outside of the ct bureau? it goes for an array of programming. i want to correct one thing that mr. sherman had said. i'm not sure where the 22 me and figure came from. forfy 15, we will be asking a total of >> where does the money go what does that money do? taxpayer wants to know where that goes. what do we say? >> absolutely. does, is it builds capacity among our counterterrorism partners all over the globe. >> what does capacity mean? >> it means a variety of things. >> i'm from texas, would you simple for us. tell us what capacity is. >> it means we have prosecutors can prosecute bad guys. it means we have judges who will judge those people within the law.of >> does it go to weapons? >> not the money that we

provide. cases the overall u.s.g. counterterrorism effort may that,. some of a number of things to empower women and youth who are inticularly vulnerable communities that are at risk to extremism. arrayl go towards a whole of programming on the multilateral side. support the globe counterterrorism forum, which is a gathering of countries designed to address terrorism issues, and to put out best practices so that they're all following a design. again to combat terrorist flow all the other things i just spoke of. >> thank you. you off because i want these gentlemen over here to ask questions.

the ranking member, five minutes. a it was pointed out to me by committee staff that we did get these numbers from c.r.s., i want to thank the u. n. ambassador for setting the straight. does your department or bureau in the state department have as full-time scholars?islamic >> we don't have -- would class it quite that way. what we do is is programming that we support that brings in those voices and we are intent on expanding that programming as well. a personu don't have on your staff, i can see how you this, butut some of you need somebody on staff who can then decide who to contract out to. wouldn't run a medical

research part of the government doctor on staff. >> understood. >> even though of course most of grants to would go as medical institutions, because i terrorists have contorted islam and that it is to find within its holyd within writings, repudiations for some of the barbaric behavior that we've seen. >> congressman, if i can, let me point to a slightly different but very similar effort to what you're talking about, and it is housed within the state department. actually an interagency effort, something called the center for strategic countertism communication, it brings together the state department, the defense department, some of intelligence colleagues and it is exactly designed to do what you're talking about. >> is there anybody working for the federal government on these matters that's memorized the koran?

tell you --t has, or on madrassas it. anyone who is getting a government salary because of islamicowledge of scriptures. >> i will have to get back to you on that. to me on do get back that, because you can have all kind of organization charts and dollars of millions of in your budge. about what islam teaches if you don't have somebody capable of teaching islam. is, with the abduction of these girls, is the nigerian government now open to all the wees of assistance that would think they ought to take from us? >> it's a good question. have levied quite a bit of effort recently against trying

with assistance in information, and an array of of help, kinds including by the way messaging help in the realm of what you just talking about. they have accepted that assistance. will say that we have consistently urged them to take what we would call wholistic approach. because this is not going to be dealt with, unfortunately, solely in the context of one very unfortunate and very tragic kidnapping. it's going to take an overall involves economic, developmental, reform of some of institutions. sites got to be more than just a question of retrieving the girls. to be something that is for the longer term. and that is something we're to work with them on. >> i yield back. you.ank mr. vargas from california.

with respect to the unfortunate unity government with hamas and palestinian government it should meet three conditions, reject violence, recognize by the previous agreements with israel. could you tell me a little about hamas and how they are influencing the palestinian authority? and have they changed their posture in any way? >> thank you, congressman. first let me just say i know subject of a the lot of discussion. the state department and the u.s. government have agreed for the time being to continue to deal with the government that place by president abbas. on the condition though, as you will abidehat they by the principles that you just articulated.

including a commitment to nonviolence, including recognition of the state of israel. thatll the other things you mentioned. i will say this. i don't think this is a free pass. i think we are continuing to evaluate the actions of that will see what we their actions hold. respectstress that with to hamas itself, hamas continues a designatedview foreign terrorist organization. wedo not deal with hamas, have not met with members of hamas, and we will not provide so assistance to hamas. that's very clear. the other thing i would say is that we are continuing to with the israelis on the kinds of secure elements they respect to taking mitigating measures against hamas, and some of the things gone on as recently as the last few months. i will be going myself to israel the next week, and i will have formal consultations with them. seriously.that quite

>> i was going to ask you about that. know, any of the unity government's money is going to hamas. is.'m not aware that it but again i don't have that information at this moment. helping israelwe to cope with this changing situation? generally, butt how can we help more specifically. concern me because now you have a known terrorist thisization formed in the unity government that i hi has a lot of capabilities, and i think a larger threat for the state of israel and for the whole middle east. yourunderstand apprehension and i understand certainly the israelis' and part of where i'm going to israel is have that conversation with them and to hear their concerns. there is a question for the for us in terms of what benefit is derived from cutting off contacts with that government when the security element of what goes on in the very muchand gaza is controlled by the government.

so i think we have to weigh all considerations and decide what is the right course forward. but with clear parameters that and that we're continuing to follow. >> thank you, mr. chairman. back.d >> we also have been joined by three other members of the committee. in, thee coming ambassador has to catch an time and --t is on >> i hope so. >> she needs to leave at this point. madam ambassador the gentlemen who have just come in, members of the committee, will no doubt questions that they will submit to you and replay in a timely manner in writing, if you. >> i absolutely will do that, of course, thank you very much, gentlemen, i appreciate the opportunity. didn't have that we more time today, but i would offer myself up at any time if have questions individually or otherwise. >> committee is adjourned.

>> today the house on armed services investigates the u.s. exchange,isoner involving sergeant bowe bergdahl. at can see it live 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. and join the conversation on facebook and twitter. to learn again how to work together. how to compromise. how to make pragmatic decisions. the upcoming mid term elections, americans will have choices to make about which path down and whether it will make the investments we need in our people. that discussion to others. in the a lot of us, private and nonprofit sectors, we have work to do too. doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas,

obviously. wanted, it it couldn't and shouldn't try to solve all the problems by itself. have responsibilities to do what we can. >> hillary clinton's latest book is called "hard choices," about of stateas secretary and how her experiences there shape her view of the future. c-span 2, watch atk tv coverage starting 6:00 p.m. eastern, following saturday morning with a book signing in virginia. will reair saturday night starting at 8:30. book tv, television for serious readers. >> special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction, john sopko, testified before a house foreign affairs subcommittee money spentt some on afghanistan reconstruction projects has been wasted. hour, so minutes.

we had 16 votes, so we thank you for the time. the witnesses prepared statements will be made part of the record and members may have days to insert statements and questions for the record, limitationthe length in the rules. before we begin, i would like to my most sincere con doll

endses to the family and friend five american troops who justkilled in afghanistan yesterday. no word can adequately express debt of gratitude that we owe to those brave troops and and our prayers are certainly with them and their troubling time. the chair now recognizes herself minutes last year this subcommittee convened a hearing generalcial inspector theiraq reconstruction, on lessons learned from the united andes stabilization, relief reconstruction operation in iraq. waspurpose of that hearing to examine cigar's final report to get a better understanding of how the u.s. approaches reconstruction effort. we can improve, so

that we won't be confronted with and repeat thems same mistakes. thatajor take away from hearing, in addition to the billions of dollars in wasted was that they, united states government was plan, to adequately execute and oversee such large operations. so have we learned any lessons from iraq? to use our learned assistance more effectively and efficiently? while we may have implemented a few reforms as a result of the theseendations from oversight entities in front of us, sadly it seems that we still a long way to go to be good dollars. of taxpayer having seen previous g.a.o. and cigar reports related to oversight and accountability of u.s. assistance in afghanistan,

several things are strikingly obvious. g.a.o. and cigar important taken an task, keeping congress informed on that status of our operations there. with the troop presence winding down, their abilities restricted duey to the security situation and access. this will make it difficult for them and subsequently for us in congress to keep proper tabs on all of the u.s. funded projects in afghanistan. another is that for all of our do good in desire to afghanistan, we have some very that mustficiencies be addressed. over.s. has allocated $103 billion to afghanistan relief and reconstruction. however, the afghan government is still not capable of handling

