critical to educate the parents in terms of what measures they can take to safeguard this child, both within their home and within the schools. because these children are bolting from schools. we saw that in new york city last year. literally bolted from the classroom and went right into the east river. schools need to know what measures they can take to prevent a child like that from having open access, egress from that school. who should be notified when these incidents occur? we are focusing a lot of our attention and partnering with organizations like autism speaks, in a psa campaign to educate the community at large. the awareness level is not where it should be. the public will turn out to be the eyes and ears and first responders to this problem. but they need to know what to look for and how they should respond. >> i see my time has expired. >> the ranking member is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. mr. ryan, thanks for being here again. i appreciate this and the wonderful work you folks are doing. i want to talk more about the reauthorized child assistance act, how it is working and what more you need from us.

i like to say that we are in a highly constrained environment here in washington, d.c. i think we can all agree to that. is there more that you can do? if there were more funding, is there more that you could do or are you at a point where you recognize the reality that funding is in short supply and the chances of maybe getting more is not so great at this point? what is your sense of that? >> one thing is to do more with less. for instance, in the area of designing educational curriculums, we have our own in-house studio. we create the content that we use. we don't have to use third-party vendors. i can be expensive. we leverage our partnerships with various companies. they service the distribution platforms. where we need to be further engaged is getting in front of the schools on a nationwide basis, not on a community by community or even state-by-state, but on a nationwide approach because we have the age-appropriate messaging. it is not a one-size-fits-all. and we can track these kids from kindergarten through high school.

the nature of the problem is different. because we are the clearing house, we know the trends and patterns. we have the ability to design preventive messages. you have the ability to create the format, whether it be games or lesson plans. i think the committee is uniquely his mission to help us partner with the educational community to push this message out. >> the idea of a proto-public partnership, we are moving that way all the time given the limited resources we have at the adult level, whether it is on transportation or any number of other things. this is an area where that clearly seems to be working

well. i would be interested in finding out from you if you can provide us some information, arriving at some point how it is you judge how you are doing your job. if i could get that from you in writing, we would all appreciate that. i have no doubt you are doing a great job. you are doing your job and about as effectively as you possibly can. can you elaborate a little bit more on the educational aspect of this? you mentioned a number of things you're doing with schools. there may be more things that you would like to do with schools, with public schools and private schools for that matter. can you elaborate on that a little bit? >> where we think we can make a difference is training the trainers. in this case, the trainers would be the teachers. we know they are in position to be an early alert system. we learned here, close to where we are now, fairfax county, over three years, there was a major operation where gangs were recruiting high school students from the schools and trafficking them commercially through neighborhood and community hotels. these children were going home at night, going to school for the most part, but no one was

picking up on the signs. so we learned from that. we work with law enforcement. we then have the conversation with the teachers -- what did you see was different? performance? coming in late? maybe bruises? coming in well-dressed? flashy jewelry? if teachers are made aware of what to look for, they can intervene at an early stage and pass that on. >> in iowa, my wife taught second grade for a long time. teachers are in a situation, as you just said, where they are on the front lines. school counselors, school nurses, a lot of them are critical. >> if we can continue to do that across the country, it makes sense. thank you some much. i will yield the rest of my time. >> the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. first of all, thank you for what you do every day. with our human trafficking bills that the congress passed in a

bipartisan way just a few weeks ago, it really helped educate me about the enormity of this problem. i had no idea it was as large as it was and i look at this graph that you have on your cyber tip line. down here from 1998 or 2000, now there is an astronomical increase. what is the reason for that? is it because of better awareness? i can tell you, i was clueless about how in armistice problem is and how subtle it can be in a school. if you are not paying attention or you do not know what to pay attention to, someone can be in front of you carrying on an apparently normal life and they are not carrying on a normal life. >> one of the trickle factors that has cost the increase is the online classified ad platforms on the internet, the back pages of the world. this has provided a relatively

inexpensive business model for pimps and predators to advertise their clients, minors for sex. for a modest investment, they are trafficking these children around the country, usually under the radar of local law enforcement because they are moving them from community to community, state to state. these are children from all walks of life. the majority of them start off as endangered runaways. but some of them come from stable households. they are applying for jobs that they think may be modeling or something in the entertainment business and they are leeward -- lured by these creditors and then taken across the country. it is in everybody's backyard. if people are not aware of it, they are not looking for it. >> i didn't even know what that page was three or four months ago. how do you go after those? one of the bills we passed was

to go after the people who advertise. it is cheap, as you said, to put up a web page. >> there are no regulations that they fall under. unlike the responsible electronic service providers who have a legitimate business model, they choose not to know who their customer is. they turn a blind eye. if they see something that may look like potentially child pornography, they may make a preliminary report that they are not searching their systems. so they see a phone number associated with potentially illicit activity, well, searcher system. that is not an isolated occurrence. that child associated with that number has honorably popped up in all tuples states as we saw in operation cross country. so they are doing the bare minimum. >> a wink and a nod. >> exactly. >> one of the things we did in the bill is extremely important, which is to take the victims, not make them criminals but make them victims so they can turn

themselves in and not be prosecuted. some fear i would go to jail because i engaged in something illegal. i think that was a huge issue. they are victims of these crimes. >> you are 100% right, sir. when they are treated like victims, they were not reported because they felt that law enforcement was not a potential ally, but a potential threat. the gaps still exist when these miners are recovered. where did they go. where are they placed? if they are not in the criminal justice system now, which is good, there is no hold on them. we do not want them to go back into the dangerous environment. the 48 hours is critical to get them into therapeutic care that they need. i think this committee is well situated to identify those resources and agencies that we

can partner with. >> there is a real shortage, as i understand it. i'd like you to talk about the missing from foster care. that is amazing to me that only two states have any requirement. if a child walks away from childcare, nobody would know that. what should states do to alleviate that? >> fortunately, there is legislation in front of this congress with bipartisan support that would require social services agencies, foster care facilities to report every instance of a child going missing to law enforcement and then onto the national center. we know that the two states that currently do that, florida and illinois, we received 4000 reports over the last year. we can intervene at an early stage. we can find out that they frequently run away. we know where they are likely to

go, who they are with. when law enforcement gets that information, they can intercept them before they are exploited. >> thank you for what you do. you are making a difference in this country. >> i now introduce a legislator who is a dear friend to everyone on this committee, the gentlelady from new york for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. just listening to you, reading your testimony, a few things bother me, especially on the foster children and also the children that are in the schools. my sister is a school nurse. she does report on awful lot of things to social services. if it is not a high-level case, they can't take it and they just let it go. this is one of the biggest complaints that i hear from her when she knows something is

going on. of course, the child does not open up. so i think that is something that we really need to look at because you are talking about social workers, which we do not have enough of them. we don't have enough school nurses. everybody does go to her, the children. you wear that white uniform, that is safe. so i don't know how we are going to solve that problem. but the children with disabilities, you know, i'm sitting here -- they've already got two strikes against them, especially those that have a hard time communicating. and that is good to be a real problem. that is a real problem. i am thinking that some people my age come a little bit older, some of us have pendants in case you fall with a gps so they can respond. i don't know about privacy laws, but for children who cannot communicate well, would

something like a watch help them to recover? >> absolutely. there is a voluntary process where the family decides to implement that device. a candy something in their school bag so it is not visible so it is not something that will cause any alarm or undue discussions. in some police districts, they have signed on to support that. the device will only be triggered when a family member activates it. they goes readily to the police agency. we had a case in montgomery county where the child of one of the autism speaks executives, their young boy traveled to school back and forth on a school bus. inadvertently, was put on the wrong school bus, was lost in the system for many hours, which is a nightmare for a child. that child had the device and

