conditions that no longer serve as incentives to the flow. the principal cause i believe it is not the misimpression of the rumors, but the critical if you look at the children that have come this fiscal year and you look at the levels of violence in the areas, those are the most violent places. >> i did point out the murder rate in both new orleans and detroit are comparable to one or two of those countries in central america. we have violence as well. real quick, what would you say is the goal, our short term achieveable goal to address the unaccompanied children problem? >> i think the goal is to protect children from being sent back to death.

there is a humane practical approach that is not being discussed by the senate. i am concerned that children are released and too many of them do not show up for their court hearings. if you were a seven-year-old child and didn't have an attorney, you wouldn't show up either. you can hold these children for 60 to 90 days. a limited amount of time would be humane. bring in immigration judges, spend money on that and ajudd kate their cases quickly. give them a full fair hearing with somebody who can bring out child sensitive interviewing techniques. provide that child with an attorney. if they do qualify, 40 to 60% of these children do qualify for some existing relief to stay in this cuntrifment very few of them are getting that because they don't have attorneys but if

they do qualify let them in and increase the number of refugees we take. if they are economic migrants then deport them immediately and that message will get back. if you are coming for economic reasons and there are people who are doing that, then send them back and that will send a message. and that option -- and i'm not popular in some human rights groups for saying keep these kids in detention. but that will force them to go through the process and not simply be released and sometimes show up to court. and by the way they are more likely to show up to court if they have an attorney and these cases go more quickly if they have an attorney. if they are a refugee, i think we are a compassionate country and let people in. if they are not, deport them quickly and that will send a message. >> we want to treat these kids with humanity but i'm concerned about parents making that

decision to send the kids on that dangerous journey. our goal is to stop the flow, stop parent frs making that choice. if we asylum cases those should be requested in the how many countries. if we need to beef up resources do it in the how many countries. let's not incentivize people to come here. >> we need to have more in country processesing, the ability to apply for refugee stat us in those cun tryst. i spent three months making that journey. i had post traumatic stress. and many die and lose arms and legs on that journey. you need to beef up the ability to do that in those home countries. >> it's important we define an achieveable goal so we can design policy to make that goal -- >> what i defined is achieveable. >> thank you.

just a quick follow up, senator johnson. i've spoken with a lot of people, u.s. officials and others in preparation for this hearing but also over the length of this crisis. and one of the things that sticks in my mind is the comment of a senior official from the u.s. government, i won't say who to identify him. but he said if as a parent you face the choice of your child joining a gang, being killed because they are not joining a gang or sending that child to the united states regardless of the pearls of the journey, it's pretty obvious why many parents make that choice and those conditions have to be addressed. >> i appreciate all the information and the views. as i understand it, honduras is the per capita is the murder

capitol of the world, that beats detroit if you are the murder capitol of the world, you are the murder capitol of the world. and i understand the other two countries are third and fifth in that category as well. that's globally. that's pretty significant in terms of citizen security and why people flee. if it would be my hope that we defined just stopping the flow as our goal, then we are going to have a long -- i want to stop the flow too. but the way you stop the flow is to change the realities on the ground in central america so that people will stay in their country and not flee out of fear or even a belief of opportunity.

if i have no fear for my life and if i have opportunity, then i'm not going to flee. i visited those central american countries, they are quite beautiful. so i think that if we really we have op the flow, to change the realities on the ground because if not, this will be a recurrent problem. it will have spikes and lows but the goal is to ultimately change the dynamics so we don't have any of this flow coming to the united states other than through normal legal procedures. >> you rightly focused on the statistics, the homicide statistics in honduras about 91 per 100,000. it's worth recalling that the distinction of the most violent city of the world was in

columbia. and in the last year or two it was identified as the most innovative city in the world. those homicide rates are still serious, but they have gone way down and gone down as a result of a sustained investment, the participation of a broad swath of society of the private sector, of the church and of the local government in ininvesting in human welfare and really transforming that city. so it is possible to go from a very bad place to a much better, if not a good place. >> any other final comments? >> when i was just in honduras, i saw very few children bringing up the issue of is there some avenue to stay legally in the united states. what they all talked about first, second and third it was violence. and until that changes and i recognize it's a very difficult

pros says given corruption and the corruption that has affected the economy. the chamber of commerce says that 7 in 10 small businesses have shut down in honduras because of extortion threats on businesses. can you imagine that happening in the united states? it's a very long process. but i've long said to stem this exodus whether it's children or adults, you have to deal with the root causes of these issues at its source. >> i would just say that in addition to the work that is being done in our capitol and in the capitols of central american countries by their leaders that we focus also on the citizens and involving their participation because ultimately the policies that are being debated are ones that should benefit them and affect their decisions whether they can stay in their countries or whether they have to look elsewhere to

lead safe lives. i think their voice is very important and i hope we can keep that in mind as we decide actions to take moving forward on this issue and the overall issue of our relationship with our allies in central america. thank you. >> all very valid points and we will certainly as we try to deal with what we are going to do on the cause side, think about many of the suggestions that you have collectively had. i want to thank you all for your testimony and for hanging in here with us through the votes. this record will remain open until the close of business tomorrow. i would say that we as the record remains open, we will permit outside organizations to submit statements for the records and this hearing is

adjourned. >> deputy attorney general james cole testified about whether the i.r.s. targeted political groups. congressman issa spoke about the investigation and the need for a ecial prosecutor during this hearing. >> the democratic national committee and the democratic national congressional committee works with those heads to plan e president's targeting of

races to support democrats for their reelection on a partisan basis and we're not allowed to hear from that person because there is an inherent right not to produce that. when you say here you stand in the attorney general's letter is well thought out, you don't need a special prosecutor, do you know how absurd it sound to the american people? absurd it sound to the american people that you don't need a special prosecutor because all you political appoint tees over seeing a team of people who may at the lowest people be career people hoping to move up, that you political people aren't influencing it, there is no influence? i just find it amazing. and i know that mr. horsford is left. he would get an opportunity to take the party line. you are not prosecuting a contempt of congress because you have this new opinion that shall doesn't mean shall presented to

the court or in this case to the grand jury. you haven't given it to us and today is the first time we hear about it. i join with the chairman in reiterating that we need a special prosecutor because your political appoint tee, your boss is a political appoint tee, the people that work for you work for you at your pleasure and you are controlling an investigation that is slowly reaching no decision when in fact learner has been found by a committee of this congress to have vited laws as she targeting conservatives for their views. this committee produced a massive document showing she targeted them and not liberal groups and yet you is it here today implying you are relying on some well known more conservive individuals decision as though we are supposed to believe that.

when the gentleman from nevada talks about contempt, yes, we have contempt for the man you work for because in fact congress as a matter of record has held him in contempt for failure to deliver documents. your office implied a federal judge had no right to consider a case that was directly on point a nixon era point of liing to congress and then refusing to deliver documents related to those false statements. >> you can watch this entire i.r.s. oversight subcommittee hearing at our website. go to cspan.org. >> on our next "washington journal" we'll get the latest on the ma lace yan airline crash. and then a look at the long term federal budget out look. we'll talk about the budget. this weekend marks the

anniversary of the moon landing. we will discuss the history and future of u.s. space exploration. we'll also take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" live each morning at 7:00 eastern. my dear >> new jersey governor chris christie was in iowa for a fundraise erp. he has been mentioned a's possible cand at the in the 2016 presidential race. this is part of c-span's road to the white house coverage. >> thank you very much. it's great to be back in iowa.