a large infusion of money, of goods, and of equipment, and is incapable of achieving long-term sustain ability. this is particularly telling with many of our infrastructure in the health usaid where oftentimes would fun projects that are way ambitious,nd way too and it leaves the afghans with facilities that are larger and more expensive to operate, like the -- these hospitals go unused and unstaffed because the afghans thet find the fund nor staff to operate them. these effort are not economical and are not practical. as a result, it is a waste of taxpayer dollars. largesult of this infusion of money to an incapable afghan system is

twofold. our report leaves this year dunnfordned by general and conducted by the joint analysis operational determined that the vast influx money overwhelmed the afghan government's capacity. this helped foster an environment of corruption, that our interestsinst from the start. said, general allen once corruption is the existential strategic threat to afghanistan. the other result is that it created an environment in which are not tackling the root cause of the issue. for afghanistan to maintain and sustain the progress it has made under these and reconstruction efforts is to continue to rely contributions to fill the revenue gaps. forthat is not sustainable

afghanistan nor is it sustainable for us in the united we risk losing all of those gains. administration decided it was going to pledge to provide 50% of the developmental aid to afghanistan in direction assistance. g.a.o. reports that we in 2009 to70 million in 2010. billion however, that same year several reports, including one commissioned directly by usaid, cited how ill equipped the after kwan ministries were to receive direct assistance. the g.a.o. and cigar raised warning flags. and recommended that usaid assess the risk associated with direct assistance, but cigar is now

reporting that usaid had ignored these recommendations and may approved direct assistance without mitigating these risks. are we to conduct proper usaid, ofof state, of dod, to ensure that they are fully complying with the of cigar andns government a.o. and the rules by regulations laid out congress to ensure u.s. taxpayer dollars are put to their best use. cigar identified several major should have been learned in iraq that should an thesein afghanistan and included the need to implement coordination,ency and use our funds wiser, more efficiently and more effectively. if e are still running into the same problems in afghanistan as iraq, now that we are time forning, it is

congress to reexamine how we conduct these operations and implementing some much needed reform? yes.bvious answer is of course yes. and with that i'm pleased to member, mye ranking good friend, in deutsch of florida. madam chairman. i also would like to sten my condolences to the families of the five troops who were killed yesterday in afghanistan. of time heret talking about what our government does, but it is ultimately the men and women who government in tough places like this that we need to keep in mind. this day we keep in mind the families of the five. today's hearing comes on the heels of the president's announcement that 9600 american troops will remain in until 2016. after almost 13 years, trillions of dollars and thousands of

american lives lost, this news was met with a mixed reaction expect when come to we talk about afghanistan, from those who cannot bear the of even one more american life sacrificed to those who believe that's our responsibility to remain and our national security interests. a recent gallup poll found that first time since the war in afghanistan began, more aericans now view the war as mistake. after the united states has given so much in blood and treasure, what do we have to show for it. have our resources been wisely we strengthened u.s. security at home and abroad? the department of defense, state department and usaid all continue to have civilian projects throughout afghanistan. these agencies have done tremendous work in extremely challenging environment and the civilians on the ground working to rebuild and reform, put their danger every day and they deserve to be commented for the work they're doing.

our press thens afghanistan draws down, are we putting the necessary meshers in place to ensure that the perhaps we've instituted and the incentral truck tour that we've built to strengthen afghanistan's security capability and civil society are intainable and will remain place long after we leave? accounting for billions of dollars is no easy task. i believe that the folks at the have taken steps to deal with corruption in the afghan government and to combat potential abuses. an additional oversight of these efforts is necessary and welcome the create perhaps that run as efficiently as possible. congress established a special inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction with not just tracking waste, fraud and abuse, but to recommend more efficient and methods for completing the enormous task of reconstruction in afghanistan. of cigar ase work well as oversight investigations conducted by g.a.o., they've

identified a number of key challenges to u.s. reconstruction efforts such as thelimited capacity of afghan government and the persistent challengings. it's clear the evidence of these challenges can be seen throughout our foot print in afghanistan. g.a.o. identified numerous interagencyn coordination and overlapping accounts, creating the potential for duplication of projects and perhaps. while g.a.o. recommended the creation of a shared data base 2010, i appears that little progress to advance that recommendation has been made. in 2012g.a.o. went so far as to recommend that congress take requireive action to that u.s. agencies report information on their development in a sharedvities data base. while usaid agreed with this recommendation, d.o.d. did not. cigar has also raised serious usaidss over state and inability to terminate contracts when contractors are found to

the snerlt or opposition forces. the agencies lack the authorities to swiftly terminate, restrict or void a contract awarded to a person or identified as supporting the enemy or opposing u.s. force, 'under existing law the would likely have to pay up to the full cost of any contract to complete a termination. implementation of these reforms and other recommendationings will help maximize our achieve greater results. unfortunately on a micro level, cigar has also found numerous examples of wasted funds like the 12-point l million utility meetment purchased to sat unusedeeds, that in storage controlled by the u.s. army corps of engineers. our witnesses today will highly other examples of concern. but i'd like to use the rest of we can focus our cooperation going for. in afghanistan will not end with when the last american troop leaves in 2016. ongoing perhaps have

been very successful, we've made building the in after began justice sector, and accesscally increasing to education, especially for women. how can we sustain these perhaps the ultimate with goal, of course, being the one to completeon them afghan control w. the decreased footprint on the ground will we provide neededover sight to make sure our projects stay on track? usaid has stefled a monitoring usedss that has been successfully in other environments. i hope our witnesses will components required for these perhaps whether they believe this type of remote monitoring did be, can be successful in afghanistan. i believe we're doing important work that directly impacts the security of this country, it's hope that today's hairing will shed light on how we can continue to ensure that

state, d.o.d. and usaid are working together to ensure that aid is provided in most effective and efficient way possible. >> many of us have ongoing concerns about the future of afghanistan. president obama's recent announcement that he was pulling but 9800 u.s. troops out by year's end and then having that and then pulling all our troops out by the en of 2016 is troubling. announcing a departure date no matter what the conditions on tells the just taliban how long they have to wait for us to leave before they can then at least in their mine take over the country.

this announcement puts at risk the sacrifice of our men and made in uniform have that country, not to mention the billions of dollars the u.s. has stabilization relief and reconstruction efforts. i fear that we may see something saw in iraqhat we when we all thought that there would be a number of troops that would remain there, they were all pulled out. see rather than a u.s. ally there, we have extreme iranian influence, and i'd mate to see a repeat of that. thank you for holding this. >> thank you so much. mr. higgins of new york. madam chair. obviously this situation relative to after began reinstruction is sobering at best. 103 billion commitment over the years and you look at the condition of that country, you've got the afghan economy is about $20 billion. ofone year we spend 75% that, some $15 billion in

reconstruction. theillion for a turbine in southwest. a $230 million highway prpblg in east. four billion dollars in training, and equipping afghan forces. i think any assessment of the condition of all of those projects is one that requires a of explanation. when we consider that congress $53 billionproved to rebuild the roads and bridges of america, a nation of and yet we spent $89 billion over a 12 year roads andbuilding the bridges of afghanistan, a nation of some 31 million. so at the very least, the corrupt nature of the the inadequacy of the afghan security forces. justify the commitment that we've made. so i look forward to listening inspectork of the

general and the rest of the panel and exploring these issues deeply. >> thank you, mr. higgins. mr. webber of texas. chair.k you, madam i'm going to be short, let's go. >> thank you, sir. >> mr. cicilline? >> thank you, madam chairman and ranking member deutsch for today's hearing. i too want to extend my sympathies of the five soldiers were killed yesterday in afghanistan. combategin drawing down operations in afghanistan i think it important to say again that the responsibility rests the afghan people to operate, build and maintain their own civilian and military capacity. the united states has built an important foundation for afghanistan's future, but security and a sustainable peace in the region can only be accomplished when the people of afghanistan take on these responsibilities. some have argued that helping to rebuild afghanistan's schools, bridges, road and hospitals has been important to our mission. and some like me believe that time for us to return our

