it was difficult living there because there was lots of violence. i had to walk 30 minutes to get to school. on the way to school, i saw people fighting a lot. school.ngs anin i was scared to walk to school everyday. the worst thing that happened to me was before i came to united states. cousin and i woke up in the morning inserted working -- walking to school. one of my uncles was building a house. we had to cross through the construction site. when we were walking through the house, a worker asked us to come help him with something. when we got close to him, he forces inside the room and closed the door. we asked him what he wanted and he said nothing and try to take our clothes off. we were able to run away from them.

i was in shock. we ran outside of the room that we were in and told our aunt and uncle what happened. they did not believe me. they asked the man would happen and the man told them that my cousin and i were lying. i was scared. i told my mom to tell her what happened and she became really upset and fainted because she decided after i told her this, she came to guatemala to protect me. and my mom was scared that i would be harmed and decided to quickly bring me to the united states. i thought about going to the police but it took me two hours just to walk to the station. auntad of helping me, my and uncle punished us. they hit us with a belt and sent us to our room. i do not think the police would have helped me because they are very corrupt.

the couple of months ago before woman who sold food door to door in the neighborhood who got shot in the chest. i heard three gunshots and saw the blood from her wound. i ran inside of my house. i learned later that no one was arrested from the attempted murder of the woman. i do not want to go back to one because-- to guatemala i'm afraid there is no one to protect me. i am scared i will be attacked again from that man or someone else. i am afraid of gangs. when i arrived in the united states, my mom told me i was undocumented. i was scared i could be sent back and be separated from my mom and he put in a dangerous place again. when i received my green card, i was happy because i knew i would not be deported and then i can

go to any college i wanted. i want to go to sunnybrook university to become a doctor because it is a good school. i want to be a pediatrician because i love kids and i want to take care of them. i would like to tell the government to give all the kids at the border an opportunity to stay here because violence, sexual assault, trafficking, kidnapping, and murder are the main reasons why children are trying to escape. if the government decided to send all the kids back to their home countries, they would be alone with nobody to support them and in a conflict zone every day. i ask you to put them -- put yourself in their shoes and ask how you would want to be treated. would you want to be sent back to a place where someone try to army of? -- tried to harm you? thank you for listening. >> thank you very much.

a 12-year-old from honduras. she wants to be a doctor or lawyer. she fled honduras with her little sister after witnes sing homicides. men tried to kidnap her and her sisters. momextended family told her that they could no longer take care of her. fromrossed the rio grande mexico into the united states in july of 2013. attained were in the freezing cells without any beds or blankets. about herry concerned little sister's health because she was shivering the whole time.

it was so cold her lips when blue. -- went blue. she was given only two sandwiches per day. she is still angry about how she in her little sister were treated by the united states government. turn to her tome speak to us. [speaking spanish] >> good afternoon. inm 12 years old and i live long island, new york, with my mother and younger sister. thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. spanish]ing

>> when i was eight years old, my mother had to leave for the united states so we can have a better life. when she left, i cried every day for her because i missed her so much. >> [speaking spanish]

>> one of the reasons why i left my country was because of the violence and also because my little sister suffered from an a epileptic attack. >> [speaking spanish] >> i saw somebody kill another person twice and it was very ugly to see the blood running on the ground. spanish]king >> i was scared that i would be killed like those men were killed.

i would miss my mom a lot if i had to go back to my country. to bed be very scared hurt by the violence if i had to go back. panish]aking s >> my trip to united states was a big adventure. the whole way here was well. the food was good and we were treated like people. i felt very good. spanish]ing >> when i suffered a lot was after we crossed the river and the police took us into freezing cold police stations. spanish]ing

>> people could not sleep. we had to sleep on the floor and they only gave us a thin nylon blanket. there was not enough food. they only gave us two sandwiches a day. spanish]ing >> it was very cold in there and

my little sisters lives even turned blue. we were shivering the whole time. it was very hard to sleep because the police were always calling our names. we were there for four very cold days. spanish]ing >> please help protect children like me and my little sister. our country back to because they are very dangerous and very poor. for the first time, i am happy living here.

