tax increase -- increases. house republicans remain committed to working together in order to create job growth and promote an environment that allows for small businesses to hire workers. sadly the administration's proposal pushes new taxes on small businesses which would create an vishe that destroys jobs -- an environment that destroys jobs. the president was previously correct saying, quote, you do not raise taxes in a recession. end of quote.

raising taxes destroys jobs. the administration's last stimulus added $814 billion to our debt. more importantly it failed to accomplish the goal of keeping unemployment below 18%. with currently 14 million people unemployed and 25 million who want a full time job and do not have one, the house republicans have passed numerous bills to create jobs. house republicans have shown their commitment to jumpstarting the ability of small businesses to create jobs. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york rise? >> ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from new york is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i come from a part of this country where my constituents are real down to earth people. commonsense people. who want a good education for our kids, who want medicare and social security for our seniors and who want the buffalo bills

to continue their winning streak. but more than anything, we want to get our people back to work. our kids who thought a college education was a ticket to a good job. ms. hochul: for our veterans who stepped out of line to go fight and protect us, who now find themselves in the unemployment line. and for middle managers who thought they were set for life until the day the pink slip showed up on their desk, turned their lives upside down. we all know we have to get this country back to work, we need to pass the american jobs act to do just that. just 24 hours ago democrats and republicans stood shoulder to shoulder on the steps of this capitol united in remembrance of 10 years ago, the ninth anniversary of 9/11. why can't we stand together again and do what's right for the american people? democrats and republicans shoulder to shoulder, if we get

the job done here people out there will get jobs. thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from tennessee is recognize fod for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i come to to the floor this morning to discuss the needs to create jobs. my priority since i arrived here in january. last thursday the president addressed congress about his proposal to create jobs and move this country forward. we must do better. recently i introduced two bills that are my proposals to help spur job creation. i deprooed the america's energy independence act which would prevent the e.p.a. from enforcing its cross-state pollution rule for 10 years, to keep the flow of electricity high and the cost of electricity for america's families low. the president recognized that the e.p.a.'s new smog standards would lead to job losses but he played politics and only rescind the standards until right after the election. i also introduced the invest in america act which would spend the capital gains tax for 10 years, providing more certainty

to families who are being penalized for selling their homes, their investments and farms. mr. fincher: instead of spending money we don't have on initiatives that don't work, these bills provide actual help to americans. so they can get back to the business of making america great. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from maryland rise? without objection, the gentlelady from maryland is recognized for one minute. ms. edwards: thank you, mr. speaker. just as john paul stevens warned that the supreme court's ruling in citizens united threatened to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation. how right he was. since the court's decision last january corporate special interests have had unprecedented freedom to spend on our elections. in fact, campaign spending by outside groups surged to more than $300 million in the 2010 election cycle and are already off the charts for this cycle. likewise state laws that limited corporate bank rolling of candidates have been struck

down. look, mr. speaker, we have unprecedented challenges in front of us, but how do we make the tough choices on the economy, on taxes, on protecting the vulnerable and investing in the future and creating jobs? we can't stand idly by while deeply flawed interpretations of the constitution are used to obstruct our democracy rather than guiding it. putting lobbyists and piles of cash into policy and elections. it's time for the people's house to stop the madness and so this week i join with house judiciary committee ranking member conyers to reintroduce a constitutional amendment, house joint resolution 78, to reclaim congress and to regulate corporate expenditures. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas rise? without objection, the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of h.r. 2218, the empowering parents through quality charter schools act. this bill strikes close to home for me in my district in

arkansas, where one charter school program, the knowledge is power program, or kib, as it's called, has had a profound impact on the lives of its students and families, in one of the poorest cities in america. it has instituted a charter school that empowers students from high poverty communities to develop the character, knowledge and skills necessary to follow their dreams and more importantly learn to value a life in pursuit of knowledge and truth. kipp student goes above and beyond what is required and for that our country is a better place. mr. crawford: they have their teachers and parents to thank. they're all accessible and committed to their education and well-being. the approach shows that high standards overcome the obstacles created by socioeconomics and circumstances as evidenced by the first graduates class, 100% of which now attend college and the establishment of a new kipp school in arkansas. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to pass this bill so children and their families all across the country have the opportunity to empower their own