focus to supporting our own schools, bridges, roads and hospitals. but i mope that all would agree that we need to ensure that whatever funds have been idea and will be used are used widely and that they're building are sustainable and institutions that are sustainable. as mr. higgins just said i think there's a l. explanation that need to be provided when you look at the magnitude of the beenrces that have invested, when we have urge end ieds in our own country. so look forward to hearing the two witnesses today and i yesterday back. you.ank >> it is important that we conduct this oversight in order ensure that american taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately. our variouse that agencies and departments working efficiently here and of best practices. without appropriate oversight, iney will go to waste

afghanistan. i also look forward to a discussion of how we discuss american people the issues that are the subject of this hearing. afghanistan is an emotional the american people, as we have seen this past week sergeant bergdahl. as we finally leave afghanistan, we need to make sure we're communicating effectively and honestly with the american people about our departure and what will come next. thank you. >> thank you so much. so now we're pleased to introduce our witnesses. are pleased to welcome special inspector general for reconstruction, john sopko. he has more than 30 years of as a prosecutor, congressional counsel, and senior federal government advisor. he spent over 20 years on the hill, poor thing, serving in the senate and house of representatives including on the house collect committee on security, and in the

senate permanent subcommittee on investigation. mr. sopko was sworn in as awe special inspector general on july 2, 2012 secondly, we welcome mr. michael johnson, who executive and director of international u.s.rs and trade at the government accountability office, g.a.o. assesses u.s. counterterrorism and security efforts focusing on afghanistan, pakistan, and other terrorist safe havens. police mr. jn son was an assistant director in good afternoon a.o.'s homeland justice team, 'he also spent a year at the tailed representatives, howmed security committee. we thank you gentlemen for your your expertise, for waiting around, and we're so pleased to yet to you now and we'll start with mr. sopko.

>> thank you very much. en,rman ross lay tin ranking moib deutsch, members of subcommittee it's a pleasure to be here today to discuss my of reconstruction efforts in afghanistan. today's hearing is very timely. are inre well aware, we the midst of a pivot al year in ongoingtan, the military, political and economic transition will undoubtedly shape afghanistan's future for many years to come. for instance this week's electionial runoff could result in the first peaceful democratic transition a presidential power in afghanistan's history. like wise just a few weeks ago president announced his plan to reduce our military presence approximately 10,000 troops by the end of 2014, and by the of 2016 the u.s. presence in afghanistan will be reduced to a normal embassy operation.

in kabul, with a small security office.ce these events may lead many to that thely assume reconstruction effort is also coming to an end. in fact it is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. due to previous commitments made by the united states and the international the chicago and tokyo conferences, in addition the afghan state of economy and the limited campaign ability of the after gap revenue.t to collect since 2002 congress has roughly $so 3 billion for relief and reconstruction in afghanistan. more than the united states has spend to rebuild any our history.y in to give this number some yearxt, by the end of this we will have spent more point on afghanistan reconstruction than to rebuild europe under

the marshall plan after world war ii. year alone we planned to spend more money on afghanistan than we spend on the next four countries, that's israel, egypt, pakistan and iraq, combined. now an unforeseen consequence of historic investment by the united states and our allies has we have built infrastructure and a security force and a national government the afghans cannot currently sustain on their own. afghanmple, the government generates roughly $2 billion a year in annual revenue. much as needs as 10 billion annually to cover all including operations the afghan national security forces. for many years to come the afghan government will depend on assistance from the united states and the international community to meet fall.udget short

accordingly, it is critical that andctive management oversight remain a top right ority for all u.s. agencies as to enter a post 2004, 14 reality in afghanistan much this is extremely important guy roughly $18 billion in authorized and appropriated beonstruction fund remain to spent by u.s. agencies as of march 31st, 2014. new including president seven bill billion by the state usaud.ent and today cigar and our overnight g.a.o. are already contending with the restricted jeff sight access. based on our best estimate is likely that far less will be of afghanistan accessible to civilian owfs oversight american nell by of this year. these challenges,

signature car is committed to its oversight mission and is methods toinnovative adopt to the evolving security environment. what is at stake for the united states, the international community and afghan people, cigar believes oversight must be to use a military term, mission critical. is not, the historic investment we have made to date billions more yet to be spent on reconstruction will be vulnerable to possible waste, fraud and abuse. thank you very much for the opportunity to testify and i questions.d to your >> thank you so much, mr. sopko. mr. johnson. >> since 2003, g.a.o. has issued over 70 products including a in 2013publication highlighting key issues for oversight. we've also participated in hearingscongressional and briefings on u.s. efforts in

afghanistan. during the course of our work we have may over 150 recommendationings on action thanks should be taken to planning,ogram implementation, management and oversight. today i would like to highlight few key issues. among them are the need to mitigate against the risk of assistance toct the afghan government. the oversight and accountability of u.s. development projects, as the chair noted including the need fof a data base and the for contingency plan as the u.s. transitionings to a presence. regarding direct assistance to the afghan government, in 2010 alone with other international donors plentied to provide at 50% of development assistance report. was contingent on certain controls being in place. thewe reported in 2011 that u.s. fill filled its plenty by nearly tripling its awards year. the first going from 4' 0 million in twisk

about 1.4 billion in fiscal year 2010. that whileorted usaid had complied with other control, it did not always assess the risk of providing direction assistance. although you say took steps in response the recommendationings, learned that you they are noroved doubt mitigating answer all risk.fied since 2002 u.s. agencieses have over $23 billion for projects. has also fallen shore in

inntaining unsteution al nl assume areas. as the ranking member noted and avoidening statement, to the potential for overlap and to ensure a full catting of usadi, d.o.d. and state funded they'veent projects, made recommendationings, dating back to 2008, including something. , although some have taken some data base,entify a nearly six years later we continue to report on the need for a data base. is due in part to the lack of d.o.d. action. forrding the read contingency planning in february 2013 we reported that in iraqcumstances somewhat differ from those in afghanistan, potential lessons that be learned from transition. and when you transition from a military to civilian life presence. as we've reported, program

implementation, oversight and atant very like to be challenged a several factors, including dangerous security environment, the prevalence of corruption and thelimited capacity of afghan government. highlighted, -- the plan to invest billions more challengingan, the working environment and uncertainties of the security underscore the continued need for planning and continued oversight of u.s. effort. in closing, i would like to personally thank the ed dated -- dedicated staff members who have put themselves on line. theso want to thank chairmentee

>> i will begin with the we and answer segment of our hearing. soruption is so systemic, pervasive in afghanistan that it asker bait thebs already difficult obstacles facing the government's ability to govern effectively. not only that, but it undermines of both the international forces and the afghan people. it erodes the peoples confidence in their government. to while it leads them distrust us and it lead to the taxpayerbillions of dollars, yet for all of these warnings and all of the reports had about corruption in afghanistan, we have yet to an anticorruption

policy. even karzai, karzai, if you can it, acknowledged that this is a major obstacle to progress. even possible that we still don't have an policy.uption even as week spending billions assistancein direct to afghan minute vees despite all the mornings warnings, and any insights into updated amounts of direct assistance. sticking with the direct assistance issue, after the assessment that the afghan ministries were not ready, were of receiving direction assistance, and after recommendations from g.a.o. to riskate all identified before proceeding with direct usaid apparently continued any way without regard to these warnings. usaid continue to

provide direct assistance warnings, and are there any other instances where ignoreds recommendations. also, how would you characterize your relationship with usaid. and what does congress need to ensure that usaid is in full compliance before going forward with these high risk programs. i'm also greatly concerned about the duplication of effort, where we see overlaps between state d.o.d., on infrastructure projects, because there's no comprehensive data base. thing you both would say is seriously lacking and something we need to address you say congress usaidto do to ensure that , d. obviously d., are all