the school bag. they called montgomery county and it was activated. they located the child within 15 minutes of activation. >> the programs you will be doing in the schools, are you also reaching out to the pta so that parents are also educated? one of the things we found, especially with trying to educate parents on they should know what their children are looking on on the internet, there are so many good programs out there but we are finding a lot of parents don't take advantage of that. >> you are right, congresswoman. we provide -- our website is our principal resource for parents and the community. but if they don't know about us, they will not go to us. so we have to do a better job of getting out to the communities, raising awareness of what services and resources we can provide all of them for free. again, that is why the schools are the nexus because the parents are connected to the

schools for a range of services and guidance. if we can get our foot in the door there, we can do a better job dealing more directly with the parents. >> have you been doing a lot of work with some of the social workers, especially for those children that are placed into a foster home? you hear and read about some cases where these children are put into these foster homes and are there for a number of years, but the turnover or the runaways are extremely high. the social workers are really the key to make sure -- to see this abuses going on. but many times the child is petrified the pending on the age. by the time they become a teenager, they both. -- they bolt. >> that's right. in connection with the two states that are reporting, we have made outreach efforts to service agencies and law enforcement agencies to form

partnerships and protocols of reporting. we have had some success in the number of states where, again, social service workers are the key. they are the ones outside the classroom that have the most contact with these children. even if they are not getting information from a child, if they know something is wrong -- they know something is wrong and they are not being told that. the center may be able to provide additional information, what could be happening. then we form that link that kind of closes that gap. you have social services, law enforcement, the national center. we may know where that child is going from because, with the dialogue with social workers, is

that child ever -- does that child have a phone? what is the phone number? we have all the social media platforms and databases. like the mother did with the 16-year-old. she looked for her phone number on back page. we may see where that services. it may not a good story, but we can tack on that information so that we can have prevention before expectation -- before exploitation. >> thank you for being here for one of our most crucial missions, keeping our children safe. i really appreciate your work. i was pleased to learn of your initiative safe to compete, which raises awareness of child sexual abuse and provides training opportunities. i'm sure there is a set of test practices for keeping our children -- of best practices for keeping our children safe when participating in a sport. >> as a result of that safe to

compete conference where we drew together most of the nations largest sports entities and mental health professionals as well as community leaders, they signed onto what you have referred to as best practices, which include the critical stage when an organization is taking on either a volunteer or a paid staff member who will have close contact with these children. many of these organizations have overnight, weekend stays, and even a week to a month stays. children need to know who they are interesting and children over to, who is literally going to be responsible for their children. these organizations now are doing background checks. they are doing criminal history checks. they are able to detect red flags before they turn over the care and custody of these children to whether it be volunteers or staff members. more needs to be done and i think that is where congress can help.

we need a nationwide uniform program of background checks. the larger organizations can afford it. they can pass that on through dues or other grants that they get. but the small local community-based, and there are thousands of them, they cannot. we need to supplement their ability to do the same background checks. it is equally as important because there is a gap and predators find the gaps. they are not going to go to an organization where they know they will be vetted and checked out. they will go to a smaller organization. as long as they have kids, that is all they need. if they are not going to be properly vetted, then they get in the front or and that is where the problems are. so we need a nationwide, uniform approach of background checks.

fingerprints have proven to be the most reliable and competence of. there is a cost associated with that but there is a way to spread that cost around. as a result of safe to compete, lexis-nexis have helped to fund that and they offer a discount rate to community organizations to provide those necessary checks to ensure the cost was not a prohibiting factor. we are prepared to work with congress. we can identify some of these corporate partners who can help defray some of these costs. but it needs to be done. >> very good. i want to switch gears. i want to zero in on your net smart workshop. can you talk a little more about this program and how will the new initiative differ from your main education program? >> we are expanding. net smarts started out as a

web-based platform where we provided access to teachers and educators to come to our website, download the resources, and then utilize them in their school. because we have grown -- as i mentioned, we have our own in-house studio now. some of them get a little carried away and think they are disney animators. but they created characters and formats, again, that are age-appropriate. you don't want to scare kids at the age of five. but some of these kids have access to ipads. so you can't neglect of them and say we will wait until they get a little older. you have to approach them and address them as soon as they are starting to access these devices. yet the same message, the same

cartoons -- a high school student is going to say, obviously, not for me. but they are still vulnerable. sexing, sextortion, those are targeting tweens. those are the ones who are more adept at utilizing the technology, more solar -- more so than i, but they do not know the real world problems that are being facilitated through those devices. again, we don't have the ability to target these messages. we have the platform now. but we still need that entrée. i think we need a committee like this and other partners to get into this discussion because it's free. at the end of the day, it's free. this kid smarts program is totally paid for by honeywell. not a dime of taxpayer funds. and they are committed. if this is successful, as we hope it is, they will not just say it is a one-time release. they will stand behind it. and other partners will step up. we have been in touch with the rotary association. i didn't realize how strong they are, 1.2 billion members.

they are all the stakeholders we hope to deal with, business leaders, educators, political leaders, the schools. they are adopting out some of our challenges. they are about to take on child sex trafficking as their next national campaign after polio. that is huge because they touch all the important sectors that we need to touch that we couldn't do without support like that. so again, we support the partnership with this committee because you have the same charter. with our subject matter expertise in this area, we will work well together. >> the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. ryan, for being here today.

i represented the 11th district of ohio where national news was made last year when we found three young women who had been held in a home for more than 10 years. we also found that there was a great amount of change needed with the powered police department because their practices in some ways made the problem worse as it relates to how we search for and find missing, exploited children. how much work do you do with local police departments to prepare them to look for these young people? >> we actually work very closely with that community. we have ongoing training. we called it the ceo training force. we bring in national law

enforcement leaders to the national center. usually, a class sizes 50 to 75. it is train the trainers. we train them and expose them to the resources the national center cap provide. when they go back to their agencies, they can be our ambassadors. we held what we called a long-term missing children summit. there were a lot of lessons learned in the cleveland case. >> these police departments are not required to do it, correct? in cleveland situation, the only did it because they had to, because of the situation that existed. what do we mean -- what do we do to make sure that every single local police department has the proper training? that is a major part of the problem. >> i think it should be built into the training curriculum of every police academy. it is going to be a critical part of their mission. it only takes one missing child case that they are not familiar how to deal with that case, no the resources available, and had to proceed.

in cleveland, those cases fell through the tracks. that should never happen again. we had the chance to talk with the girls. we learn from survivors. what can they teach us? what can they teach law enforcement? they have a powerful story to tell. >> let me take this one step further. just this year, a year later, our local paper ran an editorial. i was shocked to realize how often the descriptions of these missing kids are not accompanied by a photograph of some sort and/or they are not put on police websites or websites of nonprofits. how do we encourage nonprofits as well as our police department to make sure that the faces of these kids are on their website? >> we have a photo distribution partnership with well over a thousand corporations, including

the sioux show media platforms -- the social media platforms facebook and google. they provide profiles of who these kids are, age-progress photos of these children -- >> i understand. i am talking about law enforcement and local nonprofits. a lot times, people don't go to those sites. if i live in cleveland, i want to go to my police department and see it. let me ask you one more question. what is the recovery rates in different demographics? we find that minority children are not recovered nearly as quickly as nonminority children. do you find that to be true? >> we don't keep recovery rates based on race or gender. we have an overall recovery rate. i agree with you that more needs

to be done because we do know that over 50% of those children who go missing are from minority communities. they do not get the same level of media attention that is warranted. we have taken a number of steps to actually convene major networks and publications to do what we think is a more responsible effort to keeping these cases alive. it is critical because, as these cases age come out of sight out of mind, that should never happen. >> thank you very much. i yield back. >> the gentleman from indiana is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you for holding this important hearing. i actually had the opportunity when i was u.s. attorney, we toured your center and learned it was sometime between 2002 and 2006 that eye toward the center and was very involved in our internet crimes against children task force. my question is -- when we have task force is all around the

country as well as maybe local jurisdictions have childish quotation taskforces, wayne kids come up in their investigations and you don't know enough, the child is or even where the crime is taking place, how are the photos or the images of those children shared with you so you can figure out if you have information in your data bases about what law enforcement is looking at? >> that's a great question. well, we get our images from a >> that's a great question. well, we get our images from a number of sources. the principal one is our cyber tip line which again, we've received over 2.6 million reports. many of them do contain images of yet to be identified children. we pop late our databases with those images.