lives, their families and their communities. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? without objection, the gentleman from recognize is recognized for one minute. mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, president obama has offered the american jobs act, a clear path forward to putting our country back to work, helping small businesses succeed in hire and providing tax relief for our workers and rebuilding america. the emphasis of the plan is immediate action that will preserve and create jobs now. it will put money into the pockets of working americans now and will give business job creating tax breaks now. it will provide a boost to the economy that we need now. mr. speaker, it's time for democrats and republicans to work together and with our president to put the country back to work. the american people literally can't afford to wait a single day more. it's time to pass the americans jobs act now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the

gentleman from illinois rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. in these dire financial times, government must identify what works and what doesn't. even when it comes to sex education for our kids. the c.d.c. released a fascinating study this year that found that 2/3 of teens age 15 to 17 are abstaining from sex. in fact 70% of parents support abstinence until marriage for their teens. mr. hultgren: but under this administration we've seen a troubling 16-1 funding disparity between contraceptive-centered education and avoidance education. last week i filed a bill to restore fairness to the funding and direct it instead to programs which give our kids the facts about contraception without distorting them. i'm a dad to four great kids. i have a 15-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son who may in fact be watching right now. nothing is more important to me than seeing them make

responsible choices. i have every confidence that they will. now i'm just hoping the house and senate will do the same. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? without objection, the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. >> we are in a time of national economic crisis. there are 14 million americans without a job. there are another 12 million who wish they could work. but have given up looking altogether. ms. chu: that's why last week president obama presented congress with an urgent proposal to create jobs and fix the economy. republican economist mark zandi declared the president's plan would keep the u.s. from sliding back into the recession, add two points to the g.d.p. and add 1.9 million jobs. this plan is based on bipartisan proposals and it won't add a dime to the deficit.

after nine months of taking over the house, republicans have not presented a single jobs bill. it's well past time for them to put politics aside and come together with democrats to put the country back to work. with so many people suffering, we must act and we must act now. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from mississippi is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, mississippi is a great place to live, work, and raise a family, and i want to keep it that way. mississippi is a proud right to work state. my state has attracted and continues to attract high-tech economic development projects and advanced manufacturing facilities. at a time when more than 14 million workers are unemployed, we must do everything possible to remove government barriers to job creation and economic growth. as south carolina knows too well, the national labor relations board is stifling job creation in their federal

intrusion must be retrained. mr. palazzo: the protecting jobs from government interference act will prohibit the nlrb from dictating where a private sector employee could locate. this is good for job seekers as well as job creators. without restraint, all states, especially right to work states like my mississippi, will be negatively impacted. we'd like to work in mississippi and we like jobs, and we want more of them, not less. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? >> ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from texas is recognized for one minute. mrs. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of president obama's american jobs act. as a senior member of the house transportation and infrastructure committee, i'm especially glad to see that the president has maintained his unwavering commitment to modernizing america's infrastructure. our roads, bridges, highways,

and strit system, and support millions of jobs throughout the country that are crucial to strengthonning our economy. the -- strengthening our economy. the establishment of a infrastructure bank is a bipartisan proposal that i have been a strong proponent for many years, more recently i have learned my senior senators also are very supportive. this bank would leverage private and capital funds to invest in infrastructure projects of a national significance. its public and private partner -- it's public and private partnerships like this that make our country succeed and we need more of them. i urge all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan measure. god bless the troops. god bless america. and god bless the members of the people's house to rise above bipartisanism and be bipartisan and addressing the people's problems.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, on august 14, keystone little league from clinton county, pennsylvania, won the little league mid-atlantic region title. this win secured them a place in the little league world series tournament. a special group of young men made up the keystone team. it wasn't just a talented pennsylvania team making it to a world series or the fact they were the first clinton county team to make the world series since 1949, but that for weeks these boys were perhaps the biggest story in the world of sports. while some exceptional teams often hitch a success to one or two earl live developing kids, it was their teamwork, sportsman ship, and character that served to rally the entire state around them creating record breaking crowds as we watched our historic run for the world championship. this team more than any other held their own against national competition winning three of five games during the