accountable for these billions dollars that we're spending in afghanistan and what tools do to you tos to give ensure that you have everything you need to continue to do your work. i know it latest be extremely difficult for you with the troop drawdown. and the uncertainty over the want to help you to keep you safe while you can your duties.erform thank you. chairman, starting with your last point and that is on we can meet, i useful for it be the veryto respond to val i recommendation that g.a.o. centralizedut a

data base. i don't know if that's authorization language or appropriations language. one of the hardest problems we g.a.o. andm certain my colleagues and the other i.d.'s have is we don't know where the money has been spent, so you start with that problem. by requiring the agencies to put together that data base that would be extremely useful. do thattarting to ourselves, in such of the background material we gave you we are actually trying to collect this information, but it really isn't the role of the inspector general to be the first one to collect this. this is something that should be done. as for the issue about direct a serious, i think a.i.d. hade was that finally done some really good prayed themand we in our awed that it came out earlier this year about the direct assistance. the afghaned

ministries and what we had hoped they would have done would have been to actually use that as onerage to bargain conditionality to get in place, particularly in the future where more difficulte to go out there and kick the programs.he but unfortunately they waived it and we don't know have an answer on why they waived it. in with somehime updated numbers. corruption will remain a been up with has of the biggest challenges that the u.s. and others face in operating in afghanistan. directgard to the assistance funding, the latest figures we have is roughly the is 800 million for 2012, and approximately 900 million in direct assistance. the showses a dropoff from 1.4. it has come down somewhat, but .t's still pretty significant

we've sort of suggested that you consider mandating that there be for ae dad that base comprehensive data base that has tary,tire en invent especially given over $23 billion have been invested money.taxpayers some that's you and others degreed to putot their stuff in that data base or base or any other suggested so we have congress may need too look at the potentiall funding that exists there. we didn't necessarily find exactly duplication, but we

found 53 cases of potential betweenion and overlap the agencies. becomes that the data that d.o.d. was not going down to the down to.needed to go so we think a shared data base would encompass all that sort of information. also holding hearings like they on key oversight issues. the lastay that over two years or 18 months there have been some challenges in our normal operation, they've been one of the more agencieses, but we have run sw challenges trying to for thet our mission congress. i echo the just add, statement by the, my colleague g.a.o., in that although we

support from good d. often d. on cooperation, particularly under general funford, general coal, and a number of those colleagues over problems have had some with a.i.d. and getting access, through jeff classification and we think an someper classification of term is sensitive but unclassify. to myn i just add colleagues' numbers, i think he focusing on the state and usaid direct assistance. the to keep in mine the biggest play in all of this is d.o.d., so the direct assistance, d.o.d. is giving approximately 4.2 billion right assistance and that is going directly to the ministry of interior and minute try of defense. also going through some of the trust funds. so that is the biggest play and theough we were focusing on

aid ministerial assessments, there still has neve been a ministerial assessment on the ministry of i there are and the d.o.d.y of defense by and we have highlighted that as a potential problem. >> thank you very much. mr. deutsch is recognized. >> did i understand you said there's been more money spent on thannistan reconstruction the more shal plan? >> by the end of this year, into consideration inflation et cetera. >> so what's the total amount? you analyze the data, what's the total amount spent by this afghanistan reconstruction? >> the appropriations on reconstruction is 103 billion, i believe. both of you as you analyze what we refer to as waste, fraud and abuse, but abuse ultimately is

waste as well. of the good reports there a've put out, is to the? of that a to the amount $10 quintillion, is there a to wasted?nt that's been >> i'm not in a position to give you an exact on that. know that there's been infresh ensees, there are ancerns about is there rae inventory of everything. the biggest problem is that many of the agencies welcome back keeping good performance metrics for us to look at whether or not used.ney had been >> i agree. come up with an estimate who would take us, we'd be all our time trying to figure out what was last in the past. say a lot safe to

money has been wasted, probably more wasted than actually stolen problem.s the i think going back if we don't know where the money was spend it's hard for us to quantify, particularly the generally accepted auditing standards, how wasted.ey was >> plain to me again, we don't know where the money was spent thatow much of 103 billion, we don't know writ was spent? that'sof the 103 billion authorized and appropriate rated, 18 building is still in the pipeline. still safe, its hasn't gone out and been obligated yet. the vast major of the money was spend byelieve d.o.d. so that could be on sur in perhaps.m us i'm not sheaing that's wasted, where theaying that's money is d.a.d.ed.

>> for everything that you've at, for all your reports, there are plenty of examples that you pointed to. right? where because of the lack of oftems in place, because lack of oversight, because the -- of reasons myriad we've discussed, there's been some significant amount of waste. i would, it would be helpful if some range, even of the reports that you've done, that you'vereview done where you know. to look forward too, but as we deal with this issue of a share dad that base, it's a easier to convince all of our colleagues here and those not be indliened to support a shared data base, why it's important if beyond speaking generally about the of problems that exist, we

can point out that of taxpayer, ofn dollars,on taxpayer that experts has been wasted. asking you to recreate the wheel, but based on all of the analysis that you've done, you must have some sense. can speak in did broader terms and give examples. noted that a has lot of stuff wasn't done efficiently, or it costs more in otherould have cost areas as well. i would note the there's the of u.s.amount contributions have been on the security side. obviously that goal was supposed plibbed in 2008 where the afghan security forces were be fully cape able and independent. over time, we put billions of dollars and enormous money, ben marks

continue to be reset every year. we've lowered the standard of ratings muchity initially we were trying to do it the u.s. bay and trying to get these guys to operate the operator.rces we wasted a lot of money in the beginning buying u.s. type training -- we built a force that obviously the afghan government cannot sustain that they're going to continue to rely on donors to support. u.s. contributed 90% of the afghan public expenditures related to security issues. the united states pays for that, so we're the largest contributor the security side. we could give you specific examples where a was going to go that perhapsa road d. archdo. had already done, that's why you need a shared base. so usaid would like to know what leavings going to be

behind, so they'll have some indication what's already there forward with their planning. >> what's the biggest impediment base sincer data it's now been years since you proposed it? a major chicago,,. think it reluctance on the part of d.o.d. to engage these and complete the data base. a man you disk every two or three months for usaid to upload. it not readily available. hesitancy, does the on the part of d.o.d. stem in way from, is there concern what we see going forward? of the 103 billion is

d.o. dft funding, and we're not to identify the to there ant of waste, is concern that going forward there's going to be, and some of mr. johnson, ibe would suspect that our friend at view differently than the way you described it in terms of changing standards and why those standards were changed. assistants for security. to help convince them that this is ultimately just goy and again i back to where i tarted. i would really urge you for all of the analysis that's been immenselyould be helpful for us to have a conversation not just about but if we can't acknowledge that we've spend we knowlion and billions have been waisted, but really identify some walk

range of of when that is and from, then ites makes it even harder to support funding. >> with that i yield back. >> thank >> i yield to a real heroor ighter pilot mr. kensington. >> thank you. we have to remember it was a beautiful day in september and we were attacked right in the united states of america when we thought we were completely defensible by two oceans. thousands of americans lost their lives. and since that day on september 11th, thousands of americans have lost their lives securing freedom for the afghan people. and i think importantly, too,

thousands of afghans have lost their lives. and we see today in i guess kind of the post war mission in afghanistan, the afghan people, the afghan security forces are really stepping up to secure their country. there's going to be a lot of challenges. two weeks ago the president announced his plan to withdraw nearly all service members, combat mission ending at the end of 2014. he is going to leave in place approximately 9800 service members and the following year those numbers will be reduced to the numbers necessary to provide security to kabul. i would bring to memory the parallels between what's happened in iraq and i think what the president has outlined for afghanistan. in fact today i read the news and found out that missouri you will, -- mosul, a place i had been several times, has fallen.