it's funny to stand up here and hear that i was an inspiration for him to run for governor. because i can tell you that in 2010 when we got that phone call in new jersey from his campaign asking if i would come and campaign for him near the end of the campaign, i said to my staff he knows who i am and this say legend. this say guy who set the example for governors all across the country of both parties. and not just because he initially served four terms and did an extraordinary job. but the thing that makes his public service so extraordinary is the example he set for the last four years. four years ago when he was in a very good job that he was doing a great job at and getting to spend even more time with his family, he saw what awful shape iowa was in. he saw what the last

administration was doing to iowa, to iowa's economy, to iowa's education system and today pride that iowa rightfully feels about it, it was diminishing because of the awful policies that were being put in place. when he could have said no thank you, i served four terms as governor of iowa, i've done my service, instead he did what real selfless publics service is all about. he put the people of iowa and the state he loves ahead of his own personal interest. that's the greatest inspiration you give to anybody. it's not about you. it's about the people that you serve. and so i know the people in this room understand this. but he's not just an inspiration to fellow people of iowa. he's an inspiration to people across this country. he's a great governor and he

will continue to be a great governor because you are going to return him to office, aren't you? [applause] >> and i have a lieutenant governor name kim too. she is the acting governor since i am here in iowa. but kim reynolds is somebody i got to meet four years ago. and she is an extraordinary leader and partner. he's right, she has extraordinary energy and great ideas and she's somebody who i think people all across the state look up to. because again, she's someone who is doing the job every day. not looking for fanfare, not looking for the limelight. not looking to be the star of the show. looking to get the job done. and that's the kind of partner you want when you are a governor. he picked really wisely four years ago and there is no reason

to change a winning team when you are in the middle of a winning streak which is what iowa is in the middle of. please give them as much support as you can. now here we are in scott county. i probably shouldn't say this but when i was walking in, he said this is the best county. these guys, i never lose in scott county. i never lose in scott county. these are really good supporters of our party. and so for all of you who are here tonight and i turned to the chair while he was talking and said this is such an amazing turnout in the middle of july for you all to be here supporting this team and this ticket in the middle of july when you could be doing lots of other things, it is incredibly impressive for me to see all of you out here. i can tell you we're working

just as hard across the country to give the same kind of support you are giving to terry right here in iowa to all the other republican governors and the folks who want to be republican governors. and we're going to do great things. we have 29 republican governors now. as terry said i'm going to be the 14th state in july and august alone. i've been to 19 states between december and june. and we're going across the country raising money, campaigning, and speaking to folks about why it makes a difference to have a republican governor in your state house rather than one of the other party. of the 20 best performing states in the economy, 19 have republican governors. at is not a co-incidence everybody. [applause] . so now i have a job to do. not just to be the governor of new jersey but to be the person to lead this group of governors

to bigger and better things. when i get to leave my state as i'm doing today and i get to come to a place where here in iowa you have a republican house of representatives, i must say that it brings out a bad side of me. i get terribly envious. green with envy in fact because i have an all democratic legislature. i've had an all democratic legislature since the day i walked in. while we get things done and i've worked hard and it's the governor's job to work with people they send you although i tell the people of new jersey they have an extraordinary sense of humor. they've elected a republican governor and democratic legislature. they are like the 1-year-old boys in the basement doing a science experiment. let's mix these two things together and see what happens.

we've had some explosions every once in a while. we've had real conflict but we've also gotten things done. the difference is when you have an effective governor, when you have someone who understands what it means to try to work hard and work productively for the people, you don't use those things as excuses. there is a split legislature here. earlier he had an all democratic legislature. you never heard terry use that as an excuse. i can't get anything done because of the legislature people sent me. that's not the way you do business. whoever you sent me, it's our job to make things happen. so in new jersey even despite those things, despite all the vetos and my first two years as governor i set a record for vetos for a two-year period since our new constitution was instituted in 1947. and the two years after that i

broke the record for the first two years. and we're going to break another record. sometimes as go nor i have to say no. someone asked me if i'm staying in iowa tonight. i said part of my legislature was in town today without me there. they are not allowed in the state house without adult supervision, i have to get home. as much as i'd love to stay here, i have to get home to be in the state house tomorrow to see what they were up to today. but also we've been able to cap property taxes in our state. we have 6,000 fewer employees on the new jersey state payroll than when i got in office in 2010. we are spending $2.2 billion less today than we did in fiscal year 2008 on everything but our pensions and healthcare. we have squeezed government to be smaller and smarter and more efficient. it's the conservative principles

we all stand for whether we live in new jersey or iowa or if florida or georgia or ohio or michigan or wisconsin, we all stand for those things. and those are the principles that unite us as a party and we have to continue to have unite us as a party. whatever differences we may have inside our own party, whatever good arguments we have, threr small compared to the differences we have with the other side. remember back to four years ago and housm different iowa feels today than it felt four years ago. so you've sat here through a lot of speeches and a top ten list. i'm not going to wear you out tonight. but i want to say one more thing to you and leave you with something to think about. here in this room all these folks, all of you are people who are already on the team. you wouldn't be here tonight if

you weren't on the team. you wouldn't be here if you weren't willing to stand up for the people on our republican ticket in iowa and do a great job for them. some people would say what i am doing tonight by exhorting you is preaching to the chire. i talked about this, i'm married to a woman who is number nine of 10 children. she has six older brothers and wo older sisters and a younger sister. small irish catholic family from the northeast. and what it means is when i got married into that family i have relatives everywhere in america, aunts, uncles, first cousins, second cousins twice removed. we got them p all and they are everywhere. one place we have really nives albany and new york. . i went to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in albany and new york.

we are catholic and my sister-in-law is lutheran. she asked if we would government we went with them and i heard the best explanation that day from the pastor that i've ever heard about preaching to the choir because tonight i'm preaching to the choir. we have this popular sentiment about that phrase, it's wasting time. this pastor explained it. he said i preach to the choir. i plead guilty preaching to the choir. i preach to the choir every sunday. i preach to the choir so they will sing. for the first time i understood the power of preaching to the choir. because all of you are part of the choir for the republican team in this state. i'm here to preach to the choir so you will sing to your family and friends, so you will sing to your neighbors and co-workers. so you will sing to the people you see in the parking lot at church on sunday, so you will

sing to the people you see on the football field this fall on friday night or saturday afternoon, so you will sing to the people you see in the supermarket check outline, every place you go, that you'll tell people that you are amongst the leaders in this state who will be able to look at others and say i've met the governor. i've met the lieutenant governor. i've looked him in the eye. i've taken the measure of their character. and not only am i voting for them, i'm working for them. 110 days to go and the results of this election are about whether we're going to expand republican gains in the house, whether we are going to take over the state senate for the republicans, whether we are going to elect a republican woman to the united states senate and give us a republican majority in washington, d.c. [applause] whether we're going to elect a new republican female

congresswoman from right in this district. [applause] >> i have to tell you the truth. at this point given everything i've seen it's not up to the governor or lieutenant governor or these individual candidates. they are going to work hard. you know they are. i am so tired of hearing how hardworking terry is, i got to tell you the truth. five stops today, hardest working governor in america. i hear it. i know. hardest working governor in america. he's not going to let up now. he's going to work hard. kim is going to work hard. all the candidates are going to work hard. how about you? 110 days to go. [applause] there are two scenarios that i'm going to lay out for you. we're an hour ahead so i can see into the future. here is the thing, i can see