tournament. in the end keystone left the season with something more than a regional title. they left with a legacy that will be remembered generations from now. i want to congratulation the whole team. the coaches and the dedicated parents who helped make this season one for the record books. congratulations, keystone. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from minnesota is recognized for one minute. mr. ellison: mr. speaker, today members of the progressive caucus stood up and displayed a videotape in which the jobs tour that we went on this summer was revealed. we showed the cities where people, americans of all descriptions, stood up and said, we need jobs. good jobs now. americans from detroit to oakland, minneapolis, miami, all over this country we went to go talk to them face to face and they told us what they wanted. they did their part by coming to

tell us what they wanted. now it's time for us to do our part as congress. members of the progressive caucus will and are and already have introduced legislation dealing with good jobs and good jobs now, infrastructure, education, fair trade. things like this. manufacturing. we are going to be forcing this agenda. it's what the american people expect. what they demand. and anyone who does not stand with us on this jobs agenda will be revealed to be not a friend of the american worker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? without objection, the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. last week the president came in this house and made an historic address to a joint session about the american jobs act. there were things in his proposal that i felt real good about and some that i felt not so good about, but i'm going to support the president because our country needs jobs. the people in my district need jobs.

this is the way to provide jobs. you don't provide jobs by putting off e.p.a. regulations that cost $350,000 lives, by causing people who have breathing difficulties, asthma, two friends of mine who had lung cancer and lost a lung or fybromyalgia and may lose their life without a transplant and put them jeopardy with losing their lives. you create jobs by using summer work programs and tax breaks for small business, and that's been offered. i hope we can come together in a bipartisan way. i watched the republican debate last night and one of the candidates suggested it was the obama depression. my god, i can't believe people are doing that. we just saw 9/11 and thought of the horrors. and the war in iraq unfunded and afghanistan have caused this bush recession. i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii rise?

>> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from hawaii is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we have been talking about jobs. and we have been talking about our economy and how jobs relate to that. ms. hanabusa: we must remember one thing. we are all workers. so, mr. speaker, one of the things that's very troubling is the fact that we don't seem to have a grasp on what the national labor relations board is and that's evidenced by h.r. 2587. what the national labor relations board does is simply enforces the rights of workers. we are a great economy. we are a great country because we recognize that we are all workers. and that as workers we have rights to be protected. and one of the rights is to act in a concerted manner. that's what this is all about. it protects people's rights to act together if they so wish. what's wrong with that? that's what makes us the united states of america. that's what makes us the

greatest economy in the world. and that's what makes us a country that understands that in order to be the great economy, we must never forget the workers. we must never forget their rights. and we must always protect it. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from wisconsin rise? ms. moore: i'd like one minute to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from wisconsin is recognized for one minute. ms. moore: thank you. mr. speaker, the president has sent us the american jobs act, a plan to put the country back to work while it makes investments in our struggling economy. this bill would modernize and rehabilitate 30,000 public schools, establish the desperately needed infrastructure bank, pump $50 billion into our aging roads,

bridges, railroads and airports. in fact, we have 71,000 structurally deficient bridges in this country. we are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to modern railways, roads, and schools. and this bill, this bill is of critical importance to my district. of the nation's cities, milwaukee has the second largest percentage of its work force in the manufacturing sector. passing this bill means jobs for my constituents, making support beams for bridges. manufacturing tools. building engines. putting together construction equipment. designing, reducing computers for airports. trucking, rail, and poor transportation, and, yes, it even means making bacon and eggs at the local diner to support these workers. mr. speaker, let's put america back to work. pass the american jobs act and pass it now. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from georgia is recognized for one minute. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to talk about jobs today. the republicans have taken us through a no jobs winter agenda. a no jobs spring agenda. a no jobs summer agenda. and now we are about to enter fall. now, everybody is talking about jobs, but they are not really doing anything other than blaming the president. it's been 250 days since republicans have had the control of this body. not one single jobs bill has passed. yesterday the president gave us a specific plan and -- but we have already heard from some colleagues on the other side of the aisle that they will not be in support of it.