we see what happens with a post american reduction. the force is going to place a significant demand as the g.a.o. reported between fiscal years 2002 and 2014 nearly 65% of agency funding went to supporting afghanistan security in areas such as developping the security forces and counter narcotics effort. the questions are with the looming u.s. troop drudown more of the onus is going to be placed on the affings security forces to maintain the security of the country. a large portion that we have invested has gone into security. are they now prepared to take the lead and can they help sustain an environment in which project which is we put in place will succeed? and this is important because for 13 years we fought to create an environment that they can take over. and i want to make sure at the end of the day we're not in a hurry just to fulfill a campaign promise that 13 years of effort by the american people and by the afghan people

doesn't go to waste. because i think in 20 years history books will judge us very harshly if that's the case. is there an environment where in a post america era they can succeed? >> the answer to that question is a couple parts yes of course they can succeed. there have been great successes with the miltrifment you've seen the afghan military hold their own over the last fighting season. and i think everyone is hopeful hat they will continue in that robust fashion. there are concerns. and the major concerns that we've high lighted and i believe the general has highlighted is there needs to be a bsa side. >> we can assume it will be. it seems it is on track. >> we are hopeful. i have no inside information

but that's what i read in the press. both candidates have said they would sign it. but the second issue which i think again i can't speak for general dunnford there, he is the expert. but it's basically the back end. it's the tail, the salaries, the support, the buildings, the getting the field, the getting them to understand and how to do that which is what he is working on and i think that vast majority of the assistance going forward will be trying to make that military capable to do that. we're looking at -- we've looked at spare parts, fuel, literacy, and in all of those areas there are serious problems. so we have to make certain we get those right. >> and i understand you're not a policy maker. but i think my big concern in 2016 the president

put out a mission saying supporting is a good mission but in 2017 it's not a good mission because we're going to pull our troops out only for embassy security. so assuming now that we have basically two years in which to miraculously bring the afghans to where they can operate without american assistance, there's a lot of progress that has to be made in two years. if all troops happen to be out today, what do you think would happen to the future of afghanistan and those reconstruction project fs that would happen today? nd that gives us a bench mark. refer to the e to testimony of general did you knowford in the house armed services committee just last month where he said if we pulled out today there would be a collapse. i have to rely on his expertise.

we have not done a study on that. i don't have any audits on that. >> thank you. i think the point there is if all troops are out today then we would see an utore collapse instead of having a mission for the next couple years where we're focused on withdrawal it might be smarter to have a mission past 2016 in which we can have a long-term game to get afghanistan where it needs to be. >> mr. connelly of virginia is recognized. >> thank you. i know you want to look forward but i think before we do that we need to glance backward and see what we've learned or not learned. reading your reports, and press stories including press stories referring to you, and listening to your testimony and that of mr. johnson's today, one has the awful sense of deja vu all over again.

we've been in vietnam, for example. lots of aid money thrown at vietnam. the biggest aid mission in the world was in vietnam. there was no aspect of life in south vietnam. we weren't helping to finance. and the waste, the fraud, the abuse, the inefficiency, the lack of metrics to show what we did or didn't do positively has an erie echo in your testimony today. when i as the chairwoman knows i used to be a senate staff meth member in the senate foreign relations committee. we used to have a very helpful chart called the all spiggets chart. showing all -- spigolts chart showing all sources of assistance from the united and when you refer to $103 billion total reconstruction funding is that

all spigots? does that include all of the d.o.d. money? >> no, it does not include war fighting. this is just reconstruction. so $103 billion. >> for the duration of this war. >> and only u.s. funding. >> would that include support? >> yes, it would, sir. >> so let's take that as our universe. i know you're reluctant t to say how much got wasted. tell me how much you think actually performed fairly well. we've got to have some metrics here. >> you know, congressman, i would love to tell you 50%, 60%, 70%, or whatever. but i live unfortunately in the world of gagus, generally accepted government caupting standards and i can't say that. and i know my good colleague over in iraq reconstruction once came up with a number and it was later shoup to be wrong

or nothing -- shown to be wrong. i can't say that. i look at the specific programs that succeeded or didn't succeed or they run a risk. a lot of times we go in and alert people that you run a risk of fraud waste or abuse. so i assume my colleague has the same. we can't come in and say they've lost x amount or they've succeeded. now, we have identified some successes and actually i asked and i think the last time i testified before another committee i said i sent a letter to the scove state, scove defense and -- secretary of state, secretary of defense and give me your success stories. i thought we could use that in our analysis of lessons learned. but i just can't answer that question. i don't have a basis for saying what percentage worked or didn't. >> let me tell you the consequences of not beingable to answer that question. it says to the public by implication all of it was

wasted. if you can't cite metrics, not went al, 30% absolutely to the purpose intended and is performing well. another 20% is sort of a little grayer category, and then 50% is wasted. or whatever the metrics may be. but if the answer is i can't answer that question at all, then it suggests to the united states taxpayer 103 billion in reconstruction was down the drain in afghanistan, 100%. >> congressman, with all due respect, i think every inspector general you ask, whether it's the department of energy, hhs, could not answer that question. so i don't know if the american people immediately jump at the response or to answer to that then all of the money is being wasted. i don't think any i.g. -- you cannot give us enough money to

answer that question. we would be spending all of our time trying to highlight what worked. and if you actually look at our legislation, you look at the 78 act and my act, it's not to find out what's worked. my brief is given to me by you is to highlight problems. not to highlight successes. >> but you also demured in answer to my colleague's question how much is wasted. so we're not going -- we can't put a metric on how successful have we been and neither can we apparently have a metric to mr. deutsche's question about how much do we feel confident was wasted. >> the biggest problem that we both face as an oversight entity is that there's poor data being collected. and when data is collected, i'll give you an example of the u.s. aide with the agriculture program. enormous amount of data was

coming in to the implementing partners. they didn't assess the data and their ads rireds them to approve their targeted. they didn't approve them. so they were carrying out missions, aid was not using it. so we can look at the program -- >> i appreciate your answer. this is 2014. we have been running bilateral and multilateral aid programs since immediately after world war ii. this is not a new subject. >> absolutely. >> what do you mean we're just throwing money and aide has no records to be able to evaluate the efficacy of a program? how is that possible let alone $103 billion? >> it's a good question and it's something with the recommendations we've made in the oversight community and congressional action, perhaps everyone will be more accountable in terms of when they come up and ask you for money and they don't have metrics. something that bothered me

when i was in afghanistan-iraq was support. because it's in the -- cup. in a sense, it -- surp. it was well-intentioned walking around money so a commander could see a problem and fix it on the spop. see a bridge is out, let me help repair it. that program, however, became an enormous equivalent of bilateral aid program run by the military. who are not experts in economic development. and it's all cash. so one worries in the category of what could go wrong with that, i wonder if you could just share with us your observation and the viss sis tudes of a surp program. >> you are highlighting an issue that we have serious concerns with. i think many members of

congress had serious concerns with. if i can make a comment probably a little bit out of my league i think it was a wise decision that in your consolidated appropriations bill of 2014 i think surp funding is pretty well cut. but there was nearly $2.29 billion obligated of which $2.26 billion has been disbursed. in january of this year we sent an inquiry letter regarding all the unobligated funds, all the performance metrics, and any assessment that is have been done. we are still in the process of doing that. once it has been done i am happy to report back to you and the other committees on what we are finding. i think there are serious concerns. it was a good intention. but if i can answer use that question to try to answer your question and mr. deutsche's question is, ok, even taking that money, some of it actually

worked. it is going to be so difficult to focus and try to do that. you're just taking the surp to do that for every one of these programs it's going to be very difficult to say what percent anl worked and what didn't. we have to get the metrics and we have to apply their metrics. what my colleague and i are saying is we aren't given the metrics or they don't use their metrics. so how do we determine whether it works or not? i've been ber ated by d.o.d. for even questioning the proposal because it saved lives. now, i don't know what that means. maybe it did save lives and maybe that was the metrics that they wanted to use. but it's hard for me to then take that then saving lives and saying the $2.2 billion was wisely spent. that's where you see the predicament we're in. and i think i can say mr. johnson is probably in the same predicament over in g.a.o. >> thank you.