and through the support of some of the technology companies, like google and facebook and microsoft, they help us with what we call tools. visual aids that we can go through these reams of images. there are millions. number. what are their common links? where have we seen that before? because many crimes, these images are part of a series. and some of the series may be innocuous, benign images. but we have to match that up with that scene of that same child. and we're able to do that. but we're actually working now, the problem is this. is we cannot be a state actor. if we are a state actor, then we harm law enforcement's prosecution of these cases which we make referrals to. so we don't accept images from law enforcement.

we push out to law enforcement. having said that, we have a fairly robust and comprehensive inventory, a library so to speak. because we're being fed by the largest e.s.p.'s. >> that's my concern about this. is that you do have this huge database of images and yet it seems that law enforcement and cases would benefit and their investigations would benefit if they were required to push the image to you, you might be able to make the match. >> well, they have access to ours. they have access, and we coordinate through interpol. so there are common databases that have access points. but again, we have to segregate what we receive from law enforcement to ensure it's not tainted for potential fourth amendment challenges when these cases are prosecuted. >> ok.

i'd like to talk to you about that a bit further, offline, as to how we can help resolve some of this. >> absolutely. >> because i think that your center and all of these task forces, maybe we should talk about how they can work in even closer cooperation. and i know because i work on emergency preparedness issues, that there are platforms where red cross and where fema and others monitor twitter feeds and facebook. are you in a position, either working with google, facebook, where you are monitoring twitter feeds and facebook, maybe in geographic areas to try to find out what's going on in some communities? >> we don't monitor. but we do have links. and both through the -- all of the companies you mentioned they actually partner with us, provide access to their software applications. and more importantly, their audiences in the case of google and facebook. so we have an active dialogue

through all of those social media applications. we don't monitor them per se. we encourage an active engagement, though. >> are you familiar, though, with what i'm talking about that fema and red cross actually monitor for maybe public health outbreaks? or after emergencies, cries for help and so forth? >> sure. we actually partner with fema. congress has designated the national center as the national relocation center when children go missing in a mass disaster. and so we work closely and establishing protocols with fema and the red cross. in the event of a potential crisis. so we kind of piggyback on their resources and programs. and they bring us in when they see the need. >> thanks so much for your incredible help. and interest in learning if there are any legal impediments that you have to work even closer with law enforcement. >> thank you. >> the gentlelady's time has

expired. the gentleman from kentucky is not on the subcommittee. but without objection, i would like to recognize him for a line of questioning if you like. regarding this matter. mr. guthrie. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate it very much for allowing me to do so. i'm on this side. >> somebody comes in -- >> i apologize. i'm not on the subcommittee. and i think they just had a new member come in so i apologize for that. but on the -- before i get into what i was going to ask, on the question of not requiring to report, there's only two states required to report. that's reporting to law enforcement, right? they have to report -- if they have somebody in their -- leave their foster care they report it to social services or somebody, i'm sure, right? and reporting -- >> that's the case. it varies by state. but i'm referring specifically to reporting to law enforcement. >> ok. that's what i was -- and i did the authorization last year. and, you know, it shows that when we find common ground in the house and the senate, we can work together, senator leahy and i were the primary sponsors of

your re-authorization. and so i came to tour the center. and i recommended to all my colleagues to do that. and the techniques you have to do to find who the challenge is -- child is and who the person is, creating the image, and who we want to find is interesting how you do that. and it's something we need to know. and it's certainly a skill and an ability and something and needed. and something that people can't get their minds around and happens. the issue with me, i'm from bowling green, kentucky. this always happens in the big city, you think. and so when we're home on our -- working in august, i'm trying to highlight the fact that this does happen anywhere. anywhere that has a computer and not just somebody on the street or so forth. so we'll try to do roundtables and conferences and what kind of things do you think just advice for us? we should -- let -- make sure people know what's going on in their communities.

you say everywhere and what's -- and you see what is happening. what kind of things don't people don't know in general that they need to know about what's probably happening in their community? >> one of the most prevalent venues where these minors are being trafficked are in local hotels. now, typically, you know, people aren't paying attention who's coming and going in these hotels. but those are in the business of operating hotels. they are in a position to take notice of the behavioral characteristics consistent with this traffic. -- trafficking. for instance, many times a pimp will come in with three, sometimes five young girls. the girls will be off to the corner. the pimp will go in and make the arrangements for three to five rooms. and might be for a three-day period. typically cash. these girls will go up to the rooms. and they'll never leave their rooms. food will be delivered.

nobody sees them again until they leave. that's strange. what's going on? why is that pimp hanging around? why is he walking the hallways? you know? 24-7? something's going on that is inconsistent with the regular routine of the trade of that hotel. and i'm -- i'm not just talking about the very small seedy hotel. i'm talking about very well-known, you know, reputable brands. >> chain hotels. exit 22, i-65 it's right there. and every chain that you know has -- it's there. >> and what i invite people to do and i say this with some degree of reluctance, but if you want to see the scope of the problem in your own neighborhood, go to a back page. because they promote ads in communities. in towns. and not just cities. but they break it down into counties and to boroughs and

communities. so if they're advertising your area, in an adult escort service, that means you have a problem. a child, if not multiple children are being exploited in that area. >> and reaching out to you, ms. brooks is -- those ideas what you think we should present. so -- i didn't think about inviting hotel owners to come to a roundtable. but that sounds like -- or -- >> also transportation. these young girls, there are some boys. about the mostly it's young girls they're being trafficked from state to state. so how are they getting to and from? many times they're flying. but then they're getting into cabs. we've had many reports, law enforcement gets report. they see the same young girls over the course of a month, two months. come through their area. go to the same hotels. go back at some point to the same -- there are a lot of eyes and ears in different sectors

who if they're properly educated, alerted, who can they call? typically it's going to be law enforcement. they can get to the bottom of this. and do -- and incredibly good work. >> thank you. i yield. thank you for the time, mr. chairman. >> the gentleman's time has expired. we'll now recognize the gentleman for five minutes. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and welcome, mr. ryan. well, looking at this map of registered sex offenders, and in the northern -- throughout the country, we see -- we're grateful that we're included in the map. usually we're excluded. but i welcome you. and tell you a little story also about our island and our --

the district i come from. one morning in may of 2011, the tragedy of two missing sisters actually that fell hard upon our community. melena was 9 years old and feloma was 8 were last seen at their bus stops as they were on their way to school. law enforcement authorities were informed, were notified that the young girls were missing only after the sisters failed to return home from school that afternoon. so a gap of time that was lost. but i want to thank your organization for working with our office to ensure that we were included in this information, this map that we have before us and three years since the girls have not been found.