is this a part of their no fall, no jobs agenda for the fall? looks like it. it's certainly not leadership and it's not governance. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? ms. lee: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from california is recognized for one minute. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. today as the census bureau came out with new numbers on poverty in america. in 2010, 15.1% or 46.1 million americans lived in poverty. this is up from 14.3%, or 43.6 million americans in 2009. 2.6 million more americans fell into the ranks of the poor. 2.3% of americans, their incomes fell. and this trend really does carry long-term and short-term

consequences for our children, our families, and for our national and for our economic security. and mind you, these are not people in democratic districts only. these are individuals who live in republican districts and republican tea party districts, in independent districts. these are people who live all over the country. this summer the congressional black caucus and progressive caucus went out and we listened to people, we helped find jobs for people, and i tell you the stories that we heard were quite depressing, mind you, but also reminded us of the job that we had to do. we heard, and i want to tell you one story, of children now who are taking care of their parents because their parents lost a job. and these children are working on minimum wage jobs, for instance, at mcdonald's. this is a moral outrage. we've got to pass the america jobs act.

until we create jobs, and there are four individuals who want jobs, we need to pass h.r. 589 which would extend unemployment benefits for those who have hit the 99 wall. that's the least we can do until we create these jobs. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 2887. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 2887, a bill to provide an extension of surface and air transportation programs, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from florida, mr. mica, and the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida. mr. mica: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on h.r.

2887. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mica: thank you. i will reference a letter by mr. camp, mr. speaker, and a response by mr. -- myself, mr. mica. mr. speaker, thank you, and i would like to yield myself as much time as i may consume. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mica: thank you. mr. speaker, we're here today to extend once again authorization for the federal aviation administration and for our nation's transportation highway transit programs. mr. speaker, this unfortunately is -- these are extensions that have been piled upon extensions

for both of these programs. and while the legislation before us is important and it signifies a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to move forward, it must not be just a temporary band-aid for our important aviation, highway, rail and safety programs and for future job creation for our nation. to build our nation's infrastructure and to really put people to work we need long-term re-authorizations for these programs. unfortunately this bill is the 22nd f.a.a. extension and the eighth surface transportation extension. congress unfortunately has delayed passing a long-term f.a.a. re-authorization for over

four years. and the surface transportation bill has lagged for some two years. this action today represents a last chance to roll up our sleeves and get transportation projects moving forward in america again. a couple of comments about this legislation, h.r. 2887 is a kleenex tension for the surface transportation -- is a clean extension for the surface transportation program and a clean four-month extension for aviation programs. the extension funding levels are consistent with a full-year continuing appropriations act, our c.r. passed by congress in april of this year. for our surface transportation, the bill authorizes $19.9 billion for highway, $660

billion for highway safety, $5.1 billion for transit for a total of $25.6 billion, now that's just for the six-year period. we did this -- i'm sorry, for the six-month period. while i would like to do a six-year bill, our intention with this action today is to remain firmly committed to the commitment to do a six-year transportation bill. this is a six-month extension. why six months? because our states and our other entities that depend on reliable funding partner must have some certainty. when we did the c.r. which expires in just a few weeks here we were able to extend on the seventh extension our transportation programs until the end of this month.