and while some of us may say while i was in iraq or while i was in afghanistan, here is a man who was really in iraq. an iraq vet who is still serving our country valiantly in the air force reserve, mr. collins is recognized. >> i do appreciate that. and as much as my good friend we disagree on stuff we're getting ready to awhee whole heartedly right here. look, you all have pointed out some things i came for some other questions and i'm going to get to those in a minute. but let me say if anybody from usaid is here, d.o.d. is here or you're watching by camera, the only way is if these who are supposed to oversight what is being spent tell me that they're not getting the metrics on how to even evaluate the programs, then maybe it's time to cut the money off. maybe it's time to say let's

stop. if you can't handle it -- because this is the problem i've seen so far. being in the military we've got to rebuild, we've got to help. i have no problem with that. but i have a huge problem with no accountability. the people of the ninth district of georgia do not get it. we're not spending monopoly money here. we're not spending money that just pops out of the air and somebody says it's free health care, free this. it's not. it comes out of my back pocket and your back pocket. it's tax dollars. we have a v.a. system that has problems and issues. we have other issues in this country. and we are just blowing money and don't even get the metrics where mr. johnson can't even do their job? are you kidding me? this is amazing to me. i feel for you. that you're trying to do a job with no metrics. you're trying to do a job in which they're giving money and say go spend it, be happy. see if it works or not. but we're not going to provide you the metrics.

and if d.o.d. gets upset send them to me. i'll ask the same question and let them get mad at me. this is ridiculous. i've submitted language in the state and foreign ops appropriations bill forcing usaid and state department to ake a look at funds in afghanistan. as we just said, over 100 billion between d.o.d., us aide and others what promise do we have if we continue this? and there's some things we need to do to hopefully keep this country stable and not have to send our sons and daughters back there in a matter of a few years or send others there. but how can we take it seriously if usaid and others can't even provide met rirks because they don't want to? ow can we have any effect? >> it is definitely difficult

and that's part of the way we do our work. we need to measure our progress against goals and objectives and we need metrics. those melt rirks need to be collected routinely and not every so many years. but they should be collecting those depending on the type of program it is throughout the lifetime of the program and making those available to us. they should be approving those met rirks that they're asking their partners to carry out in some of the projects. and quite frankly we did find several deficiencies in that area. i think later it probably came up how do you gather and collect information in a war zone or environment? they've done it in other areas, they did it in the tribal areas of pakistan. so i don't think it's something that can't be done in afghanistan. the agencies just need to commit to doing it. >> can i add something to my colleague? and it's something that

congressman connelly alluded to. and that is lessons learned from iraq, lessons learned from vietnam. citeded a report done by a.i.d. in 1988 and it's a lessons learned report on a.i.d. ds operations in afghanistan from 1950 to 1979. i couldn't find anybody in our embassy or anybody in a.i.d. who had ever read it. this is 12 years. if i was being assigned to a.i.d. i think i would want to read my lessons learned report from 1950-1979. i spoke to a very prominent wise general who says i'm in the army we do lessons learned reports like going to the bath room pulling paper we write them like crazy. the problem is they're not applied. i think one of the things you can do and congress can do is mandate that each of the

services do these lessons learned reports but more importantly that a.i.d. and state do them. and in the future as we all know this will be an all government approach to a problem. and that means we need to mandate that a.i.d., state, and d.o.d. and other agencies involved, probably the intel community, do combined less srns learned reports on the clting sis. remember under goldwater nick ols you created purple in the military. you have not created purple in contingencies. you are not requiring state and aid to do the same in-depth analyses and lessons learned like all of the various -- i know you served in the military so you understand the lessons learned reports. produces doctrine. you're not seeing combined doctrine coming out. so i throw that out. if you want to make certain we

succeed maybe not for afghanistan but at least we learn from our mistakes with before we do it again, that's something you may want to consider, sir. >> madam claire if you will indulge me. i think the thing and i understand what you're saying. what bothers me is simply looking at this is a simple business plan. you don't get money for i have an idea let's throw money at it. is there a way that maybe we could -- say the metrics have to be applied before the money is transferred? because once the money is gone it doesn't matter. they don't care. so i think the problem we have here -- and i will go back to mr. connelly's statement. whether it's good or bad, i come from a background where neither nor. if you tell me nothing is happening, everything is happening i'll discount it and show you where it's wrong. so something in the middle has gone well and a lot of things have gone wrong. but when we look at this the people want the truth. they want the honesty of what's going on. and they will accept the truth

even if it's hard but they will not accept incompetence. and this is simply incompetence that you've unveiled. now it may be veiled in community service, they may call it whatever they want to call it, it's incompetence. plain and simple, fireable ip competence. and i don't understand how we continue to do this and it's frankly dispoibs me. i don't think we've learned the lesson you've stated it. we have to do hot washes. when i transferred out of iraq i had to do lessons learned and tell the person coming in who took my job here's the lesson learned and it didn't just involve where is the la treen and where is the defack. it has to do with what we found on the ground and how you worked it out. i applaud your work but in some ways i feel for you. you're in a no-win situation. and this country ought to be ashamed of what we're doing in this area because we can do better. we can do better.

if we truly want to fix it, we truly want to work it, we can do better the agencies i'm talking today my office is 513 cannon come explain your incompetence to me. >> just in conclusion as our memo points out, as of march 31, 2014, cumulative appropriations for relief and reconstruction in afghanistan total approximately $103.17 billion in fiscal year 2002. this is more than the united states has ever spent to ebuild a single country. financial audits were not conducted for 99 of those 140 assistance awards. and u.s. aid did not meet the strategy's objectives to use perform bs indicators to measure and evaluate its performance toward meeting the strategy's goal. and g.a.o. has previously reported on systematic weakness

and their monitoring and evaluation of programs carried out by its implementing partners in afghanistan. g.a.o. and other oversight agencies however have highlighted gaps that show u.s. aide continued to inconsistently apply performance management procedures, fall short in mainlting institutional knowledge and needs to approve oversight of contractors. the subcommittee will continue to do its work and we thank you gentlemen for appearing before us. with that the subcommittee has adjourned.

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but i believe in this country. i believe there is opportunity around the next corner for all of us. so i look forward to continuing the us on all of you for things we believe in for the conservative cause. because those solutions of ouse are the answer to the problems that so many people are facing today. thank you all very, very much. [applause]

>> one of the most shocking upsets. u.s. house majority leader eric canter losing the district primary. and chaos at what was supposed to be a victory celebration. protesters meeting resistance at the election night gathering. what they wanted from the majority leader. it's a political upset the likes of which we have not seen in recent memory. house majority leader eric canter a seven-term congressman to a tea party novice and it wasn't close. with all precincts reporting, he has won 55-44%. and we have coverage tonight

where he celebrated his victory but we begin at the westen hotel which was supposed to be the cite of his victory celebration. >> good evening. we don't usually begin election night broadcast from the losing candidate's headquarters. but as you mentioned this was historic on local state and national levels. this is all that's left of the canter victory party just one yard sign remains highlighting a june 10 primary that will not soon be forgotten. >> obviously we came up short. >> a shocking night in virginia and national politics. long-time republican congressman and u.s. house majority leader eric canter defeated in the seventh district g.o.p. primary by randolph macon professor date brat despite outspending his opponent by an estimated 10-1. >> i know there's a lot of long faces here tonight and it's disappointing. sure.