into the future, two different scenarios. scenario one, you wake up on the morning of november 5 and we come a little bit short. we are one seat short in the senate. we don't expand our margins in the house. we don't have a new republican united states senator from iowa and don't have new republican members of the house because we came just a little bit short. think about how you'll feel that morning when you wake up. maybe the clock radio wakes you up and you hear the news about the slim losses by republicans in iowa. you want to lay there and think to yourself if i had only done a little bit more. if i had only put aside some of my personal purr suits for that 110 days and put my state first, put my country first just for 110 days. if i had done that maybe we would have a different result and terry would have a legislature who would be moving fully in the direction of his

vision for iowa's future. maybe we would have a republican united states senate and a bigger majority in the house of representatives that would pressure the president of the united states to finally lead and act in this country and not being a bystander in the olve office. [applause] >> but we didn't do it. we came up short. we'll have that feeling of regret and those pains of guilt. scenario number two is much better. you wake up on november 5. the clock radio goes off. you hear the news reports and we are talking about a new female republican united states senator who is the difference in a republican majority in the yithes senate, a new state senate controlled by republicans in iowa, a bigger house majority in iowa, a bigger majority in

washington. and you are going to know you did it. you are going to know you did it. it wasn't the tv ads, it wasn't the mail in the mailbox. it was you because you are the most powerful force in american politics. you talking to friends and neighbors and others who look to you as a leader. you are still the most important force in politics. and i suspect iowa understands that better than almost any other state in america. you get the fact that you are the ones who can make a difference. so let's not fall short. let's not wake up under scenario number one with pains of guilt and regret. let's wake up after a joyful evening on november 4 where we have now set a record for the longest and best serving governor in the history of america and his republican team showing the rest of america what

strong conservative republican leadership can do to turn our entire country around. because when we get done on november 4 of 2014, we will all turn our eyes toward 2016 and taking our country back. but first things first everybody. [applause] i'll end with one of my favorite quotes from one of the great leaders in the history of this country. he was a really blunt, direct, out spoken guy. cannot imagine why i might like him. he's one of the founding fathers. john adams. as he was nearing death near the 50th anniversary of the country that he helped to birth, he was concerned that america was moving in the wrong direction,

concerned like many of us are today about our country. he was older and weaker and living up at his farm and didn't have the energy any longer to travel to the nation's capitol and speak out so he wrote for us in his diary in his dying days and i think it applies to what i've just been urging all of you to do. his advice is similar to the advice i gave you. he gave it to all of us. he wrote this in his diary. he said you shall never know the sacrifices that we made to secure for you your liberty. i pray you will make a good use of it. for if you do not, i shall repent in heaven for ever having made the sacrifice at all. john adams understood how precious liberty was because he watched people fight and die for

it. he birthed the country that has produced the greatest economy, the greatest military and the most compassionate people the world has ever seen. and he would say to us if we let this opportunity go by that we didn't truly appreciate the price that has been paid for the liberty that we enjoy. he would want us to work to make sure we expand that liberty and that freedom for everybody, not just for us, but for the next generations. so if we do what we need to do over the next 110 days. i guarantee you i will. i will troovel every corner of this country to get this message out there to get republican governors elected and re-elected. d you do what you need to do inside iowa for the next 110

days and i guarantee iowa will have a brighter future for your children and grandchildren and john adams won't have to repent for aven for sacrificing our freedom we have every day. we have had a full day across this entire great state with the governor and lieutenant governor. i've enjoyed every minute of it. got people from the press asking me do people in iowa love you governor. [applause] and i say, heck, i don't know we just met. but the early indications are good. and i will tell you that i feel so wonderful coming here. i've been here and every time i've come to iowa i've been

greeted so warmly and so kindly by all of you. and it makes me feel really good to be able to get on the the airplane and go home tonight knowing that i made a lot of new friends and hoping that i did just a little bit to make victory on november 4 for people i care deeply about like terry a little more possible. let's work as hard as we can the next 110 days and i'll see you back in iowa soon. thank you very much. [applause] >> president obama spoke briefly about the malaysia airline crash. he was at an event in delaware on infrastructure spending. that's next on c-span. then the senate committee looks at the influx of children from

central america. >> the bipartisan policy center will co-host the event live at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. afghan president will leave office in august. he has served as his country's president since 2001. at 10:00 a.m. eastern, the u.s. institute of peace will look at his legacy. that's live on c-span2. cato noon eastern, the institute will debate possible ways to improve the finances system. live coverage on c-span2. >> july 20 marks the 40th anniversary of the first lunenar landing.

the life of the first man to walk on the moon, neil armstrong, saturday night at 10:00 eastern on c-span2's afterwards. >> president obama was in delaware to talk about the need for more transportation subpoeneding. he spoke near the closed bidge in wilmington which is under going repairs. he briefly mentioned the ma lace yan airlines crash.

>> hello everybody. it is wonderful to be back in dell desm. everybody is watches reports of a downed yet near the ukraine board. looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. we are working to determine whether there were american citizens on board. that is our first priority. i've directed by national security team to stay in contact with the ukranian government. we will offer assist tons determine what happened and why. as a country our thoughts and prayers are are with all the families and passengers wherever they call home. i want to thank jeremy for that introduction. give jeremy a big round of applause. [applause]

it is great to be in the state that gave us joe biden. [applause]

jack lew's signature is on your money. we teased him he would have to fix the signature a little bit because it looked like a caterpillar running across the bottom. now the bridge behind me used to carry 90,000 cars everyday. since last moits been closed for repairs. once workers are done repairing it, this bridge will be safer, more reliable for commuters and commerce. thanks to a competitive grant program called tiger, a program by the way that was part of the recovery act that we initiated when i first came into office and joe biden thoped manage, his is rebuilding a whatever that will let wilmington compete for the biggest cargo ships.

so far tiger grants have given a boost to 270 infrastructure projects and thousands of jobs across all 50 states. that's what i'm hire to talk about, creating more good jobs, rebuilding america and the opportunity we have to seize to rebuild the america middle class. after the worst economic crisis since the great depression in part because of the actions we took, primarily because of the strength and determination of the american people, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs over the past 52 months. construction and housing are rebounding. the auto industry is booming. it was in a tail spin when we came n. manufacturing is adding jocx for the first time since the 1990's. the unemployment rate is at its slowest point since 2008. which is one of the fastest one year drop in nearly 30 years.

and the decisions we made not only to rescue our economy but to rebuild it on a firmer foundation, those decisions are starting to pay off. we are more energy independent. for the first time in nearly 20 years we produced more oil in the united states than we buy from abroad. first time in 20 years we are doing that. at the same time we are actually reducing our carbon pollution, creating new jobs in clean and renewable energy sis, three times as much wind power, ten times as much solar power. our high school graduation rate is at record high. '4" 01 k's are growing, fewer homes are under water. more have affordable quality healthcare if they need it and the deficit is coming down to boot, been cut more than half. [applause] so by almost every economic

measure we're doing a lot better now than when i came into office. as i said, most of it's thanks to you, the resilience and resolve of the american people. because of that we've recovered faster and come farther than almost any other advanced country on earth. business leaders for the first time in a decade around the world are saying china is not the best place to invest, the united states is the most promising place to invest. so we've got this huge opportunity to keep this momentum going, to keep growing the economy, but also to make sure that growth is broadly shared. we got to make sure we're creating not just more jobs but also raising middle class wages and incomes and making it easier for folks working hard and doing the right thing to raise a

family. we have to not only graduate more kids but train more workers and make college more affordable. that's why i ran for president. that's what i'm focused on every day and this is more than some fleeting political story or made up scandal. this is the challenge of our times, making sure if you work hard and are responsible anybody can get ahead in this country. that's what america is about. we can achieve that if we see a few changes in washington's priorities. so today i'm here to talk about one example. creating good jobs rebuilding america. we know that in the 21st century economy businesses are going to set up shop wherever they find the best roads, the best bridges, the fastest internet connection, the smartest airports, the best power grid. first class infrastructure attracts investment and creates first class jobs.