there have been leads according to law enforcement officials but the girls remain missing and there has been no arrest. and we have not forgotten the entire northern marianas community has not forgotten about melana and feloma and continue to pray for their safe return. and i hope your organization can still find them alive and unhurt. under the re-authorization law, the 2013 re-authorization law, your organization is required to include local educational agencies, information, services, program and resources for missing and exploited children. if we could be of any assistance to your organization, and connecting you to our school officials, we would be -- more than happy to do that. but i need to ask, if you could tell me if you have reached out

to our public school system, and if you did, what can you share with me as resulted from your coordination with them? >> congressman, i have to look into that. to see if there's been direct contact. i know that our case managers on the case that you referenced, for instance, would be in touch with the law enforcement investigators. because one of the things we do and are doing, in cases like that, we -- two things. to keep that case alive. the efforts of law enforcement. we do an age progression. which we do every year. and we release that and update that to law enforcement and all our poster distribution partners. that should be going on. within your respective district. and the other thing we do is a comprehensive -- what we call

actually an anniversary campaign. so every two years we'll disseminate stories about -- in this case those two young girls who went missing. again, to try to generate a lead and a tip to come in. because, you know, as people's memories fade, if you keep the story in front of them, they may -- may remember that one crucial piece of evidence. they may not have thought important a year or two ago. but now in context, they'll call. >> right. >> so we are doing that. i can tell you that. >> the reason i'm offering to help you, your organization, hook up and with our public schools is from just the information that we've been able to receive from those law enforcement authorities, the time since the girls were last seen at the bus stop. and the time that law enforcement authorities were notified, those were according to some people very important,

very critical time that has -- that would have been very useful in -- probably solving the crime. and unfortunately, the authorities were not notified until the girls didn't come home from school. i am -- i understand that the authorities were not informed when the girls did not report to school. and i know that some of our school officials have changed the system and we need your cooperation, sir. and i would be willing to connect you with our -- if you have not made any coordination -- >> we will definitely follow up. >> we need your assistance and getting our school officials up to date on what are the basic things or what are the important things they need to do to keep their children safe. and so we don't repeat this whole thing again. my time is up, mr. chairman. i appreciate it. >> the gentleman's time has expired. he would note for the error the

-- for the record the gentleman is from the northern marianas islands. and the two letter postal abbreviation caused confusion in introducing him. the chair recognizes himself for five minutes. mr. ryan, thank you again. my blood boils at the beginning when you gave that brief example of now a child could be delivered to a hotel room. as easily as ordering a pizza. as a father of a 6-year-old and 4-year-old, if i saw that gentleman, i don't know if i could contain myself. probably be in jail right alongside of him. for battery if not worse. you came from the internet business. if i looked at your bio, you worked for a.o.l. and nothing to do with a.o.l. but trying to establish a record here. something along the way, your

career led you to this position now after working on the jerry sandusky or the aftermath of it. you said the world is a different place and transitioned to the internet. did the internet cause this? did the internet enable this? is this world a different place because of the deterioration of society generally or were these people struggling for my christianity here or these people, have these people always been here? with us in our society? i'm not asking -- you're not a psychologist or -- i want your personal opinion. >> i think the internet clearly has opened up opportunities that did not exist, that facilitates the commission of these traditional crimes. they were always predators.

the modus operandi has changed online. because when you think about it, now the internet provides a global platform. it provides the ability for predator to so-called groom a potential victim. because through all the information that is imparted on different social media sites, a predator will glean that information and then turn that around and target an individual. they'll know the name, the school they go to. their activities. their friends. so when they start the dialogue, with potential victim, that victim feels oh, this is a peer. they know me. they're just like me. their guard is down. that's what the internet has encouraged and enhanced. and it's made the apprehension of these predators more difficult for law enforcement. because, you know, they can operate under the radar so to speak.

so it has caused -- i use the term explosion. of these offenses. because these predators have additional tools. they have the ability to stay undetected. and they have much more opportunity to target a larger pool of potential victims. >> regarding the internet, do you have any solutions for -- for companies and anything they haven't mentioned yet? >> sure. >> short of censoring or anything else? that you want to get on record? >> absolutely. at a.o.l., we employed what we call parental filters. you enable parents to restrict the level of access that children have on the internet. and it requires a partnership. >> what about those kids that don't have parents effectively?

the ones that might be going to the social worker that was brought up in earlier questioning and that sort of thing? >> it enhances the problem. but, you know, whoever is entrusted with the care and guardianship of that child, be it a social worker or even a teacher during that school day, they have to be that responsible person who if they're providing access to the internet, which all schools do now, they have to take on the added responsibility to know where they're allowing that child to navigate. and what tools and filters are in place. >> thank you. the time i have left, you mentioned several times the committee being well situated, to help develop a partnership. more detail on you what mean by that? i just as soon you develop the partnerships. don't wait on this committee or congress. go forth and do this work. >> well, for instance, we've had the ability in this past year

alone, since we engaged and got more familiar, you know, educating this committee about our work and frankly, we've learned more about your mission and charter, which has been extremely helpful. we've worked with the staff members in terms of their work to try to help identify legislative measures that could address some of the challenges that are emerging. just prior to this conference. this testimony i was engaged with the very excellent dialogue with the staff member. just talking about what we're seeing. what are some of your challenges? and where that intersection may be. what fixes you're thinking about? and what is our take? the dialogue. i found that a dialogue by interested stakeholders is more likely to end up with a mutual solution that if you don't have that dialogue, you're flying blind. >> ok.

thank you, my time has expired. i'll now recognize the ranking member for any closing remarks. >> thank you, mr. chair. i just appreciate the fact that we've had you here today, mr. ryan. i've learned quite a lot. i too would like to just associate myself with the remarks of our chair about how enraged i think we all are when we hear some of the things that we've heard today. i think that leads us to go forth and make sure we can do everything we can to cooperate with you and minimize these issues that are out there if not eliminate them entirely. and i do agree, too, that the role of the internet, no doubt, has been really important in magnifying the problem, multiplying the problem perhaps in many instances, too. so thank you for being here today and i thank the chair for having this hearing. thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> mr. ryan, thank you for being here and we appreciate your leadership and your commitment to this country and our kids. we join you in that effort. and we look forward to

continuing our relationship in that dialogue you spoke of. and doing everything we can so that families can build better lives for themselves. with that, seeing no further business before the subcommittee, the subcommittee stands adjourned. obama updated to latest on the investigation into the downed malaysian jetliner today earlier at the white house. we will have his remarks later today. the un security council is that to meet this afternoon for international discussion on the investigation. live coverage this afternoon starts at 3:00 in eastern. shortly, we will go live to the national press club here in washington for remarks from transportation secretary anthony foxx expected to talk about the nation's aging roads, rails, and infrastructures. live coverage starts in a couple easternes, 1:00 p.m. here on c-span. a look at the week ahead in

congress. >> it is a back to work week for congress, a full agenda including some hearings we will on the tax code system, senate finance committee holding a hearing on that and house and senate hearing on iraq. joining us live on the phone is ed o'keefe who covers all things congress for the washington post. good morning. thank you for being with us. begin with the headlines last week on the status of the immigration bill and you point out that john boehner raising doubts that congress will be able to meet the funding request by the president. has anything changed over the last four or five days? in short, no. it may have got more complicated in there continues to be disagreement on what exactly caused the influx of immigrants in the last few months and, i don't know a peoplesoft today's "washington post," but we detailed pretty clearly what was the administration was being told in the lead up to the spike

and what they were doing. many believe it was insufficient. many believe it was totally done in a way that was unprepared for this massive influx. we because of all that, still don't know exactly what republicans in the house will want to do. there's the so-called working group on the border that is been ad by ken granger who is republican from texas. she supposed to put together some policy recommendations for john boehner and his leadership team. but they've yet to produce that senate recommendations and it is believed in part because, just like everything else, there is no sense of agreement and the republican caucus. to do one thing might upset another group. so we will see whether or not that materializes. if it does, the appropriators, they believe they can come up with members very quickly and start moving a bill through and get it over to the senate. but in the senate, there's unanimous agreement

among democrats, at least, they don't necessarily want to make changes to current generation policy, they just want to give the president money he says he needs in order to accomplish what needs to be done now on the border. there is continuing impasse and no sense of resolution in sight with just two weeks to go on the calendar before congress gets out of town. host: if congress fails to provide the money, even a partial funding, what happens to the nearly 60,000 illegal immigrants that are in detention facilities were military camps in oklahoma, texas, arizona, new mexico, and elsewhere? understanding is they would stay in those facilities, the various agencies to do with it would just about run out of money because they need the funding in order to pay for employees that are helping to man these places, feed and shelter andclothe these illegal immigrants. services needsn

the money to sort of reunify these people if they have relatives in the country and get them processed. that is why there is a believe that something will materialize that allows them to pay for this. it may not be the $3.7 billion the president requested, but it will be something. host: a lot of hearings this week. walk us through what is happening in the senate and the house. guest: i don't have my list of hearings in front of me. host: i have the schedule. guest: i know the big one coming this week, the veterans committee where they will be having a confirmation hearing for the new v.a. secretary. that will be closely watched to give an indication of how well the new leadership team might carry out the various recommendations that have been made by congress and by others in the wake of the ongoing scandal there. that is another issue to watch this week. that will be a closely watched hearing. he on that, you said your list in front of you? host: i do.