but i believe in this country. i believe there's opportunity around the next corner for all of us. >> canter insiders telling us they had expected to win by up to 30 points. a recent supporter showed up at the hotel expecting a victory party. but nothing but shock and sadness by night's end. >> serving as thesenth district congressman and then having the privilege to be majority leader has been one of the highest honors of my life. >> any word to your supporters? >> after his concession speech canned tor immediately left the hotel and swiftly departed via motor cade. the ballroom would quickly erupt with progressive immigration protesters. who were forced to leave by hotel security and police. >> he has done so much and he has been such a good congressman. >> for longtime supporters the

results don't seem real. >> there is a war on the republican party. >> while longtime republican says he will be voting democrat come november because of this election. >> and i'm a long-time republican. plan on voting for the democrat. >> an election that will not soon be forgotten here in virginia and here in the united states of america. i've been speaking with several political analysts in virginia over the course of the last hours they say very few people saw this coming. however, there was a lot of commercials spent in this election, a lot of ad buys by the can tor campaign. perhaps they knew something privately that many of us did not. >> thank you for that. and he outspent his opponent more than 10:1. the upset has supporters in a

joyous mood. whether or not are they attributing the win tonight to? >> this is almost like an impromptu victory party. they're attributing it to his effort. a lot of folks going out and knocking on doors. this party was supposed to wrap up at 9:30 tonight but a lot of folks still out here. one supporter told me this is like david beats goliath and they say they will continue celebrating well into the night. >> there wasn't a quiet moment in the room. as david brat supporters learned their candidate beat out eric canter for the seven ds congressional district. >> i've been after mr. canter for the last six, eight years. >> that was echoed throughout the night by many who say it was time for change years ago. >> i tried to get him to do town hall meetings, refused to.

people keep telling him this is what we want and he's not doing it. >> i voted for canter all the other times but this time was time. >> during his victory speech brat told supporters he didn't run against canter as a person but his principles. brat says he wants to give virginians a voice in washington again. >> every vote i take will move the pendulum in the direction of the people away from washington, d.c. back to the states, states to locality, and back to you. >> celebrating aside, some of his many tea party supporters wonder about the challenge ahead. he tells us he feels the tea party's image is distorted. and in turn brat may not get support from a lot of republicans to win. i understand the real tea party. it's your mom and dad. it's conservative people doing the work. >> we spoke with pat mullins chair of the republican party

and he says brat has the u party's full support. >> we're excited for him and we're going to everything possible to get him elected. >> back here live i can tell you this was certainly a surprise for many people. it almost seemed like brat was surprised as well. he didn't have his victory speech written. he just went off the cuff thanking a lot of supporters. from here he will face a democrat who was nominated at his party's convention. >> amazing stuff. even the winner thought it was an upset shocking. i'm joined now by our political analyst. bob, how does a seven-term congressman, the house majority leader lose? >> absolutely stunning that this could happen. and what happened i think here we're attributed to two features. first i think that dave brat did a very effective job criticizing eric canter's support for immigration reform.

and that i think had a lot of resonance out in the community. secondly, i think if you saw in a lot of these shows right that have come on right before, what we had is that a lot of frustration with washington in general. and i think he mobilized that tea party frustration with extraordinary effectiveness and ultimately pointed to a weakness in eric canter that he just wasn't a great retail politician, didn't come back and do the town halls, didn't have that kind of touch i think that a lot of republican activists wanted to see out of their congress person in washington. >> and he got outspent badly but managed to pull off the upset. we'll catch up in a few more minutes to talk more about this upset victry. take a look now at his challenger. this is jack trammle. he's also a professor. he's accepted his party's nomination. he is a professor teaches courses if disability studies. so again those two will be

squaring off. we know that so far. will there be others? you can continue to follow this major story and find both can tor's consession speech and brat's victory speech. and in a few more minutes, what it means for the immigration debate and other big issues. >> we're going to wear out the word shocking defeat and earthquake. but is this the last we're going to see of eric canter? where does he go from here? can he run as an independent? >> he could potentially run as a write-in and that was the open question that was still here on the table this evening. because if you look at eric canter's speech he said he came up short. he didn't say anything to congratulate dave brat. he didn't tell his supporters to go support dave brat in the republican candidate. so i think what eric canter is doing is take a day or two to reflect upon what happened and to see whether or not he really wants to mount a write-in

campaign. something that would be very difficult that would divide the republican party. >> anger the tea party even further. >> but he may want to try to do what lisa murkski did in alaska a couple years ago and see whether or not there's an opening for this write-in campaign. but at least this evening what was so fascinating is he did not tell his supporters let's get behind dave brat. he won this fair and square. that was not said at all. >> make sure everybody can spell his name properly. finally what about big issues? we know budget issues are going to be a real dog fight with the president. and democrats. but what about immigration? is that just gone now? >> i think it's certainly gone in terms of republican support. i think the shocking as you said defeat of eric canter because dave brat said time and time again that he had been too liberal and amness

americans will have choice and whether it will make the investments we need in our people. i will leave that discussion to others. but for a lot of us in the private and nonprofit sectors we have work to do, too. government doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas, obviously. and even if it wanted it cooperate and shouldn't try to solve all the problems by itself. we have responsibilities to do what we can. >> hillary clinton's latest book is called hard choices about her time as secretary of state and how her experiences there shape her view of the future. friday live on c-span 2. watch book tmp v coverage of secretary clinton.

>> today we continue our oversight. in the three years it has had a notable impact in nearly every aspect of the consumers' experience with the financial

system from student loans to credit cards mortgages and education, debt collection, prepaid cards, and credit reports. the bureau has conducted expensive -- extensive outreach and has proven itself to be a careful regulator in many cases over industries that previously had no federal supervision. importantly, the cf pmp b has also proven itself up to the task congress set out for it which is to protect consumers. to date the bureau has obtained refunds 0 million of 75,000 consumer complaints. then we saw lending from underwriting to servicing had

serious problems. many of the cfpb's most significant actions relate to mortgage lending. for example, the bureau recently finalized its mortgage disclosure rules to improve closings and provide key loan terms and costs to consumers and clear understandable forms. while the consumer experienced at the mortgage table is an important aspect of mortgage lending, the ability toff consumers to access affordable mortgage credit in the first place is critical. the cfpb's rules to strengthen the mortgage standards including the qm and servicing rules went into effect this past january. the director, i look forward to hearing how these rules impact

mortgage lending, particularly for a small lenders or lenders n rural areas. while i support strong mortgage standards it is also important to ensure that lenders can continue to lend in all communities. since the director testified ast november, the bureau finalized its rule to supervise nonbank student loan servicers who service over 49 million accounts. for the first time, the nation's second largest consumer debt market will have federal supervision. i am encouraged by this action but remain concerned about the high level of student debt which stands at $1.2 trillion. this issue is particularly important to me as south dakota has the highest proportion in

with untry of residents student loan debt. i am interested to hear from the director about actions the bureau plans to take to address this growing problem. according to federal reserve data released last friday, jumped to its fastest pace in three years with credit card debt rising to a pace ub seen since 2001. this serves as a reminder that as memories of the last crisis fade we need a diligent cfpb that guards against abusive practices and ensures consumers are able to make responsible financial decisions while having fair access to affordable credit. i applaud the cfpb's work so far and look forward to your

testimony. with that, i turn to ranking member crapeo. >> thank you, mr. chairman. today we welcome back dr. cord re to discuss the most recent semi-annual report of the bureau. in recent months, the cfb has laid out an agenda that will affect many products and services. as the cfpb proceeds with rules targeting short term and small dollar credit, overdraft protection, auto financing, mortgage servicing, and settlement and arbitration, it must fully understand how these rules will affect the cost and availability of credit for consumers. the cfpb must also commit to take a balanced approach and to performing a thorough qual tative and quantitative cost benefit analysis of each rule. i am concerned that many of the cfpb's recent proposals and actions will continue to push mainstream financial products