unfortunately right now our investment in transportation lags behind a lot of other countries. china is doing more. germany is doing more. they are putting money back into building the infrastructure we need to grow over the long term. if washington were working the way it was supposed to congress would be creating jobs right now, jobs like jeremy talked about. guys in the hard hats are are doing now rebuilding bridges and roads and airports all across the country. it helps us now and helps us tomorrow. that's what we should be doing. but instead of creating jobs rebuilding our infrastructure in a predictable sustainable way, the debate in washington has been about something called the highway trust fund. it's how america is supposed to support states on transportation projects. congress has to keep it funded.

otherwise states have to put projects on hold, put construction workers back on the unemployment line. the good news is democrats and republicans are about to pass a short term fix that will keep funding going for about another nine or 10 months and i support that. the least we can do is support the jobs that are already there, keep americans on the job. if that is all congress does, then we're going to have the same kind of funding crisis nine months from now. that's not how normally you fund infrastructure. you got to plan it and you got to think about how are we helping folks and how are we helping states and cities and municipalties create plans for the future and make sure that the funding streams are level? we don't need unhelpful and unnecessary deadlines that

crunch a few months from now. we shouldn't have been this close to the deadline in the first place as your governor pointed out. even smaller transportation projects can take years to design and plan and build. a few months of funding doesn't cut it. jack said to this this is a band said an insult to a band aid. that's a pretty good line. congress shouldn't be too proud. shouldn't pat itself on the back for kicking the can down the road every few months. instead of barely paying our bills in the present we should be planning and ininvesting in our future. american people work hard every single day. and your efforts shouldn't be threatened every few months by a manufactured crisis in washington. everything doesn't have to be done at the last minute every time. i've put forward a plan to rebuild our transportation infrastructure in a long term responsible way. a plan that would support

millions of jobs, give cities and states and private investors the certainty they need to hire more workers faster. it would help small businesses ship their goods faster. help parents get home from their commute faster so they can see their kids. and it wouldn't add to what is already a rapidly shrinking deficit because we pay for it by closing loopholes for companies shipping profits overseas and avoiding paying their fair share of taxes. we need a broad based plan. we got $2 trillion of devered maintenance in this country of sures and water mains. we could put a lot of people back to work right now getting that done. we're going to have to do it eventually anyway. so far congress has refused to act on the idea which is strange because infrastructure should not be a partisan issue. it was a republican that built the interstate highway system.

lincoln built the railroad. both parties historically have understood that investing in this country for the long run pays off. when we invest in infrastructure we make sure the economy is growing for another century. that's what right now republicans in congress don't seem to be focused on. but until they do get focused on it, i'm going to do whatever i can to create jobs rebuilding america on my own. so today -- [applause] today we're launching what we call the build america investment initiative and we're creating a one stop shop for cities and states looking to partner with the private sector fund infrastructure projects. there are lots of investors who want back infrastructure projects because they get a steady long term investment. they get a steady return.

lots of states and local governments would welcome more private investment. but they need a partner in the federal government to help do some match making and work through some of the complexities of private financing of infrastructure. so my administration is going to help states and cities apply for federal loans, get more public private partnerships up and running, get more investment flowing into communities like wilmington. speed up the permitting for big projects and attract jobs to america and raise more workers wages, help women fight for fair pay, ease loans burdens for millions of students. we're taking steps on our own still hoping that congress at some point actually does something. i keep hearing from folks all across the country who tell me if members of congress had the same priority most americans do, we could help a lot of families

right now instead of playing politics. we should be creating jobs by ininvesting in what makes our economy strong, infrastructure and manufacturing and energy and research and development and education, all these things lead to new industries. we should train our workers to fill new jobs. we should prepare our kids to face global competition. we should be making sure that hard work pays off with a higher minimum wage. we should be seizing these tuents. and there is a simple principle behind it. when the middle class does good and people have ladders if they work hard, everybody does better. you have more customers for businesses, folks at the very top do better. america grows best from the middle out, not from the top down. that's when we succeed. i'm going to keep on looking for areas where republicans and democrats agree to move this country forward.

but i'm not going to stand by when politics hold us back. whenever and wherever i have a chance to help families like yours, i'm going to do it. when i have a chance to help communities like wilmington, i'm going to do it. that's why my administration takes executive actions when congress won't act. so far the only response we've ot season a lawsuit. -- gotten is a lawsuit. they are suing me for doing my job instead of doing their job. that is disappointing. it's a political stunt. and by the way, they are using taxpayer money to do it. it's your money they are wasting on this which no serious lawyer thinks makes any sense. it's just a political stunt. we could use the time, energy, effort and money to help your families. and maybe the folks behind this

think it will help them politically, i gaurntites not helping you. we could do so much more if we rally around protism that says we can disagree on issues once in a while but let's focus on our country, let's focus on our people. a sense of common purpose. the understanding we rise or fall as one nation and one people. that's how we built this country together. and the one thing i know for certain, if we work together, if we believe in one another, then we are going to keep on rebuilding our milledle class, we are going to restore the american dream for the next generation. we will make sure that america is the place no matter where you came from or what you look like or how you started you can make it. we need a little more focus in washington. keep the pressure on everybody. thank you. god bless you. let's build some bridges.

let's build some roads. god bless america. [applause] now i'm fog to sign my emorandum. -- going to sign my memorandum. through go. thank you everybody. >> a malaysia airline jet crashed in eastern ukraine near the russian board. it was reportedly shot down with a missile. the united states nations will hold a meeting tomorrow on the downing of that boeing 777. we'll have live coverage here on c-span. >> for over 35 years c-span brings public affairs events from washington to you putting

you in the room and offering complete gavel to gavel compling of the u.s. house all as a public service of private industry. we're c-span, created by the cable industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable provider. watch us on h.d., like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> next senate panel investigates the influx of unaccompanied immigrant children interesting the u.s. from central america. we'll hear from justice department officials and advocates. e. >> good morning. this hearing will come to order. we are here today because we have a humanitarian crisis on our southern border, now a

refugee crisis which i would argue rick virus an emergency response -- argue requires an emergency response. just as important that we address this refugee crisis in my view, it is equally important that we don't rush to change our stripn a way that would the children of their rights to due process. in dealing with this crisis, it is imperative that we understand its root causes and why it is not about america ring out a welcome mat. effortbout a desperate by desperate parents to do it any parent would do to protect their child from violence and the threat of death. we have with us to panels of experts who will help us fully understand the factors that have driven nearly 60,000 unaccompanied children in the last nine months alone to flee their countries and seek refuge in the united states. a piece ineekend, in

the new york times by pulitzer prize winning author sonia faria who was on our second panel christian wrote about omar reyes. three people he knows were murdered this year, four others were gunned down on a corner near his house in the first two weeks of the year, a girl his age was beaten, had a hole cut in her throat, her body left in a ravine across from his house. christian said it is time to leave. no, a 14-year-old who worked picking scrap metal making a dollar or two a day, when he was nine years old, he early escaped to europe traffickers were trying to rape him. when he was 10, the drug traffickers pressured him to try drugs and join a gang.