so we think this is being good stewards and responsible. again, in extending for six months, a period in which there can be some stability in these important transportation projects, and also to make certain that jobs and employment in this area move forward. in july i released a re-authorization proposal, transportation re-authorization proposal. this was an outline and we've been working with our democratic colleagues in a bipartisan fashion since that time to actually craft language which is acceptable to set forth the policy and the funding, the funding schedule. all of the authorization that's so important to keep our nation's infrastructure projects moving forward. so this should give us enough time to complete that process and get that legislation before

us. with unemployment in the construction industry at record high levels, it's imperative that we also provide this time. let me talk about f.a.a. for a minute. this bill does authorize funds through the end of january for f.a.a.. this is the list of extensions of f.a.a. i have the opportunity as the chairman of the aviation subcommittee in 2003 to craft a four-year bill. f.a.a. bill. which expired in 2007. so i helped write the last f.a.a. four-year authorization that expired in 2007. here are the extensions, the democrats controlled the house

of representatives and the senate, here as we start in, when you had the obama administration take over they also controlled the white house, the house and the senate. and we get down to the 17th extension under democrat control and i've agreed to three of them. i said enough is enough and we must move forward with a long-term authorization and i stand before you today and say that while the measures that we took in the last extension for f.a.a. were somewhat extraordinary, this situation demands attention and action for long-term legislation by the united states congress and i'm going to make certain that we do everything to see that people are working in this industry and that we meet our responsibility for setting the policy for one of the most important industries

in the united states, our aviation industry. so this is the history of what's taken place, this is the 22nd extension and i can guarantee it will be the last extension because we must and we will pass a four-year authorization. while there are some issues that remain to be resolved, they continue working in a bipartisan manner, we passed legislation from the house, look forward to working with senator rockefeller and others, kay bailey hutchinson, the ranking republican in the senate, mr. costello, and mr. rahall, together this legislation done. i urge my colleagues to support these two extensions rolled into one, 2887. reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida reserves. the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall, is recognized. mr. rahall: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. rahall: i rise in support of h.r. 2887, the surface and air transportation programs extension act of 2011. in this regard i do commend the senate and the house leadership for arriving at an agreement late friday afternoon on an extension of our nation's surface transportation programs through march 31, 2012, and of programs under the f.a.a. through january 31, 2012, at the current funding levels and without any adverse policy riders. i commend our chairman, mr. mica, subcommittee chair, mr. duncan, on surface and the air subcommittee chair, mr. petri, our ranking subcommittee members, mr. costello, on aviation and mr. defazio on surface. extending these programs is critical to our economic recovery, and the pending measure does so without ending the poison pills of the -- any of the poison pills of the past or draconian cuts to investments in our programs. failure to extends the surface transportation programs could shut down more than 134,000

active highway and bridge projects in over 5,000 active transit projects, jeopardy didsing the jobs of more than one million private sector american jobs over the next year. the funding levels in the pending measure are far more prenchble than what we are seeing being proposed by republicans on the appropriations committee. just last week they wrote out a fiscal year 2012 appropriations transportation bill which proposes to slash highway and transit investment, destroying more than 600,000 good-paying private sector american jobs. jobs that would be lost in every state of the union. i cannot support these dangerous and dra clonian cuts to investments in -- draconian cuts to investments in america's future. to keep pace with our international competitors we need to invest more, not less, in america's future. if we stop investing in the future, there's simply no way we can retire the debt of the past.

it is my hope that with this six-month extension of highway, highway safety and transit programs, we can come together and work to develop a long-term, robust surface transportation authorization bill that keeps the nation economically competitive, meets the demands of the 21st century and creates millions of family-wage american jobs. the pending measure also provides for clear extension in the nation's aviation programs under the f.a.a. our aviation system is slightly more than a month into its recovery from the shock, the shock of a republican-led f.a.a. shutdown for two weeks in july and august. i'm pleased that my republican friends have chosen not to force another shutdown. i trust they recognize the damage that was caused to our nation's aviation system and the financial hardship placed on working class families across the country, when they chose to force a policy rider into an otherwise kleenex tension in july -- clean extension in july and caused a shutdown to major parts of the f.a.a. pendsing enactment of a

long-term bill and i join our chairman in a desire to see such passed this short-term extension is the responsible path forward, it will avert more damage to the aviation system and the economy. with that said, what we should be doing is completing the conference committee on the long-term f.a.a. re-authorization bill. three months ago the house and senate negotiators informally narrowed down the list of differences between the two chambers to just a few. the senate appointed conferees over five months ago, jet house has not -- yet the house has not followed suit. let us finish the long-term re-authorization and show the american people that congress puts plains and passengers before politics -- planes and passengers before politics. i support the pending measure and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from west virginia reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mica: i yield myself one minute to just in response, again, enjoy working with the ranking member, mr. rahall and just wanted to commend on --