i know we're going to be covering the senate finance committee, and looking at the u.s. tax code tomorrow. the veteran affairs committee where the confirmation is taking place in both the house and senate taking up a hearing on u.s. policy in iraq. guest: yes. iraq entities to be a big concern in addition to the other conflicts that have been grabbing attention send recent weeks. only because that situation continues -- there were concerns over the weekend with what is 'sing on in jordan and iraq relationship with them. globale we need another conflict, but that is another possibility. arend hearings -- and there -- i think the veterans one with the new v.a. secretary is one of the more keywords words of the week. we're going to have to keep watching for reaction to what is going on in russia and ukraine

and of course with the middle east. talking about it all morning. at some point, i think we're going to see calls to the u.s. to do more to help ukraine intensify if there is in some sense in the next 48 hours or so in the putin regime is stepping up and making it easier for investigators to get to the crash site and really begin working through the details of the crash. as i scan the steering list, there is one other, at least in the senate, as big store broader problem when you talk about the .ack of progress the appropriations committee is supposed to be marking one of the ones regarding homeland security funding. they're also looking at flood insurance issues. the appropriations is one of the things that was supposed to be the big success, that there was going to be debates on bills, that they were going to get some of them done before the august recess and that simply has not happened.

sense this get some week of whether or not those will move at all or whether we are at congress packing some kind of continuing resolution by the start of the fiscal year. i want a reaction to paul came this morning in "the washington post." that senatorsuite say, their increasingly dealing -- feeling like ponds copper between mitch mcconnell and harry reid, deep, personal and political antagonism has almost immobilized the senate. the senate going for three months this spring without voting on a single legislative amendment. policy, and ia can tell you my own independent reporting verifies that. issuesn't even a partisan anymore. it has become a read versus mcconnell issue. because these two men cannot seem to get anything agreed to on progress, on moving legislation, that that has really caused a tie up in the

senate more than anything else. it is reid was sensitive to doing the thing that helps mcconnell's reelection campaign and mcconnell doing every thing he can do stand in the way democrats making any progress in an election year. the fact these two men cannot sit in a room together and talk to each other, the fact they will tell collects "why don't you go ask them to do something?" or a question because they can't seem to talk to each other. the other 90 senators are frankly acting as if they are children living in a broken marriage. not sure which parent they should be siding with, but frustrated with both. host: quick sidebar below -- note, worry of pennsylvania put on unpaid leave, bringing a smith & wesson gun inside the congressional offices. what happened? plus: the press secretary -- the press secretary, as far as we understand, he walked in

to the canon housebuilding on friday and had his smith & wesson and an ammunition clip or magazine. they were in a bag. they were apart from each other. it was the ammunition clip the police officer spotted first. they did what they're supposed to do. they pull the person aside and arrested him. it again it it against federal law. i am told it was a mistake, there was no malicious intent vomitus kind of thing happens at the capital and at tomorrow building, and as our as we know, we spent at least -- he spent at least one night in the d.c. jail and remains on unpaid leave as the investigation continues. >> thank you for setting up the

week with us. >> live now at the national press club for remarks from transportation secretary anthony foxx will stop this is just getting underway. note members of the general public are also attending, it's not evidence of a lack of journalistic objectivity. i would also like to welcome our c-span and public radio audiences. you can follow the action on npc luncheon. the # i will ask as many questions as time permits. now it's time to choose our head table guests will stop i ask eastern -- i ask each of you to stand briefly as your name is announced. david shepardson, "detroit news" bureau chief. martin the caro, transportation the port -- transportation reporter for w usa nine television. gary genteel, chief editor for

plaques oil grab news. aaron kessler, an automotive ."iter for the "new york times sarah feinberg, chief of staff of the u.s. department of transportation. the buffalo news washington bureau chief and chairman of the national press club speakers committee. skipping over our speaker, myron elkind, 2014 national as club president and adjunct professional at -- adjunct professor at george washington university and former bureau chief for the associated press. the transportation reporter from bloomberg news will stop brian being, automotive news washington correspondent. urban radioamerican white house correspondent. and the director of academic seminars at the washington center for internships and academic seminars.

[applause] today has been at his post as the top u.s. transportation regulator for just over one year. since he assumed the job of u.s. transportation secretary, shipping and oil -- shipping oil by train has become a hot button issue. the u.s. suffered its first fatal commercial aviation crash in years and the pot of money that pays for roads and ridges in this country found itself running out of money. anthony foxx is ahead of the u.s. department of transportation, which is sometimes overlooked, but in recent months has been at the front and center of the news. when transportation run smoothly, nobody pays attention. but what bridges fall down, trains derail or more people die in traffic crashes after years of decline, it is the transportation secretary who hears about it that has to try to figure out a solution. he was previously the youngest mayor of charlotte, north carolina.

elected in 2009 at serving a single term. when the city should slipped into financial crisis, he looked to transportation to revive the local economy and later brought thousands of visitors to the city would host of the 2012 democratic national convention. the father of 21 a rare unanimous confirmation from the senate and keeps a reminder at home, a carolina panthers helmet in his office will stop please help me give a warm national press club welcome to u.s. transportation secretary, anthony foxx. [applause] >> angela, thank you very much. i want to thank myron bell kind, your current president, for welcoming me here and thank you for taking time from your busy schedules and days to be here at the national press club. rolet since i assumed the

of u.s. secretary of transportation, i have been ringing the alarm bell about the looming crisis with our highway trust fund. the federal source that is used to pay for highways and transit. it is unfortunate that it has taken months of bringing this alarm bell. traveling the country in april on a bus tour, putting up a trust fund ticker on the dot website, meeting with dozens of governors and mayors across the country, putting shoe leather on , to get to the point where just last week, the u.s. house of representatives passed a measure to avert the immediate crisis of our highway trust fund and to pass in effect

810 month patch on the system -- a 10 month patch on the system. later this week, the senate is expected to pick it up. if this short-term pass -- short term patch passes, it will not be time to celebrate. it's hard to imagine congress will not push this issue until crunch time. we are not15, if careful, we will be right here itin with the clock set to spire -- set to expire, looking for an easy solution leaving the real conversation for another time. i can hear folks on capitol hill now, gosh, this transportation thing is really important, but we just can't figure it out right now. let's just do what we can and

keep moving. , and until congress passes urgingterm bill, i am the american people to say no more delays, no more gimmicks, no more short term patches or band-aids. build our country, put us to work and get america moving again and help future generations move forward with the process. because if we are only building for the present, we are building for the past. it is a sad commentary that we are in effect managing a declining system, a system that is crumbling before our eyes. a system that is growing potholes, a system creating longer commute times and a

system that will cause us to lose jobs we have no business losing in america. why? this system were a patient, we would want to look it with the symptoms are and figure out what the underlying disease was. systemsurface, our suffers from product underinvestment and a product delivery system that makes products take too long and cost too much. in a set of priorities that are more like model t's, a set of policies were like model t's then teslas. beneath the surface, the american people are confused about who to hold accountable even as they sit in longer and asger traffic jams, even traffic jams are expected to get longer over time. is americaaying

needs more than just an incremental adjustment. resetd a transportation and it's got to be big. let me talk about the symptoms. , our chronic underinvestment in transportation feels normal. we treated like it is the way it is, the way it is supposed to be. infrastructurehe deficit as though it's normal course of things. every year, the cost of catching up grows farther and farther out of reach. the american society of civil engineers estimates that current spending levels, we will fall almost $850 billion short of transportation needs by 2020. lookou don't have to just

at a big aggregate number like that. go to rhode island, where i was a couple of weeks ago and talked to governor chafee and his dot directive. they can tell you that at current levels, even if we get a patch, even if we get 50 more patches, at current levels, over the next 20 years, roads and rhode island are going to get worse. and rhode island is not by itself. weeks ago, pieces of the brooklyn bridge phil to the underpass, closing the underpass. i could go to nashville and .2 bridges doing the same thing. this is happening all over america and we have no shortage of high profile ridge collapses in this country, including minnesota and washington state. as the president says, we have 100,000 bridges old enough to qualify for medicare.