he has known a people who were murdered, three killed in front of him. in one case, he watched as two hitmen brazenly shot to young brothers execution style. these stories are the traffic -- the tragic stories of too many children facing in central america everyday. tens of thousands of children like christian and carlos whose stories are unknown but no less tragic. for me, someone who has closely followed latin america for decades, the current crisis in central america no less shocking than for anyone else. but it doesn't come as a complete surprise. at the end of the civil war's that race in central america the 1980's and 1990's, we did not pay enough attention after the wars to the region. we did not remain sufficiently engaged with our central american neighbors. we did not work with them closely enough to address structural problems or the

societal violence that is plaguing them today. they years of cuts to the region would, at our own peril, i argued. besides the deep poverty, we have enormous challenges in central america where we have the confluence of major drug via to the as a united states where we have gangs who have dramatically increased from el salvador from 600 to 40,000 and human cap trekkers -- human traffickers who take advantage. that we fail to take and am now with a crisis on our southern border. we review year, when ourets, i have said that

constant cuts to latin america and central america come at a price. unfortunately, in part, we are seeing that price today. we are going to spend $3.4 billion to deal with the consequences of the causes in central america. -- we will deal locally because we have only spent $110 million in five central american proposal ofth this $300 million to deal with the issues of combating drug traffickers, combating cartels, combating the gangs. $3.4 billion. atwould seem to me that, some point, we will focus on the core problem so that we don't have the consequences in our country of the challenges of the deep issues that are facing

central america as it relates to citizen security. one other point, although this hearing is about root causes and how we might deal with it -- let me just take the moment and personal privilege of saying i oppose the changing of the existing law. there is a reason why that law was passed. thats past to say noncontiguous nations, if you are fleeing 2000 miles to try to come to the united states, there may be a greater probability that you have a real case to be made for asylum because you have a credible fear of the loss of your life. i hearnder our law, as those who advocate for the rule of law, i agree, under our law, it is very clear. if you flee 2000 miles and you were told by the gangs join or and youyou were raped

flee 2000 miles not to ever experience that tragic and traumatic set of circumstances, you don't come with anything but the clothing on your back. and when you get here to the united states, you are going to need a reasonable period a time to be able to produce the facts to make that case. it doesn't come with you. so i understand the desire to accelerate the process. but accelerating without due process is not acceptable. i believe the law presently has a series of provisions that would give the administration the wherewithal to accelerate but with due process. so i support the efforts for the resources that are necessary to meet the challenge. but by the same token as those who just have a different view about what this law was intended to do, which passed with broad bipartisan support in both

houses of the congress and signed by a republican president, is not something that i personally can except. handle, i hope this motion of a look -- the strawman -- the short or long-term strategies. how we can lay a strong foundation so that we can have citizen security in central america so we will not face the consequences and they will face a more prosperous future. toh that, i would like acknowledge the ranking member. >> i want to thank you for

having this hearing. i know this is an issue you feel very passionate about. and thead to join you senate to pass an immigration bill. bill. not a perfect immigration bill we passed out of the bill could be improved. thei really do believe that type of thing we are dealing with on the border now cries out for us as a congress to deal with immigration reform. i do hope at some point we will do that. you stressed some things in your opening statement and i am going to stress some different things in my opening statement. my guess is that there are multiple veins of reasons as to why we are having the rubble on the border. and it's my -- this problem on the border.

and it's my hope that we will take into account all of those factors and put something in place that does solve this problem. i want to thank you for calling the hearing. i want to thank the witnesses for being here and sharing your wisdom with us. able to reach be a common understanding of the recent and past economic and security situations in central america that are driving this. i hope we will identify what mexico and central american countries are being asked to do to address the flow of unaccompanied minors across their borders. finally, i hope we can identify the administration's strategic parties for engaging central american leaders and taking responsibility for addressing the region's alms in order to -- problems in order to secure economic growth. the problem is at our borders

and it is our government's immediate responsibility to ensure the integrity of our borders. is ongoing migration crisis pushing our personnel beyond the capacity. the flow started to spike in 2012. unlike in the past, when migrants sought to evade -- when sought toen migrants evade u.s. authorities, these migrants are turning themselves in because they know they will not be immediately returned. this is a real change in the behavior at the border. it is something that we should focus on in addition to the comments the chairman made. lawlessness and the rate of gang violence that targets them make them want to leave central america. the hope of joining family are getting an education or a header way of life are also powerful

incentives to live -- to leave. but lawlessness across central america are nothing new. nothing much has changed in that regard yet we have this huge influx that is occurring. something else is clearly at play. word-of-mouth and local news reports have read about -- have spread about children being cared for by u.s. authorities, being connected with family already here and being allowed to stay. a significant pull factor has developed the unintended consequences of current u.s. law as well as the actual and perceived enforcement policies of the administration. is highly possible that human traffickers are using this to get people into the u.s. focused one been

counter narcotics operations are not this phenomenon. has been1, the u.s. understandably focused elsewhere in the world. we cannot afford to ignore the state of affairs in central america. this migration crisis may well pass. but it will recur in one form or another. it calls attention to the need to the united states to implement appropriate immigration policies to account for the clear unintended butequences of current law also a proactive strategy to engage central america and leaders in taking responsibility for addressing the region's problems in order to secure sustained economic growth, stabilizing the region is in the u.s. national interest moreover as mexico itself increasingly becomes a destination country for migrants. with that, thank you again. i look forward to the testimony

and hopefully at least on this issue a solution sometime soon in the united states senate and congress. thank you. >> is just one comment on what you had to say. i do agree with you that the broad bipartisan immigration reform the past in the senate has not even been taken up by the house of representatives. i wouldn't say that we wouldn't have this problem because the root cause is still the best still exists. the amendment you offered ultimately deals with border enforcement, trafficking, and a series of other critical issues that would have been helpful to us today. so i appreciate your comments. let me introduce our first panel . thomas shannon, a counselor at the state department. he has a long history in the hemisphere and is very well some of these issues. and bruce shorts, attorney

general. we appreciate you being here. let me advise you both that your full statement will be included in the record. without objection, i asked you to summarize them with about five mins or so so we can get to to q and a. -- >> thank you for the opportunity to testify today. if i might, i would also like to thank you mr. chairman and you senator worker and for the tremendous work you and your committee have done in moving ahead with ambassadorial nominations. thank you very much for the tremendous effort you both have made in your committee has made gerry i am grateful for the opportunity to address the ineign policy implications the surge of unaccompanied children in our southern border.

i outline the challenges we face . as we consider the challenges posed by this migration of unaccompanied children, i would like to note the following. first, migration by unaccompanied children is not necessarily a new phenomenon in a longer frontier. what makes it unprecedented is its size and composition as both the chairman and the ranking member have noted. what was historically a largely mexican phenomenon is now a central american phenomenon. infact, it is concentrated three source countries, guatemala, honduras, and el salvador. the source countries

of these unaccompanied children means that something dramatic is happening in these three countries and something is driving this migration. while the motives behind the migration are mixed, many being driven by traditional factors such as family reunification and economic opportunity, underlying much of the migration is the fear of violence caused by criminal gangs. in other words, there is a significant risk factor for the migration coming from central america, from these three countries. but at the same time, this is factor is being exploited by traffickers whose understanding of u.s. law and u.s. practice has allowed them to market a certain approach to bringing unaccompanied children to the border, especially the idea of taking them only to the border and then turning them over to u.s. authorities, something which is new. the third point i would like to make is that the migration is regional. while much of it is directed toward the united states, the

impact is really being felt throughout the region. the u.s. high commissioner on refugees has registered a 400% increase in asylum requests in neighboring countries which from our point of view means that, while most of the children are heading to the united states arrested because they have family already in the united states or networks of migration that they can plug into, those for whatever reason for not going to the entity states are fleeing, they are fleeing to other countries in the region. as we devise a response, we know that our approach has to be regional. it has to involve the transit countries but also address those affected by this migration. in other words, we cannot solve this problem alone and we need to build partnerships. again, i just came from the mexican frontier with guatemala during what is striking about this migration is that mexico is now not only a source and a transit country of migration but also a destination country because many migrants are saying a macro -- in mexico.