comment on his discussion of the f.a.a. shutdown, just for the record, the facts are that the house of representatives in a bipartisan vote passed an f.a.a. extension on july 20, three days prior to the deadline, july 22, 2011. fact, the f.a.a. extension contained reductions in thousand-dollar-plus airline pork subsidies affecting only three airports. the language that we adopted from the senate affected 10 airports within 90 miles. the senate democrats after two weeks of forcing a partial f.a.a. shutdown meekly went to the senate floor and in 71 seconds passed the house extension that was available. and the fact is that only ports -- i grant myself 15 additional

seconds. only port ticket subsidies were excluded. the fact is that the democrats controlled the united states house and senate for four years, letting f.a.a. authorization ex pire in 2007, forcing 17 extensions. even with the presidency, from 2009 until the beginning of this year, were unable to pass f.a.a. legislation. i yield three minutes to the chair of the aviation subcommittee, the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. petri. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for three minutes. mr. petri: i thank the chairman. i rise in support of the bill before us, h.r. 2887, the surface and air transportation programs extension act of 2011. house and senate negotiators have worked for the last five months to resolve the issues between the house and the senate on the long-term f.a.a. re-authorization bill. we were seeking this extension to allow time for us to complete

negotiations on the final multiyear bill. we need to get a long-term f.a.a. bill done so that the agency and airports can more efficiently plan and carry outer programs and projects. the bill before us, h.r. 2887, is a clean four-month extension of the federal aviation administration's taxes and programmatic authorities. the extension will provide resources for the safe operation of the national air space system and for the continued certification services of the federal aviation administration. the bill also authorizes funding for the airport improvement program which together with the surface transportation program extended in the bill authorizes critical funding for important infrastructure construction projects that will help preserve and create much-needed jobs. i also want to express my support for the extension of our surface transportation programs. we must continue to fund

critical highway, bridge and other projects across our country in order to have the transportation network necessary for economic growth and our global competitiveness. the extension we have proposed is a sensible way forward and i join chairman mica in urging my colleagues to support this legislation. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: i yield three minutes to our distinguished subcommittee chairman, ranking member, the gentleman from illinois, mr. costello. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. costello: the legislation is a clean extension of the f.a.a. bill and takes the extension through january 31 of 2012. in february of this year, the senate passed a bipartisan comprehensive f.a.a. re-authorization bill by a vote of 87-8. by contrast in april, the house

approved an extension that was very controversial and it was a bill that was passed on a party-line vote. in fact, the house passed bill passed by the narrowest vote margin for a house f.a.a. authorization bill in almost 30 years. i said at the time that the poison pill provision that was put in the bill by the majority that it would prevent the bill from passing both the house and senate and being signed into law by the president, and in fact the white house said that they would veto the legislation with the poison pill provision. so we knew at that point that the re-authorization bill was not going anywhere. with that provision in the bill. it's been five months since the other body invited the house leadership to appoint conferees and sit down at the table with senate conferees to in fact try and work out an agreement between the house and senate. in july of this year instead of passing a clean f.a.a.

extension, the republican leadership put a poison pill provision in that extension that lead to a shutdown of the f.a.a. for almost two weeks costing the f.a.a. more than $400 million in lost revenue in that two-week period. i'm pleased that the house leadership stepped in, brought a clean extension to the floor today. the american people are tired of all of the games, they are tired of all of the one side blaming the other side. they want reasonable people to come together in this body and in the senate to act reasonably and do the right thing. the senate has appointed their conferees. we should appoint the republican leadership in the house should appoint conferees, and this body immediately -- in this body immediately so we in fact can get a long-term authorization bill. let's stop the games. let's appoint conferees so we can pass a comprehensive re-authorization bill now. with that, mr. speaker, i yield the balance of my time to mr. rahall.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois yields back. the gentleman from west virginia reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mica: yield myself one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mica: again i think it's important that we mass this bipartisan extension. we -- pass this bipartisan extension. we wouldn't be here passing a combination of the transportation, highway transit and f.a.a. extensions if we hadn't taken action that was extraordinary. there was more than sufficient time for the senate to act. again, and i'll submit this as part of the record, the democrats had complete control of the house and senate, and extraordinary majorities, never passed a bill, never appointed conferees. we have only had this responsibility since the beginning of this year, and we will pass a long-term bill and