my mom is not sad all the time and i love to go to school. i have the best grades in my class. eventually, i want to be a doctor or a lawyer. spanish]king >> i am happy to know that i can now stay in the united states. i hope the united states continues to help children like me who need a lot of help. >> [speaking spanish] >> i would also like to say that i wish, i hope these children are not returned to their

countries because their mothers have to struggle a lot to be able to bring them here. thank you very much for listening to me today. >> thank you. we all appreciate it. that me introduce -- let me introduce a 15-year-old from el salvador. he will start school in new york this september. he lives with his mother and four sisters. he recently crossed into the united states unaccompanied. he fled el salvador in april of 2013. he was a witness of a homicide that occurred right in front of his house. he heard gunshots and rushed to see what happened. a man he knew apparently was dying from a gunshot wound in the street. members of a game threatened to kill him if they ever -- if he ever wrote his bicycle into their territory again. he was always worried the day

would come that he would be forced to join one of the gangs. in el salvador, once someone is asked to join, the penalty for refusing to join his death. he suffered significantly in the custody of the u.s. border patrol. a holdingained in cell without a blanket or enough food. he described his time there as the worst experience of his life. h] [speaking spanis >> good afternoon. i am 15 years old and from el

salvador. i live in new york with my mother and four sisters. thank you for the invitation to speak with you today. i want to tell you why i came here and also about the horrible experience that i suffered in immigration detention. >> [speaking spanish] >> i came to the united states because i was afraid of the violence in el salvador and i do

not want to have to go back to face this. man diears ago, i saw a after being shot many times on my street. one day, i was sitting inside my house and i heard gunshots. i saw a man was wounded by bullets and i found an empty cartridge. there was a lot of blood. spanish]ing >> a year ago, i was threatened by gang members. i was riding my bicycle and that was three members of the gang who said if they saw me there again, they would kill me in all i was doing was delivering tamales. spanish]king

school, there are always gang members and everyone knew who they were. we were always afraid they would try to force us to join the gangs. sawrandmother told me if i a lot of gang members together, i should try to avoid them because then i would be forced to join a gang. everybody knows if you refuse to join a gang, they will kill you. >> [speaking spanish]

>> my mother fled from allsop adore many years ago because of the violence. i do not know all the details but i know i do not want to go back to my country because i do not want to die and i am afraid of facing the violence. >> [speaking spanish] >> in the united states, i feel safer. i am with my mother and i don't have to be afraid of the gang members. bicycle here and i don't have to worry about encountering gang members. spanish]king

>> i crossed the border from mexico into the united states of april of this year and was immediately caught while we were crossing the rio grande. i was caught by u.s. immigration agents at about 1:00 in the morning. anish]eaking sp >> i walked 30 minutes to the immigration station where i was placed in a big room with 200 children. they were aged 10 and up. the room was very cold. there were not any beds.

they gave us nylon which barely even kept us warm and they gave us a cold sandwich twice a day. i was very hungry because it was not enough food. spanish]ing >> when some of the children did not behave well, the officials punish them. they handcuffed the children outside of the room and the children outside were worse off because they could not use their body heat from keep from being so cold. >> [speaking spanish]

>> after this room, i was taken to another big room with 200 people. it was very cold and i shivered a lot. and there was only one bathroom for 200 people and it was very ugly because all the children could see when i was going to the bathroom. we used the nylon to have a little more privacy. >> [speaking spanish] >> the whole time i was there children were crying. >> [speaking spanish] >> i felt very mistreated. my time in the ice boxes was the worst experience of my life. i hardly slept for six day.

s. they did not allow us to sleep because they came in every two hours to count the children. aking spanish] >> i felt very weak after six days in the ice boxes. >> [speaking spanish] >> please do not mistreat children the way your government has mistreated me. spanish]ing >> finally, i want to ask you not to deport children like me because it is very possible you would deport them to violence and to their deaths. thank you for listening to my testimony. >> thanks to all of you.