exfo is facing -- mexico is facing a lot of the same challenges. guatemala has become a transit country as hondurans and salvadorans cross automall a hearing -- cross water law -- guatemala. through our diplomatic engagement in the region in a believe we i fashioned an understanding of the problem among the united states, mexico, guatemala, honduras, and the seven or. we have engaged in -- and el salvador. we have established new mechanisms of cooperation in border security which includes mexico's recent announcement of

a southern border initiative and a repatriation of families with children including repatriation. the central with americans on the causes and drivers of this migration, we have an opportunity to build an integrated regional strategy and a supplemental request of $300 million is really a down payment on that larger strategy. with that, i conclude my remarks and look forward to your questions. >> general schwartz. thank you for this opportunity to discuss today the department of justice's law enforcement response to the problem of unaccompanied children crossing illegally into the united states. the department of justice is bringing the full rage -- full range of its authority. at the same time, we are

focusing our criminal justice authorities. that response takes two forms. first, our own investigations and prosecutions within the united states. second, our work overseas to help build the law enforcement capacity of our partners in the source countries from which these children are coming. we turn first to our own law enforcement investigations and prosecutions. our strategy in this regard has three prongs. it attacks the smugglers, the criminal gangs in the home countries of these individuals that prey upon them, and the cartels that exploit and profit on the smuggling of these children in the territories that they control. with regard to the smuggling were, we build on success with smuggling organizations. we have dealt with thousands of these cases, including international smuggling groups.

but this presents a new type of smuggling and a new more difficult issue. from a law enforcement perspective. . since the smugglers do not have to cross the border, since the children are being encouraged simply to present themselves, and since our intelligence suggests that many of these smugglers are not operating in large-scale organizations but rather in small groups. nonetheless, we are committed to developing strategies to attack these smugglers through investigation and prosecution. to that end, deputy general kohl met with deputies in the southern border. the second prong is our attack upon the criminal gangs that prey on these children in their home and helped spur their migration to the united states. our organizedt, crime and gang section within the department of justice aggressively targets the the 18thp of ms13,

street gang, and of the transnational gangs that attack not only these children and their family members in those countries, but also pose a threat to the united states. we have continued and will continue to bring such cases. the third prong is our attack on the cartels. profit by taxing these individuals, these children as they come through their territories, and by sometimes exploiting them as couriers or otherwise. employ a strategy that targets cartels but also the full range of the enterprise. it has been noted however that we cannot do this alone. the second part of our criminal justice response is working to build the capacity of the countries from which these children are coming.

we have both a short-term and a long-term goal. the short-term goal is to build the kind of trusted partners, vetted units within these countries that we can work with as our own law enforcement partners and that can also address the most serious violent crimes within those countries. the fbi with state department funding has created transnational anti-gang units, investigated units, home and security units. these units create important partnerships and help protect u.s. citizens. to longer-range strategy is build the capacity of these countries across the criminal justice system, from investigations or prosecutions to prisons. in that context, we have to organizations within the department of justice dedicated to that task. -- overseas press controller

our overseas prosecutorial process. date department support the place senior law enforcement experts in those countries to work with their counterparts and to think through a systemic change to their justice systems. here too we have had success in these countries. we have seen this work. we have seen a working colombia, in the balkans, around the world. thus, the department of justice says -- strongly supports the supplemental funding which includes seven million dollars to allow the justice department to increase its placement of prosecutors and senior law enforcement experts to work with their counterparts in these countries and help reduce the violence that serves as one of the drivers for the crisis that we face today. thank you. i look forward to your questions. >> thank you both for your testimony.

let me ask you, ambassador the president's supplemental request, less than 10% of the funding is destined to address the root causes of the current refugee crisis. in addition, at the same time that the supplemental comes, the administration proposed a 20% 15 to its central american regional security initiative. understand how we will spend billions to deal with but we areences cut in theith a 20% central american regional security initiative. can you explain to me how that makes the right policy sense for us? >> thank you very much for the

question and it's a good one. i think it goes to the heart of the challenge we face. the 20% cut was the product of a larger budget request in a constrained budget environment in which we had to balance a variety of competing demands. obviously, in light of what is happening right now, we need that 20% back and we need much more but. the supplemental budget request is a two-park west. as you know, -- two-part request. as you know, it goes to services in relationship to this crisis. it is a considerable amount of money but it is in the response to the immediacy of the crisis on our border and the presence of a significant number of people on that border and the need to process them and determine whether or not they have protections -- >> look, i am with you. >> ok. >> on the supplemental, although

i might structure it a little different. >> i get it. >> we have a crisis and we have to deal with it. but we will have a continuing crisis if we don't begin to deal with the root causes, the opportunity to vet units that are both police enforcement as well as prosecutorial opportunities if we don't use our intelligence integrated on the drug traffickers within the region, if we don't help them fight against the gangs that are heavily armed. and that is not just about being a good neighbor to central america. that is in our own national security interest. where do they think the drugs are headed? where is the demand? here. where do we think the traffickers want to take it? here. where do the gangs ultimately in part derived the synergy, their

resources? here. it is in our own national security interest. this is what i have been trying to say for years and i hope that we will see a change of worse both by the administration and by the congress who shares blame because no one has been paying attention to what is happening in the hemisphere in a way that understands in our own front yard, in our own national interest. becomes athis defining and galvanizing moment for us to be thinking of policy in a different way. much has been said about the pull factor of such actions as deferred action. isn't it true that deferred action would not give anyone who comes out or who has come in the to anyar any access

adjustment of status in this country? >> that is my stand -- that is my understanding, correct. >> isn't it also true that even the immigration law passed by the united states senate that 2011, you of december had to physically be in the country, that would not give anybody who comes subsequently any status or any eligibility or any cause of rights other than maybe through asylum to come to the united states and receive the opportunity to stay? is that true? >> that is my understanding. >> for that be true, mr. swartz? >> that is my understanding as well. the continuing our meant that we just have pull factors here and evil seem to be blind to the violence factors. but it seems to me that violence is a large part.

i'm sure there is a universe of children that may have a parent here or other relative and want to be reunited. they will not have a legitimate claim and they will ultimately be deported. but it seems to me there is a fair number of children who are ultimately fleeing violence. because if that is not one of the driving factors of this crisis, why aren't we seeing the same poll factors of children coming from other central american countries outside of these three and others in the region? >> as we interview the children as they come across the border, as they turned themselves into border patrol, and as others interview the children in other it isies in the region, evident that like all migrations, there are mixed mime -- motives.