take whatever action is necessary to do that. today we are moving the process forward. and i applaud leadership on both sides of the aisle, bipartisan -- mr. rahall: i ask chairman mica if he would be willing to yeed. mr. mica: i yield four minutes to the ranking member of our surface transportation subcommittee, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. duncan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for four minutes. mr. duncan: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank chairman mica for yielding me this time and for his and ranking member rahall's outstanding work on this legislation. h.r. 2887 extends the surface transportation programs for another six months from october 1 through march 31 of 2012. and the aviation programs for another four months from october 1 through january 31 of 2012. and funding levels consistent

with the full year continuing resolution passed last april. this extension is considered clean and no policy provisions were added. during this six-month sir fast transportation extension -- surface transportation extension, congress will work hard to pass the committee's six-year surface transportation re-authorization bill. the outline of the committee's proposal was unveiled in june and makes much needed reforms to our federal highway transit, and highway safety programs. the committee's proposal will streamline the project delivery process, consolidate existing programs, and better leverage existing revenues in the highway trust fund. according to the federal highway administration, the project delivery process can take up to 15 years from planning through construction. this is government at its worst. limited financial resources for transportation infrastructure can be more effectively utilized by accelerating the process for project approval.

while project reviews are necessary to help protect the environment, a more reasonable process is essential to maximizing our taxpayer dollars. additionally, the bill consolidates existing programs that are duplicative and do not serve a federal interest. consolidation in our six-year bill, consolidation will help states allocate their federal resources to projects and activities that are the most needed. these programmatic reforms will devolve the decisionmaking authority to state and local authorities, giving state and local people more control over these important projects. if congress moves this landmark piece of legislation before the spring, as we all hope, it will be considered the signature jobs bill that americans have been waiting for this congress to pass. it will create millions of jobs for hardworking americans right here in the united states, not in china or india or other countries. and will leave a lasting legacy of tangible improvements to our

transportation infrastructure in this country. by passing a long-term re-authorization bill, americans will be able to see their tax dollars going towards rebuilding and strengthening our nation's highways, bridges, and transit systems. mr. speaker, i also had the privilege to chair the aviation subcommittee for six years. a strong and efficient aviation system is vital to our economy. and i am pleased that we are also extending our air transportation programs in this bill. i hope we will soon pass our traditional multiyear f.a.a. bill, too. i urge my colleagues to pass this piece of legislation and work towards passing a long-term re-authorization bill for both our surface transportation programs and our air transportation programs. with that, mr. speaker, i yield the balance of my time back to the chairman mica. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from florida

reserves. the gentleman from west virginia is recognized, has 14 minutes remaining. the gentleman from florida has 5 1/4 minutes remaining. mr. rahall: i yield three minutes to the distinguished ranking member of the surface transportation subcommittee, the gentleman from oregon, mr. defazio. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oregon is recognized. mr. defazio: the best way to put america back to work is to invest in the underpinnings of our economy, roads, bridges, highways, transit, rail. our ports, our airports. these things serve the private sector, make us more productive, and more competitive in the world economy. unfortunately at the current levels of investment, we are not even keeping up with our mitt 20th century surface transportation system. just think, before the interstate highways what a disconnected country this was. and guess what? we are heading back there. -- headed back there. we are not investing enough to maintain the eisenhower legacy of the national highway system. we have 150,000 bridges that

need replacement or repair, 40% of the pavement needs not just resurfacing but underlimit. $70 billion backlog on our aged transit systems. that's just to give us an updated and state of good repair 20th century transportation infrastructure. we need a 21st century transportation infrastructure which is going to require more investment for the life of me i don't get it on that side of the aisle. you got this guy over there, the republican leader, can'ter, he says we might take the tax cuts with obama. those returned almost 80 cents on every dollar borrowed, but that other stuff, spending money, that's like stimulus. building bridges. repairing highways. repairing and building transit systems. having a new 21st century system for our planes to navigate more efficiently in a sky with less fuel consumed. that is bad according to eric cantor. the tax cuts, we are for tax cuts.