into unregulated areas, diminish consumer choice and make certain products unaffordable. those outcomes could come at a great cost to the consumer and should be prevented. as the director is aware, another initiative that is of great concern to me is cfpb's being data collection. in the the past i've asked simple questions regarding data collection such as how many consumer accounts the cfpb is monitoring and how it intends to use the personal information it collects. unfortunately, my calls for transparency have been met with ramped-up efforts by the bureau. this april, i learned that the federal housing finance agency and cfpb will expand the jointly run national mortgage data base to include a person's religion, social security number, major life events and linked to other lines of consumer credit together on potentially hundreds of millions of loans. this information is undoubtedly

intrusive, unnecessary, and contrary to the cfpb's public statements of not collecting and using personally identifiable information. adding concern is the admission by fhfa's project manager that the information on it would be easy to reverse engineer. moreover, the fhfa and cfpb have already publicly indicated that borrowers do not have the opportunity or right to opt out of the data base. finally, the recent reports about employment discrimination at the cfpb are also deeply troubling. two commissioned independent external reports and testimony from a whistleblower highlight the failure of the employment rating and compensation system and unacceptable conduct of certain bureau managers. today we will need to discuss how this occurred, why it took months for cfpb to acknowledge

and act upon these independent reports, and what additional steps the cfpb is taking to increase transparency and accountability. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator crapeo. are there any other members who would like to give brief opening statements? enator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and welcome director cord re. released a report involving student loans and as i look at hard-working middle class new jerseyens trying to get ahead, i feel that they fall further behind. a new class of college graduates preparing to enter the workforce. but the question is at what cost to them and their families and at what cost if something

should happen to them before the loan is paid off? the experience of the family of christopher brisky in my state of nuge illustrates how challenging these issues can sometimes be. in 2004, he was a student at rutgers when he suffered a severe traumatic brain injury left him in a vedge stative state for two years before he passed away. during this time of hardship his parents were shocked to learn that his student loan debt continued. not the injury nor christopher's death was enough to stop the debt from growing. while some private lenders may clear that they will discharge recent loans in the event of a borrower's death or disability, others do not communicate what their obligations will be leaving families like christopher's to find out that they are on the hook for the full cost of the loan no matter what. we need to take a step back and

see how we approach the policy in cases like christopher's. before they collect their first paycheck they will already be burdened by massive stubte loan debt. if something happens to them the burden in many cases will fall to family members many of overwhelm are already strubbling to make ends meet. the share of 25-year-old with student debt continue to rise last year and the total outstanding balance now exceeds $1.1 trillion. that is nearly 30,000 for an average student loan borrower in new jersey. the burden for families are real and the need for consumer protection i believe is critical. that is why today with senators brown and booker i'm introducing christopher's law, a simple and common-sense bill that will require student loan providers to clearly communicate to borrowers and their cosigners what their obligations will be in the instance of death or disability. by increasing transparency in this simple and small way, the bill can save families like

christopher's years of potential hardship down the road. i also plan to introduce separate legislation in the coming weeks to address two other related issues. first, in the brisky situation when the lender ultimately forgave christopher's student loan debt after six years, his parents were then hit with a large tax bill on what is deemed under the law to be income. the bill i will be introducing will end that practice which unnecessarily burdens families and the economy. second if something happens to the cosigner, some borrowors have gone into default despite never missing a payment or doig new england wrong. that's simply unacceptable. so i look forward to discussing this with you further today and look forward to being able to make a change so that death and disability isn't a continuing challenge to families. thank you. >> anybody else? senator too manyie. >> thank you. i just want to say briefly i

will not be able to stay until the time when i would be able to ask questions but i am concerned about a process that is under way by which the cfpb is collecting a vast amount of information about credit card usage on the order of -- a staggering amount of data about individual usage of credit cards. i have a series of questions i will submit them for the record and look forward to an opportunity to have a follow-up discussion. thank you. >> senator brown. >> i will be less than 30 seconds. i wanted to echo the words of senator menendez. i am a cosponsor of his legislation. i was in a call the other day speaking with the sister of andrew cat bi, who is a law student in western ohio who was killed right before he graduated from law school and the sister spoke of some of the same kinds of behavior that they experienced from their servicer similar to what

senator menendez talked about. so i'm hopeful that you can help us address those issues. >> thank you. >> anybody else? >> i would like to remind my colleagues that the record will be open for the next seven days for additional statements and added materials. mr. richard cord ray is the director of consumer financial protection bureau. you may begin your testimony. >> thank you chairman johnson ranking member crapeo and members of the committee for inviting me to testify gwen today about the latest semi-annual report of the consumer financial protection bureau. the bureau as you know is the nation's first federal agency with the sole focus of protecting consumers. financial products like mortgages, credit cards and student loans involve some of the most important financial transactions in people's lives. congress created the bureau to

stand on the side of consumers. those consumers are your constituents. since we opened our doors we have been focused on make clgsumer financial markets work bet for the american people, the honest businesses that serve them well, and the economy as a whole. my testimony today focuses on the bureau's fifth semi-annual report to congress and the president which describes the bureaus efforts to achieve this vital mission. through fair rules, consistent oversight, appropriate enforcement of the law and broad based consumer engagement the bureau is helping to restore the american families' trust in markets, protect consumers from improper conduct, and ensure access to fair and competitive markets. through our enforcement actions we have refunded 3.8 billion to consumers who fell victims to various violations. we have also fined wrong doers more than $141 million all of which has gone into civil

penalty fund and to the extent compensating consumers is not practcabble to support education and literacy programs. in the fall of 2013, for the first time we took action in conjunction with multiple state attorneys general against an online loan servicer for illegally collecting money that consumers did not ofmente we took action against a payday lender in violation of the military signing act. we took action against an auto lender. and we partnered with 49 states to bring an action against the nation's largest nonbank loan servicer for misconduct at every stage of the process. cfpb supervisery work contributed to a recent enforcement action resulting in a refund to consumers related to credit card add-on products.

nonpublic supervisery actions and self-reported violations, a great new development among many of these institutions, have resulted in more than $70 million remediated to consumers. in january, as the chairman noted, mortgage rules to implement provisions of the dodd frank act took effect establishing new protections for home buyers and home owners. we also issued another rule mandated by the dodd frank act to consolidate and improve federal mortgage disclosures under the truth and lending act and the real estate procedures act to simplify this process for individuals and ippedstri alike which we call our know before you owe project. we also issued an advanced notice of proposal rule making on debt collection asking the public in-depth questions about a range of issues relating to the debt collection market which is the bureau's most frequent source of consumer complaints. to promote informed financial decision making we've continued

providing consumers with the section of our website which i encourage you to use on behalf of your constituents where we have answers for over 1,000 frequently asked questions. a premise at the heart of our mission is that consumers should be treated fairly in the financial marketplace and they deserve a place that will facilitate the resolution of their complaints when that does not happen. to this end the bureau has strengthened its office of consumer response. as of june 1, 2014, we have received nearly 375,000 consumer complaints on credit reporting, debt collection, money transfers, bank accounts and services, credit cards, mortgages, vehicle loans, pay day loans, and student loans. the progress we have made has been possible thanks to the engagement of hundreds of thousands of americans who have used our tools submitted complaints, participated in rule makings. that should be millions. >> and told us our stories at web sites and public meetings from website and at public meetings from coast-to-coast.

we have benefited from an on with thelogue institutions we supervise as well as credit unions and community banks. also thanks to the work of the bureau's employees. dedicated public servants who are committed to promoting healthier and fairer consumer marketplace. we work to renew trust in the marketplace and in sure it is fair, transparent, and competitive. in the years to come, we look forward to continuing to fulfill congress's vision of an agency of cultivating a financial marketplace based on these principles. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. i look forward to listening closely and responding to your questions today. >> thank you for your testimony as we begin questions, i will ask the clerk to put five minutes on the clock.