an underlying theme is the violence. if we overlay on maps where the children are coming from and where gang and drug cartel presence is greatest, they lie on top of each other. >> some of us have called for cutting off assistance to the government of guatemala and honduras if they do not do more. i believe the governments have responsibilities. i shared that with the ambassadors and heads of straight -- state. but it is important to point out the firstatemala, lady launched a massive media campaign urging children not to migrate. perez's party in the bottom on congress introduce legislation to introduce

penalties and combat smuggling. the first lady lady has also played a prominent role in terms of public messaging. there is a newnd agreement signed between the withnment and mexico reference to be border security between their two countries. some similar agreements and decisions by the mexican government in addition to those bilateral government -- pursue and seek to 11 eight those who seek to ride the train of death. is that information i am -- is it correct? or is it wrong? if it is right, is there

anything off of his happening? >> it is correct. the efforts by the central american governments and first ladies to highlight the dangers of the legal migration northward, especially for unaccompanied children, has been welcomed the bios -- by us. what we are able to do is change the diamond nation -- change the dynamic. previously, migration meant going to the u.s. looking for work. seen as immediately important to the countries. but now that the faces of the migrants are unaccompanied children, it has created a political dynamic they must respond to. they are responding. visits by the first ladies of guatemala honduras and theirs to work with

governments has been an important part. mexico has begin to engage in a helpful way. the southern border initiative, onch you are referring to, the mexican southern border with guatemala. aat has also established tiered system of interdiction that will help manage the flow of migrants across those borders. separating out the legal migrants who work in the border area. and attempted to interdict illegal migrants. as i noted earlier, mexico, while a transit country, is becoming a destination country. many of the migrants are staying in mexico either because they are seeking work or are recruited by cartels. seeing as we fashion

strategies, a new opportunity for partnerships with mexico and also won a mullah, also the door, and honduras -- and also guatemala, el salvador, and honduras. >> thank you for being here. i want to begin with the phenomenon that has occurred. we had a debate on border security as part of immigration reform. we focus onhings was the effectiveness of border control. there is the issue of sign cutting. the agents would try to determine how many people had come across the border because we could not detect all the people. as a result of not getting to any kind of scientific way of resolving it, we ended up with the border control amendment that you care -- that the chairman should earlier.

what has changed? we feel -- we felt like we had no idea who was coming across because they were trying to avoid authorities. later, they are trying to turn themselves into us. tell me what has happened in the last 12 months that has won 80 degrees change the behavior of people coming to our country. degreesat has 180 changed the behavior people coming into our country. >> one of our primary purposes is to understand the drivers and the networks that are moving these people. the marketing being used by smugglers has played an important role. >> i had a nice conversation prior to this. i want to know -- unless we

answer that question, we are not going to -- i have some of the background stuff. that phenomena of people coming to our country. instead of avoiding the authorities, turning yourselves in. you have to have some got ut instinct.some g what willgglers know happen. they know they will be taken into custody and turned over to eight hs. -- hhs. what we have tried to highlight is the process does not ended there. the children go into deport haitian -- deportation proceedings. that has been absent from the marketing strategy. what happens along the frontier is understood by smugglers. that's why they have been successfully marketing this. >> addressing that policy issue

certainly needs to be a part of what we are doing. a groupson presented to i senators yesterday -- thought his presentation was very lucid. i thought he did a good job laying out -- that was a joke. i thought he laid out the problem very well. one of the things he talked about that i think is correct is 4/7ths of the people coming in are dolts. -- are adults. we are focused on the children issue. a big part of the people coming in are adults. is that correct? >> i'm not familiar with -- you dolts coming in -- the adults come in and get removed immediately. unless you're talking about adults with children to read >>

there are three categories. adults,, adults with minors, and then minors. phenomena, a large group of adults. adults with minors. what are we doing with them at present? >> dhs can answer this better understandingd my is adults with minors, we were initially unwilling to separate the children from the adults. the adults were being held, put into deportation or seatings -- proceedings, and then released. we have begun to deport them. has gone toight honduras. we are planning additional flights. >> i don't know the solution. i am seeking answers. some have said the big problem we have with the minors is we are putting them with guardians

within the country. many of them are not that -- are not documented. they are not likely to show up back in court. some have advocated we put these young minors in detention facilities. was your response -- what is your response? department of homeland security more than a state department issue. i would say that holding children in detention for a long time is bad for kids. oureed to hasten proceedings or put them with families. >> the first deportation proceedings are occurring. is that correct? >> for adults with minors. the proceedings have been ongoing over time. >> is there a concern that when the children are placed with guardians are foster parents,

whatever our terminology is, in they are undocumented, -- and they are undocumented, there is a concern they will not come back to the courtroom. it appears to me we have a policy issue. well the cartels and gains may be taken invention -- while the cartels and gangs may be taking it.ntage of >> there is no doubt. one of the purposes of the supplemental is to increase the speed of the hearings. i'm not sure of the key -- the number who show and don't show. there is a reason to show up, toecially if you are trying file a request for asylum. >> what percentage of the young

people who are here, what percentage of them are in need of asylum protection? mr. swartz? >> i think that is a question we are examining. insightave a lot of into what has occured. how many are needing asylum? >> is a question we would have to analyze and respond to you in writing. this is a developing -- >> i'm not asking for the official doj statement. as asking you as an expert, if you were having a conversation with someone, what is your sense of the number of young people were coming into this country during this phenomenon that need asylum? >> again, senator. i understand -- >> you are not going to be a good witnesses if you won't

answer questions. as ican speak to the -- said, the criminal justice aspect. and the impetus for the children to flee. whether the bases for the year asylum -- of their asylum will have to be determined. >> is the range. >> i'm not prepared. >> it doesn't give me a lot of faith in the public officials who are dealing with this issue. if they don't have sums -- some kind of got instinct as to the number of people coming into this country that might actually need asylum. that doesn't give me any -- a very good sense of you having a handle on the situation. >> i will certainly talk with my colleagues in the executive office of immigration review to get their views on that

question. i can speak to the criminal aspects. cananterbury all center -- the other witness answer? >> i don't have the figures from our own government. the u.n. commission thinks 58% of the migrants could have a concern. >> could. let me just say typically when people ask for an appropriation to deal with an issue, they have a sense of the magnitude of the problem in each ever-glory we are trying to solve here he if you are asking for us to solve a ifblem, and i hope we will, you don't really have a sense of the magnitude we are dealing

with, it is unsettling to think of the money coming to a problem we don't understand necessarily. how big be problem is or what the solutions are. i think you 40 -- i thank you for being here. i hope we will put forth policies that will help. >> before i can call on senator boxer, let me create a framework. i know we have a lot of questions. some of us attended the session yesterday. in which the appropriate officials will be best -- to answer them. here in the. swartz context of the hearing on central america and how we change the context of that. legitimate questions. i did to put in context,

not ask the department to come ofe to talk about the status asylum seekers and the likelihood. it is a legitimate question, but i don't want anybody to feel he is not being forthcoming. i do not ask him to come here -- it is not his jurisdiction. i asked him to tell us how to fight crime in central america. others can continue to ask what i want to set the record. >> i appreciate that point of view. i would hope that officials would be communicating with each other in departments. have won the appropriations request came up. i apologize if you feel i am off topic. >> totally legitimate question. i just don't want -- i invited witnesses here with a purpose. that doesn't mean they might not

have some broader knowledge. but when they do not, i'm not going to suggest they are not being forthcoming. i do believe the appropriators are getting, in their hearings, had some of those questions asked. i know the senator is pursuing some of this line of questioning. i don't want you to think he anybody toon -- think the administration is being evasive. senator boxer, thank you. >> i think you could help senator corker and others if you went back and looked at how many of all those that have sought asylum, the children, got asylum. i think it is an important point. from what i gather, is about 50%.