we are piling up deferred maintenance and it's not a surprise that our system is falling apart. characterize the first symptom as we've got a big problem we're treating like a little problem. that's the first symptom. we are understating the cumulative effect of these short-term measures on the system. over the last five years or so, we've had 25 short-term measures passed by congress. so we get into the 11th hour and congress shuffles around, patch ourselves together for a few months, and everything is supposed to be ok, but it's not. when i used to go shopping as a

kid, i would go to my grandmother a lot of times and i would get to a store and i would pick up a toy or something and i'd say let's get this and she would say no, put it down, we're just rousing. i learned later what rousing meant -- it means we have no intention of coming back and getting that toy. [laughter] that's what congress is doing. every time they do another patch, they are driving another idea that america is going to solve our long-term transportation problems, creating less confidence that the state and local levels. this is something i know a little bit about. i was a mayor and i can tell you when you're trying to put millions of dollars on the table just to plan a project without knowing the federal government support is going to be there, it

gets harder and harder and harder to get this project going. so instead of ramping up transportation construction, we are actually ramping down. without consequences, without planning, you cannot design a project. if you don't engineer it, it can happen and there's no relief. it's a big looming problem in america. that's the second symptom. the third one.to to stockpiling a huge infrastructure deficit, chilling activity at the state it local levels, the search -- the circus mirror in washington is starting to make seemractical questions

impractical and the most practical seem impractical. what right is wrong and what is wrong is right. the american people are wise to stop when we explained the facts, they make the right choices. them over talked to the course of this past year give them a choice between a embraer he, imperfect or and a real,ution lasting, cheaper solution, they're going to take the latter every time. we tried to do with the grow america act. it is a bill we put forth in this administration to end the

hand wringing on this issue and put america on a long-term path to growth. let me describe the bill for you in summary fashion. it not only stabilizes the highway trust fund, it actually increases investment in the highway trust fund to the tune of 37%. a four-yearover timeframe going into art system creating jobs, creating the kind of activity we need. densely investing in critical repairs, it puts in place money to build a national network so we can capitalize on the growth and manufacturing activity we are seeing. it would help deal with the complaint that projects take too long by streamlining federal permitting process and to devising states to do the same. reducing cost, creating more value for the taxpayer dollar. it brings rail into the

dedicated funding family along with highways and transit. by america and local hiring and even helps by directing some dollars directly to local communities so they can get projects moving. congress can pay for the grow america act without raising deficits or waste, i just doing some common sense, forst this tax reforms like companies moving profits overseas. this bill or something like it ought to be a layup. it ought to be easy. members, you talk to essentially the argument against it is we can't do it because we can't. gentlemen, the idea that congress cannot pass a multi-year, forward thinking transportation bill is one of

the biggest self of filling prophecies in american politics today. is killing way, it our transportation system softly , one of the building blocks of our economy. so here we are, on the eve of another patch, another short term measure, another cloud of uncertainty that will certainly grow our infrastructure deficit and roll drawbridge up a little more on the next generation. meanwhile, congress is running out of mattresses, out of rocks us justunder, to patch a little while longer. that brings me to the disease. it is congress, but it's deeper than that will stop i said this before, but i believe abraham lincoln was right when he said the american people, when given

access to fax will do the right thing. i'm paraphrasing. but when they don't have the fact can get stuck. on this issue, the american people need the facts. knowality, they something's wrong because they're stuck in traffic and have been patiently awaiting the bypass or new transit project or new rail passenger service for years and years and years. them, theyly, for cannot put their finger on who to hold accountable. on the not a sign freeway this is your commute would be shorter if congress would just take action. the dots are not connected. and it gets even more confusing. congresswhen they hear passed a bipartisan measure to keep highway funding going

because it sounds like something that ought to happen. but they are not told to read the fine print. in the fine print it says the six is temporary. -- this fix is temporary. it's not really going to new -- to do what we needed to do. if it were put squarely in front of the american people as a solution, clearly we need a moment of clarity and a moment of political courage. that will not happen without the american people raising their voices. the good news here is that it is starting to happen. we've got governors, 30 of them who are republican, by the way, are asking for a will that asks to plan more than 10 months out. they are not alone. 60 two associations,

including the national association of manufacturers joined together calling on congress for a long-term proposal. they are not alone. aref my predecessors and i joining to push for a long-term solution. secretaries lahood, peters, panetta, skinner, card, dole, -- takennd lloyd together, the 12 of us have served 35 years watching over our and nations roadways and railways and transit systems. five of us served under democratic presidents. seven served under republican presidents. while i am sure there are issues on which we may not all agree, there is an issue on which we are united and that is for america to reach her potential, we have to have a long-term transportation investment plan

and we needed as soon as possible. , today, we are releasing an open letter to congress, calling on congress to do just that. if the 12 of us can stand together, congress can stand together and get something done. but we won't stop there. i won't stop there. i'm not going to stop inside the beltway pushing this issue because i'm going to do everything possible until this gets acted on to make sure the american people know they are in charge. we've got to convene leaders in all 50 states and make the case or ending deadlock on this issue. thet now, washington is hitting outcomes to the american evil. but in our democracy, it should work the other way. the americanto let people decide whether their futures are worth fighting for. as a department, we reckon ties the trends and challenges coming

around the corner in america. we are going to make -- to work hard to make sure it these challenges are more clear to the american public and policymakers. look past our noses and to do that, one of the tools we're going to use is a 30 year transportation vision that will look at these trends and challenges and by the end of the year, we will have that available to the american people. we've got a plan for the future. the american people, i believe, are on our side, especially with have access to the information so critical to this issue. that is why i believe we are going to get progress on this long-term plan. i think the plan is in front of us. why do i believe it? fromieve it partly because lincoln's continental railroad to eisenhower's interstate system, we are a yes country,

not a no country. we are not a country that looks backwards, we are a country that looks forward. because we are a country not stuck in our past, we are a country that is ever focused on the future. with that, i want to thank all of you and i look forward to your questions. [applause] >> enqueue, mr. secretary. as you can imagine, we have a lot of questions on a lot of topics. starting on the topic of surface transportation funding. are you confident the 10.8 oh you dollar patch now moving will keep the highway trust fund adequately funded through next may as it is supposed to do? i think from a funding standpoint, the answer is yes. but i want to reemphasize the

system we have is really a system that depends on certainty. that there is a patch congress patches -- passes potentially, you got a big project that takes multiple years to get done and you are in the middle of the planning process, do you go for the longer-term or don't you? month patch, you don't know what's on the other end of that 10 months and that's part of the problem with the surface system right now. you have a bipartisan letter and hopes that that will produce action. do you think this congress will work to pass a longer-term transportation bill or any signs they congress elected in november would be likely to do so? >> let me say it this way. we really don't have a choice. mirrorsicks smoke and

just togs in the past patch us along, we're starting to run out of options. a point where we are going to have to do something big or fold the tent. knowing this country away i know it, we don't fold the tent. we don't stop building ridges. we don't stop repairing what we've got because it was given to us by previous generations. and bequeath it to us and we need to bequeath it to another generation following us, otherwise our kids are going to be stuck. as the transportation secretary m.i.t. duty bound to fight this but i'm a father and concerned citizen also and we cannot allow our politics to screw up the system given to us in good faith by previous generations.