we'll give the people their money back and they'll take care of those problems. we'll pass the hat to rebuild the bridges and transit systems. we'll pass the hat to have a new surface -- to have a new aviation system for navigation. come on. are we a great nation or not? are we going to give up? are we going to keep pretending, give the money back to the job creators. i haven't seen the job creators build a national highway system lately. the private sector does all these projects, they can't government can't make jobs. you're right, this is taxpayer invested money designated by the government to needed investment done by lowest competitive bid by competent private contractors. millions of jobs are on the table and not just in construction. you are talking about construction equipment. you're talking about sophisticated avionics. you are talking about transit vehicles that have electronics and motor drives and everything that all come from manufacturing. we have the strongest buy

america provisions of any part of the federal government for transportation investment. we are not going to hemorrhage this money to china like the tax cuts will fortunately cheap junk bought from china. no, this will create jobs here at home of the the american people get it. we get it on our side of the aisle. it's time for the leadership on the recall side of the aisle to get it, too. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from west virginia reserves. the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mica: i recognize myself for 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mica: again just to deal with facts and reality, i think mr. cantor, myself, and others on the republican side support transportation, building the country's infrastructure, and jobs, but we have to look at what took place. of a $787 billion stimulus bill, only $63 billion, 7%, went for infrastructure. now the proposal this week is up to 12% of a $450 billion.

81% of the stimulus transportation projects were temporary, created temporary jobs for repaving sidewalks and short-term projects and less than one half of one percent of the stimulus money went for new construction. i'm pleased to yield at this time if i may two minutes to the chair of the rail subcommittee, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. shuster. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania for two minutes. mr. shuster: i thank the chairman. where was the outrage? where was the outrage when they passed the stimulus bill that the chairman pointed out that only 60-some billion dollars went to highways and infrastructure of this country? that's when the outrage should have been put forth. mr. defazio: would the gentleman yield? i expressed my outrage. mr. shuster: there is more than just one of you. you should have stood up and said right there and right there as i did to the former chairman, this is going to mess up a long-range highway bill. they are going to take that money and squander it. we could have done half of a stimulus bill, half of a

stimulus bill, put most of the money into the infrastructure of this country and we wouldn't be sitting here today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlemen are reminded to address remarks to the chair. mr. shuster: thank you, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may continue. mr. shuster: thank you, mr. speaker. let's move forward with a bill that's within our means. once again i want to remind my friends on the other side, you had both bodies in the white house for two years. where was the bill? there was no bill. where were the jobs? there are no jobs. i just remind my colleagues, we are borrowing 40 cents on every dollar this government spends. we have to live within our means. i'm willing to suggest that the bill the chairman and our side is crafting is going to streamline this. we do have less money. no doubt about it. i would like to see more money. we have to find different revenue sources, but taxing the american people in economic down time is not the right time to do it. we can take that $230 billion or $240 billion going into the trust fund and by streamlining

and taking all these other programs that don't do anything to rebuild our roads and increase our capacity, take them off the table and let's focus on what we need to do, and that's build roads and bridges in this country. again i remind my colleagues, let's direct the outrage where it's due and that's in a failed stimulus bill. again i do rise today to support h.r. 2887, the surface and air transportation program. it's a clean extension. for three months and six months. i think it's extremely important this moves forward so we don't stop the important bridge and road jobs, and of course the safety programs and commerce that moves through the air, safely through the air, people, i think that's extremely important. again i could speak more about these two bills, but again when i hear this outrage, there's outrage on our side what's happened in this congress