[speaking spanish] let me say it takes a lot of guts. all of us really respect what you said in front of all these people. that youateful presented your personal stories so the rest of the country can put a face on the reality we are dealing with here. i want to thank you for that tremendous contribution in this whole debate about what we are doing next. i will introduce my colleague and cochair of the progressive son, so that hei

can make a comment and do the ms. nancyntroducing pelosi. >> thank you. i simply want to thank all of you. for coming here. it is very courageous, brave for you to tell your story. i know it is not easy. as, you are helping us members of the congress get fact s and information that will allow us to make good decisions about how to handle unaccompanied children who come to the border. i want to let you know that we are very proud of you. i know that you are going to be a doctor, a pediatrician, a

lawyer, whatever you want to be, you can do it. with the guts and determination you have already showed, we are very sure your future is very bright. we take everything you said very seriously. are herenderstand you not just for yourself, but for all the other kids that you saw in the icebox. thank you very much. i would like to turn the microphone over to democratic leader nancy pelosi who has been so compassionate around this issue and many others. >> thank you very much, my colleague. cochair of the progressive caucus. i thank you for bringing us together today to pay our respects to these young people for their courage for sharing their experience.

to them i say thank you. thank you for being here, thank you for honoring us with your presence. i want you to know how important you are to us. this is quite a distinguished array of members of congress who thehere representing progressive caucus, but also the hispanic caucus, the black caucus. the leaders of the congress on the subject of immigration and all supporters of comprehensive immigration reform. the argument that some make that because of what is happening on the border we should not pass comprehensive immigration reform is upside down. because of what is happening on the border, we should more quickly passed immigration reform. have a heart, let us follow that message.

the people who talk about the baby jesus this gaping violence as an infant. sending children back into the circumstances. he described it as turning children back into a burning building. is about having a soul. to soul of the country is respecting the dignity of every person. givingcountry is about every person access rights you are in our country. i was just telling the a mutualen about friend who said we cannot have deportation without representation. of want to thank the groups were here who advocate for proper representation. unfortunately, the bill that has come to us which we may be adequate does not have resources for re-presentation, especially of the children who needed even more.

they do not have sufficient judges to deal with the immigration cases before them. knowing that putting the spotlight on this challenge, your firsthand experience is very valuable and important to us. raul describe the situation that was terrible. i saw it myself. the leaderresswoman, of immigration, complained about what we saw. i think already we have seen some improvement in the situation. but, we need to do so very much more. to our country and colleagues to have a heart when it comes to people coming into our country. some seeking amnesty and asylum to escape violence in central

america or wherever they come from. have on the not yet floor the proper opportunity to address those concerns. your testimony today takes us closer to a place where we can have a heart and recognize the soul of our country. that is about respecting the dignity and rights of every single person. thank you. dulce.ou, thank you, mayela. thank you for being here with us today. thank you to those organizations whose advocacy is so important for helping us have a heart and honoring our soul. i yield back. >> thank you, madam leader. very important that you joined us.

we thank you very much. i want to open up the opportunity for members who have any questions for the young representatives that are here. some of the people that signed the invitation letter, let me -- let me begin with them. question tomment or the representative. do you have any comments or questions? >> i just want to thank our powerful witnesses for being here today. shelterk, i went to a for unaccompanied children from the border in my district. one of the things i do not understand is why was it so

cold? why was it so cold? it does not need to be so cold. i was told that one of the guards said to a child -- and this is where you wanted to come. maybe you made a mistake making this trip. i hope by now -- i have heard by now that the situation is better. there is real blankets for the children. i apologize to you for the conditions that you met. i heard from other children as well that the worst part for them was when they got to the united states. -- i think she said it was ok. or you, dulce. got here.you

i also talked to a girl even a who told memayel that when she was seven years old she was in the house with 13 andther who is now some gang members came inside. they asked for rent. security money and they could not pay its. . every adult was shot and killed in the house. she finally made it to the united states where her father is. we hope she will be united. and of you should have to go back. none of you, now that you are here, should be treated with anything other than great respect. today, with great gratitude, for your coming here and telling us your story. thank you very much.