notne of the things you did mention and president obama has made clear he will not support is raising the gas tax. why has the administration been so opposed to raising fuel taxes for the long term when the other solutions are not getting past either. >> which you have heard me say about this is number one, we have a proposal we believe is a 21st-century bill. that is paid for through programs business tax reform and can be done without raising rates and increasing deficits. we have also said we are open to other ideas and have been clear not to rule anything out will -- thet let me say this gas tax itself past -- the gas tax itself has some challenges.

no matter where you set the level, the curve is actually downward facing and that is because vehicles are becoming more fuel-efficient and good reasons, but that's a structural challenge with the gas tax. historically, there between an 80/20 split transit and highways using the gas tax. into the 21st century, it's becoming increasingly clear that this idea that surface transportation is just highways, just transit without rail is a question we need to grapple with as a country. that's what of the reasons why the grow america act. ray a into a trust fund. the way we get there is use a soferent source of revenue

we are not robbing peter to pay paul. that's a conversation that needs to be had and even our stakeholders sometimes get mired we have and i would like to see them focused on the system we need in the future. >> certainly after ray lahood stepped down as secretary, he caused for raising the gas tax, which he had not done as secretary. will we someday see secretary anthony foxx do the same ring? [laughter] >> i didn't hear the question? i really didn't. [laughter] i'm going to say this a different way. inn her system was built 1956, there was only growth in the foreseeable future and our revenue stream.

it's actually changing because we are at a pivotal point where our transportation needs are here and our revenue is there. our proposal introduces a new way to pay for our transportation system on a long-term basis. i think we will continue to have these questions about how to do it long-term and there are many ideas out there in academia and even pilots happening around the country that are interesting, but they are not ready for prime time yet. of sure i will say a lot things when i'm not here anymore. [laughter] >> what about vehicle miles traveled tax? the efficiency is increasing and collection is declining but the amount of driving is not limiting. viable option or

something to consider for this administration? >> i think the price -- i think the crisis we are in right now has to be dealt with as soon as possible. on a scale of solutions that seem more likely or less likely, dmt is not likely but there are pilots and oregon and other places that i'm sure in the future these things will be look that. need an answer and we've got one tailor-made for this congress and we would like to see them do it will stop >> moving on to the malaysia air downing -- are there other areas of the world given what happened with flight 17 where the faa should restrict flights by u.s. carriers? this -- we are

constantly in touch with our intelligence community and team about these issues. when notes are issued by the faa, they are not coming out of the vacuum. they're coming out of credible information gleaned from sources we trust. there are notes and other parts of the world act of right now and we continue to monitor the international situation to ensure u.s. commercial carriers are given the best guidance possible. >> when the u.s. banned commercial flights over crimea, why did it not and restrictions to other hostile areas in ukraine? at this point, do you regret the u.s. did not do that? point at which i

figured you were going to ask me some of these questions about malaysia and let me just say to your question that even when it was issued back in april, there was general guidance that urged caution among u.s. carriers. but more generally, let me just say a few words about it. president spoke this morning and made clear that this is an evolving situation. but that time is of the essence. our thoughts and prayers are with the m's and their families. u.s. dot, safety is our top authority and we are working with our partners in the u.s. intelligence agencies and law enforcement communities on a continuous basis to monitor and analyze intelligence. when the agency receives specific and credible actionable intelligence of the threat to

the national airspace system, the u.s. aviation system its passengers and the agency provides guidance to carriers, including flight restrictions to airmen and special aviation regulations. faa's no tamp urged u.s. carriers to take extra caution. a number of operators chose voluntarily to alter their routes beyond just the restriction in the crimean peninsula. we expanded our no tamp to cover the entire eastern half of the ukraine. my comments are combined to what i just said so you can keep asking me but that's what i have to say -- comments are confined to what i just said. u.s. criminal investigators and transportation safety investigators through the ntsb have been sent to ukraine to lend assistance.

the responsele for and the investigation? >> we stand ready to help and i stand on what i just said. >> in the 2000s, the faa and partnership with dhhs spent millions of dollars studying the possibility of equipping commercial planes with counter systems. what is the status of that and with these measures have been effective against a missile fired last week? >> as the president has already said, this is a very fluid situation. there is a lot we still need to know. the international community needs access to the site of this horrible crash. any steps beyond that, i'm not

going to comment on at this time. -- studiesut study in general to equip planes with antimissile technologies? was that study ended in the previous decade or is that still ongoing after this incident? >> i cannot speak to a decade we, but i can tell you continue to monitor the situation and any statement on what we will do or not do would be premature. >> when the will u.s. aircraft mandated to be equipped with gps so they could be located at all times worldwide? this is an area that gets into next gen efforts to mess to clean. we continue to make rugrats on nexgen. i was in houston just a few weeks ago.

we just rolled out 60 or so new functions that are next gen functions that move is closer to the system you are talking about. it deployed in the u.s., there still a lot of work to get deployed around the world to see this technology advanced and deployed. on thisre very alleged technology and look forward to working with the international deployed to see a get worldwide. >> speaking of nexgen, we have heard president obama mention air traffic controllers -- is this a message we are likely to keep hearing of the administration? >> absolutely. we think next gen is the cutting edge of transportation. the intersection of technology and the way our airplanes move

hold a lot of promise to not only make the airspace move more efficiently and make airplanes move more efficiently in the airspace, rather, but it has strong environmental benefits and huge fuel savings for our carriers which will hopefully reduce costs and hopefully those costs get passed down to passengers. showsatistics i've seen it will reduce airplane delays by greater than 40%. but it is dependent upon getting us off of a world war ii radar system into a 21st-century gps to elegy. to cars, from air general motors has recalled 27.5 million cars in the u.s. and the auto industry has recalled a record 40 million vehicles. should drivers feel safe and our regulators doing enough? >> look, on the latter question,

a -- nhtsaay it's has done that recalls -- that's not counting the more recent recalls -- it is pretty significant and our toolbox has improved over that time in the wake of the toyota situation a ,ew years ago, we developed along with ibm, some analytics that allow us to be more predictive in identifying issues before they emerge. we continue to look to build a better mousetrap. i think when it's all said and done, they've done and incredible job over the entire trend line. autos and whether

they are safe, look, we have, through our work on the gm issue, if you talk about gm specifically, we issued the most stringent penalty the agency has ever issued. and if grow america passes, we be able to pass more stringent multis because we lift the cap from 30 million dollars -- from 30 million dollars to $300 million. we forced gm into settling with additional requirements. fixing some of the things that were broken that the fine won't solve. high confidence in our team's ability to make it work. we will make it work not only with gm but other automakers to ensure our system is as safe as possible.