i would appreciate your doing that as well. i want to thank my chairman and may thinking member. -- and ranking member. we can do some thing about this. regardless of party. if ever we were able to be brought together, i pray that our sense of humanity would bring us together. noticedfetime, i have innocent children bring us together. standing in front of us. we have to deal with this in a smart way. we had to step up. -- we have to step up. i think there are two main questions. do we need to change the 2008?isan law from i have not said anything about today until how i feel. what open to seeing out --

we should do. i believe that bill, that bush bill, the feinstein bush bill, does give the administration the flexibility it needs. i don't know what their view is. they are looking at it. that is my view. i think under the law we can do the right thing for these children and the right thing for our nation. is what we are balancing. -- that is what we are balancing. the second question is, do we need more resources? without a doubt. i can't believe people were standing up who voted against confrontation -- conference hence of -- comprehensive immigration reform. senators --ith and and hope the senators will move together and lead us. many of the children are fleeing their homes. i'm not saying many -- all but

the most. making the treacherous journey because they are coming from some of the most violent places in the world. the murder rates in these countries are some of the highest. with hundred worse -- with hundred worse -- with hondourus title of murder capital of the world. in many cases, these vulnerable boys and girls are fleeing for their lives. here is the thing. they are not just clean to the u.s. this is an important point that was raised by mr. shen. -- shannon. safety in other countries like mexico, panama, belize. since 2009, asylum applications are up over 700%.

what does this say? it tells us this is not just an american problem. it is a regional problem. i don't believe we can solve it on our own. nor should we. investor shannon, i have a question. why would the administration -- ambassador shannon, i have a question. why wouldn't the administration call a meeting with the organization of american states? it seems to me this is the right venue. what we take care of have to do here, this is a way to take a look at this as a broader problem. can you react? >> is a good suggestion. we have had an opportunity to do several events related to this question. there was a conference held in nicaragua under the u.n. commission of high -- of refugees.

we were able to fashion documents and approaches that allowed us to understand, in a common fashion, how this dynamic, this crisis of migration. was held innference mexico city. the government of honduras held a regional migration conference where we were also present. >> that is really good. i'm talking about a regional summit at the highest of levels. we utilize the oas. it was set up -- i can't imagine -- i have talked to the administration about this idea. they seemed open to it. i hope you'll take back this idea. the american people, when they look at this, they are

compassionate. we have a few who were not, let's be clear. the ugly side has shown. overwhelmingly, people want to do the right thing. they also know this is a regional deal. we cannot do everything alone. it is too hard. we are coming out of some hard times. i want us to do our share. i want the countries in the region to. please take that back. the department of justice runs programs for- two central american countries. complete like lawlessness when you read about it. these children are so fearful they are going to be abused by these gangs, tortured. if they do not get recruited, killed perhaps.

notyou explain to us -- i'm an expert on what is happening on the ground -- can you give us a sense of what is going on on the ground? >> senator boxer, i can start and then turn to ambassador shannon. it is clear in these countries, violent is endemic -- violence is endemic. it is the backdrop for the surge we are seeing now. even if it is not causing every child to leave, it is destabilizing each and every one of these countries. it undercuts economic growth. it makes it dangerous for individuals to simply live in those countries. in terms of what we are doing on -- ground, i response has our response has short-term and long-term goals. we hope to you -- to be building

the kind of capacity that will allow them to address the violent climb -- crime that addressed's -- affects the citizens. these gangss -- operate across borders. that, with the state department funding for our resident legal advisers, our law enforcement advisers, or criminal investigative group, we can work on thinking through what systemic changes need to be made. we have seen this. we have seen the possibility of doing this. colombia being the most recent and relevant example. we took a country that some consider to be on the edge of being a failed state. with the commitment of that country, were able to think through changes through their prosecutorial system. a democraticte

policing system. the rights of citizens to be tried and protected. this is a question of having the funding to make this possible. the department of justice has not received appropriations. we received it from the state department. >> i want to say, that is the kind of thing the american people need to know. that is why a high-profile conference, where the region -- ato see the world cares high-profile summit would be very helpful. >> if i might add, the mexican attorney general has suggested we have a meeting. attorney general holder welcomes that idea. this problem came to light

this year with this huge influx of unaccompanied children in legally entering this country. when it did, people started to look at it. the first thing we heard was, it was because of the 2008 law. before we doaid, that, we have to look at the facts. we did. prepared of aph legal children injuring -- of illegal children injuring. this is only apprehension. have you seen this chart? the chart hits you quickly. thes not the 2000 late -- 2008 law. in 2000 10.000 inter- if anything, the direction of this was going down.

in 2012, it skyrocketed. you have 38,000 in 2013. this year, we have 52,000. the numbers that exploded were from although -- el salvador, guatemala, and had doris -- honduras. before you can resolve a problem, you have to know what is causing the problem. what happened before 2012? >> great question and important graph. at a point.explode there's pressure building before that. the pressure is building for a variety of reasons. very little of it has to do with the immigration debate here. children whos with have been detained and in

country with aspiring migrants indicates they have little understanding of the dynamics of the immigration debate. what they do will -- no and understand is how people are treated on the frontier when they arrive. when we suffered a economic downturn. the hemisphere itself and central is particularly devastated by this. 2011, -- from 2009-2011, you had the stress because of this. cartels moving into parts of central america in order to control the drug trafficking operations. building alliances with gains. the stressors that are driving linking the cartel activity to gain activity.

ty.gang activi >> if the economic downturn was 2009, it went down. it was not until 2012 that it went up. what is your view, briefly? a variety of causes. one hears everything from coffee and patient issues -- >> i appreciate the coffee and all that. it is one of the things we are trying to study and understand. understanding it is the -- underlying it is the economic stability. >> in 2012, did we have any significant event that occurred >> did the president sign any executive orders in 2012.

the would argue that dynamic of the migration -- >> are you telling me that his executive order -- we are not going to send children back -- is not going to cause annexed lausanne on, that people understood when they got here, they would not be sent back. you say and that has nothing to do with the explosion in numbers? >> the traffickers use a marketing strategy. dot smugglers were able to is fashion a marketing strategy for kids who wanted to leave, for parents wanted their kids to leave and were able to show that, when the kids got to the frontier, that they would not be removed immediately. >> that marketing strategy was based upon the change in policy that the resident took in 2012. is that a fair statement? >> i think it is based on the

noncontiguous test or disagree that the president's executive order in 2012 had no effect on this explosion that has occurred? >> i agree with ambassador channon. suggests thatce traffic marketers are -- traffickers or marketing the children will be not turn back in the united states. as far as we can tell, there is a general portrayal that is not on actual u.s. law. is there an impression that the president gave in 2012 the has caused this new marketing program? >> we have been very clear that the children, should they not have international protections, concerns or needs will be deported.

let me thank both of you for your work here and your testimony. as you pointed out, that the spike is related to the instability in the three countries involved because of the criminal activities within the story countries. i think this is what you responded to the question. that has caused a gang activities. andas caused trafficking traffickers will use whatever they can in order to make money so they will advertise the circumstances. is that this true country has been one of the strongest in working with the international community to encourage countries where there are serious concerns about safety of people within their

country to have an understanding that there border can be a sanctuary for those who otherwise are at risk. that is what we have been urging countries around the world to do. we have participated in international efforts to provide safety for people who are not safe in their native country. i think we all want to make it clear, a point that we have all stressed, that it is not safe to put your child in the position of a trafficker or in the position of being taken to our border. there is no important -- no improvement of that child's status. that child will be put in deportation. that,o have to be mindful ambassador shannon, the number you gave, not our number,