>> thank you. >> why was it so cold? helpedher member that -- let meis hearing ask in this order. ms. barbara lee, representative lee. comment or question? ms. lee? >> thank you very much. ellison, leader pelosi. just associate myself with all of the remarks that have been made and say to you that first of all, we appreciate and seeing the

united states of america as a refuge from fleeing such terrible conditions. secondly, listening to your ashamed., i felt are youy colleagues -- talking about america? where you fled and treated as you were. youo want to just say to is a countryntry that stands for liberty and justice for all. as our statue of liberty says, give me your tired, your poor, your old masses yearning to be free.

presencefor words and and testimony today really have reminded us of what we stand for and who we are as a country. i look forward to working with and tomy colleagues here you a way forward so that and all of the children will and safe and secure reunited with your families. just know that we as americans once again appreciate your voices and communicating with us the tragic realities of what is taking place in your country. thank you, again. >> thank you. any comments or questions to the children?

>> i would like to associate myself with the comments my colleagues have already made. i certainly want to thank my ellison,s, congressman for their leadership on this issue. and to thank the children that are here. and took a lot of courage to come to this country and it is taking a lot of courage to be here today to tell your personal stories. i want to thank you for that. i think your stories and what you have described as the what happened to you when you got here is exactly why it is absolutely critical that our acceptsan leadership the president's request for clean supplementalbring up a rel that would provide resources law enforcement needs, both order

and others to prevent the worsening. they are telling us they are going to run out of money very soon. as you mentioned, you did not have enough food. there were not enough linkage. -- blankets. we will be taking steps towards. made, you proposals will hear, what about treating all children the same. we want to treat them in a way that protect them. my republican colleagues are saying you are treating them the

same by taking away the right to due process the central american children have today. i think it's important we recognize the tremendous courage and violence i which people are fleeing. this is a test of our american values. this is a test to the world as to whether we are going and theup to our values children who are suffering and send a message to the world that we live by the values we espouse to others. >> inc. you. arrived, theys handed me a list.

don't be mad at me. opportunityfer the for the members who tried to be here. we have another panel after this. hold questions and comments until after this and allow young people to be excused. sequence, if you have any comments or questions? >> i do. thank you very much for hosting this. leader pelosi, thanks for your presence. i want to thank the three of you for having the courage to come here and give us your testimony. i have a couple of granddaughters. one is 11. the other is 10.

remind me of one of my granddaughters. when you were crying my heart was raking. i wanted to hug you. i cannot imagine my own granddaughters being alone and cold without enough food or blankets. that an even imagine area. i am also sorry for the condition you found yourself in. i wish you the best. my questionto dress to you. in august i am going to be i amling to guatemala. planning on speaking about the problem we are having. going to meetre with other children who have either gone through what you have gone through or are

contemplating doing what you have done. advice would you give to other young people in guatemala who are feeling fearful and unsure of their situation? you can tell us how can we make this better. how can we make our system better for those children who feel their only hope is to come to the united dates? -- states? >> i am a little nervous. .> i am, too

>> my advice is one i came to the united dates everything was all right with me. >> what it eyes would you give that aref your friends still in guatemala? ask i do have friends. i am reallyuld be happy i am getting a good education, more advanced than i used to get. i am pretty sure if they have a strong reason to come to this -- iry because of violence and they the research are actually helping me. words todo have describe what it writes i would do them.