>> gm, as you noted, has come under harsh criticism and 15 people have lost their jobs. has anybody at the agency been fired for not connecting the dots and how do you respond to lawmakers last week called the nhtsaes and action the drug? >> i think you could add my previous answer to this. we and i are willing to check our own math here. i've asked our inspector general to go through and do an after action on the gm situation to see if there's anything we should do or could have done better. will learn from that report and until a time, we will

continue to not only focus on gm but the other automobiles out there that need our attention. the "new york times" reported last week that gm is failed to address the root cause and several crashes in its correspondence. did the agency accepted what amounted to a no comment on the cause of those crashes? i disagree with the premise of the question. there was activity i'm going to see if there was a data-driven reason to step up the level of scrutiny. said ugly before, had we been given a timely heads-up i gm, that would have coupled with what we are doing,

triggered a heightened level of investigation, i have no doubt about that. i'd don't agree that they took theynswer for granted, suggested there was a problem and had they had the information, it would have been material to the outcome. doesis questioner asks consider it to be a change? >> clearly, it is an issue and ones that our recent experience informationn more to look across the industry to make sure these issues are being addressed across the system. it is absolutely something we're focused on.

of technology will change in the automotive industry is getting faster. and cycles are shorter midcycle changes are more significant. how does note the remainder relevant in this new automotive environment? think they are really focused on this. let me add another footnote. vehicles indea that the future will communicate with each other is a really big deal. it's a big deal for safety and a big deal for our team. to engageportunity the automobile and the work of avoidance,llision and not only with automobiles potential he but pedestrians. there's a technology that allows

the mobile to communicate with the infrastructure around all stop a few months ago, we announced we will be doing the rulemaking on vehicle to vehicle technology. we think this will be pace setting in terms of rulemaking because it will provide the ground rules to do what they do best. not an issue -- we think there's lots of opportunities for our team to only following the trends in the agency -- in the industry and setting them are high for safety in the future. >> in terms of that rulemaking, you said you would like to issue a by the end of president obama's term. is that all in terms of a timeline and what needs to happen to make it possible?

>> i would like to issue a tomorrow. the process is what it is. we are on pace and we will keep working as hard as we can if we can be it. >> are you concerned about the reception of a revolving door were top officials have left jobs at the agency to go work for the automakers they were regulating? should there be a ban on the practice or at least a cooling off time? >> we have fairly strict ethical requirements in this put astration that silencer on folks coming back to the agency in trying to influence outcomes immediately after they leave. that's an effective way of dealing with the problem you identifying because if the concern is identifying the

agency itself, we have ethical requirements that guard against that. >> moving over to rail -- rail executives have expressed concern about an upcoming rulemaking that includes speed limit restrictions as low as 30 miles an hour. is that provision included and given the rising balance of crews sent by rail, how do you balance it with increase safety? >> your asking me to comment on a rule before the will is issued? -- before the rule is issued. [laughter] undeniable we are in a country that has a chance to build a new economy on our energy production. it's one of the drivers of our economic growth today and will

probably be so for the near future. recognize things we as an agency and had my full attention since i came in was in order to realize that future, we've got to step up our game on the safety front. getting into details, i can tell you what i know about this issue is that has to be dealt with comprehensively. it can be dealt with -- sorry folks say we can just figure out what it ought to look like. that's one piece of it but speed is an issue and there are several other components. we are working as hard as we can in promulgating a proposed rule so the public can comment on it. i hope we can get this done very soon. as part of the rulemaking, will you require produces of oil

from the balkan region stabilize their product before it's shipped? >> i'm not going to comment on what the rule says or doesn't say. finding,y what we are unlike in parts of texas, where there is an industry built up , sond oil production separating material, using all those pieces of the material that is separated, we have infrastructure in north dakota excavating this material, so the question of stabilization is the issue at the forefront of my mind, but i'm not going to comment on what our approach is going to be. an issue that we as an agency are very well aware of.

>> how has the oil industry responded to d.o.t.'s requests on the chemical properties and has d.o.t. been satisfied with the response and chemical data available? the information we have received from industry has gotten a little better. some information that is consistent with what we have seen in our own studies. we've seen some information that is entirely inconsistent and is apples study we would have undertaken ourselves. there is a fair amount of confusion generated when the industry says this is just the same type of stuff being pulled out from the other part of the

country because there are a couple of things that are a little different. number one, there's more stabilization activity that occurs afford is transported. fact thatthere is a these trains are moving in huge units, sometimes 100 at a time will stop the sheer scale of the impact of these trains can be challenging. where pushing as hard as we can and i look forward to getting something out very soon. on biking, this questioner asks how do we make american cities were like copenhagen for biking and do you think it is a worthy goal? >> true confession -- i have

been trying for the entire year to figure out how to bike to work. [laughter] i finally got it figured out. two weeks ago, i finally biked into work and is very proud of myself i wanted you to know how proud i am. [applause] let me say this. when you have 100 million more people to move around over the going toears, we are see more congestion if we are not careful. a lot of that population is country traded in areas that usually has a city in the middle and suburban rings and rural areas around will stop i really is part of theng

transportation ecosystem that we are going to need. in fact, if you look at folks who areyounger than me, moving into these communities, many of them are not driving cars. many of them are trying to locate in central areas so they can use bicycling more. i think it's happening at the local level. i was with the republican mayor from indianapolis last week who bicycleis city is so friendly that he was invited to speak to portland, oregon's immunity. [laughter] community., oregon's you are starting to see communities figuring out how to make more bike friendly communities. one thing that's instructive as he said there's a company that wanted to make a $100 million investment in indianapolis putting a new facility in place,

but they insisted on being near the bike path. you talk to mayors in this country enough and you'll find it's happening more and more. play a facilitative role and that's one of the things i would like to do is help not only with the growth of this but ensuring bicyclists and pedestrians as well are as safe as we want folks in automobiles and other modalities to be. >> squeeze in a drone in question -- a recent report to the faa won't be able to report the use of unmanned vehicles and i'muse of airspace by -- sorry, i can't read the number. the 2015 deadline? what will you do to make sure the faa reaches deadline? >> as i understand it, we are on

.rack to meet the 2015 deadline we will work toward that. is another convergence of technology and transportation and it's interesting and exciting though we had to figure out a way to do it safely. >> passenger rail -- any comment on amtrak removing california from the high-speed next to the german? >> that is an interesting question. california from high-speed nexgen procurement -- i would have to get more clarification because that's mixing rail and airspace to me. that's an interesting convergence. >> we're almost out of time in a

thickly covered most of the modes but before asking the last question, got a couple of housekeeping matters to take care of. first of all, i would ask that the audience remained seated when the program concludes. the secretary has an important meeting to get to so we will let him exit before we all stand up. second, i would like to remind you about upcoming speakers at the national press club. tomorrow, we will have dr. thomas friedman, the director of the centers for disease control who will address the mers virus and other key health issues. excellency, the president of the republic of congo who will discuss peace, security and stability of the central africa region and oil investments in his country. on august 4, will have his excellency, it jacob zuma, president of south africa. second, i would like to present our guest with the traditional national press club mug.

>> thank you very much. [applause] >> it can go in your office right next to the panthers helmet. and finally, one last question. i understand your daughter is quite the construction critical it comes to transportation. i would like to hear what advice and useful ideas she's given you lately. [laughter] >> very good question. 10 and i brought her to work one day. she went off into another part of the office while i went and did meetings. she came back and said that he, you can influence the bill?

she knows this because she's stuffhe schoolhouse rock and i said i don't know. she says i have some ideas for you. we just come back from a vacation to my wife's family in baton rouge. -- shed here's my bill handed me a piece of paper and it said number one, airplanes should not have first class. everybody should have those seats. two, the bathrooms need to be cleaner. and number three, when you land, they need to come up with the technology that prevents your ears from popping. that's the advice she's given me. thank you very much, it's been great to be with you. [applause]

>> thank you, mr. secretary, we are adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]

>> if you missed any of this event, it's available to watch at a time in the c-span video library. good to c-span.org. in about one hour, we will go live to the u.n. for the meeting of the security council. members are expected to cut -- to discuss the latest on the investigation into the downed airline jet over eastern ukraine. i will be here on c-span at 3:00. we had then running to bring you coverage on the foreign council policy as relates to the middle east. that's in a minute or so from now on our companion network, c-span3. president obama talked about further sanctions on russia in

further response to airline tragedy last week. he spoke today for just under 10 minutes. >> good morning, everybody. i want to make a brief statement of the tragedy in ukraine. thate i do i want to note secretary kerry has departed for the middle east. as i have said many times, israel has a right to defend itself against rocket and tunnel attacks from hamas. as a result of its operations, israel has already done significant damage to their terrorist infrastructure in gaza. i have aho