-- advice i would give them. >> how could you make it better? >>[speaking spanish] gracias.

peopleuld like to tell in my country not to give up, that there is a better future here and you will continue studying and not have the same kind of problems we have. before we call the , another person

arrived, if there are any comments or questions you might have leave. but i want to thank our cochairs. say is welcometo to the united states. it does seem to me that is the first thing that should he said. see that theildren leader of the party along with members of congress, that would you experience that the border is not typical of the people of the united states. your testimony has an compelling, but it has been shocking. call for an should

investigation of what happened. people grieving children at the border. these are the first children we have an opportunity of hearing him. we have no testimony. did you speak english when you came to this country? how long have you been in this country? years. >> do you hear this virtually perfect english? i hope those who have not canorted immigration reform hear what this young immigrant

has learned in that short time and will understand just how important it is to have young people like you in our country and how much you are bound to contribute to our country. district that the have to learn from central america -- children from central my district of columbia is one of them. many of them are from el salvador. there are almost 200 children in my district right now from the countries of the children who have open here. i would like to ask the children

who came whether they were given us is in by lawyers or others when asked questions about how they got here. and by those who make decisions on whether or not take should stay here. who helped you? is this someone who wants to be? >> the question is whether they have given legal assistance.

>> they have to answer questions. they are now in this question. i take it they can they hear. hear -- they can stay here. >>[ speaking spanish] >> nobody helped me to know what to say. it was just me and my her. the only one who knew what to say to the police because i am the older of the two. >> [speaking spanish]

>> nobody helped me. they just asked me a lot of questions. a lot of what you would expect. my name, what country i came from. they just collected my information and took my fingerprints. >> these were bright and savvy children that were able to respond. i think even adults would have a .ifficult time responding i have written a letter to the district of columbia bar association asking for pro bono lawyers to be of assistance not only in the district of columbia to the almost 200 children already here but to go to the

border. i just inc. after the treatment that was received, and i know there were nonprofit at the me all it does seem to the help we can get. there will be those that can make their way to the border. >> i invite annexed panel. if you have any comments you might have. math the children, let me thank you and thank our leader for theirs there it. -- for i hope my fellow

members will place it on their lapel. i am going to move it close to my heart. we are here because we we want our. republican friends to listen to the stories you have just given. i want to emphasize there is no reason to change the law. law that gives you rights. i believe after we hear your stories we deserve those right. to a court. did you have a lawyer?

that was your lawyer? two children have a lawyer. could that lawyer asked lane to you what was going on? ?- explain did that make you feel better? feel secure. >> the judge was able to ask ?hat you have been through >> yes. some childking for to have a lawyer to express what your rights are. you want to be a. her? -- a doctor. do you think you have an a good girl? and your sister has done a good girl? -- been a good girl? >> yes. and might question understand this though we have

-- this bill we have is to understand it. i want to thank my colleagues for this hearing. not bemperative this when we have lawyers they can know their rights and the court can be made that there better.that are -- bille we can get to a good and the passage of a full supplemental. >> inc. you very much. words theut into

admiration all of us have for you and the motivation you provide for this congress to do and inht thing for kids this instance. [speaking >> house republicans weighed in today with their 659 million-dollar proposal to the crisis on the

u.s.-mexico border, the imgrant crisis. what will the focus of this republican bill be like, where allocated?y being they're looking looking to beefp i.c.e..for # also a lot of money going to more judges on the border, including teleconferencing tech not to immigrationicker hearings before a judge, which they are hoping to get done within seven days after migrants are apprehended at the border. >> your article pointed out that lessbill was not only far than what the president had proposed, but quite a bit pared that hallthe bill rogers introduced last week.

why was thatout, 1.5 billion figure not acceptable? >> we don't know exactly what was cut out. but the chairman floated the initial 1.5 billion proposal and seem like it was getting enough support. so in order to shore up as much support as possible, they really had to pare down that spending. a lot of people were worried the money wasn't necessary. >> what about the reaction from the conference when it was released today? >> they seemed to get pretty support, although there was a group of conservative republicans who said they were money,oncerned about the they were concerned that it didn't include changes to an executive order that came out in that deferred action on imgrants who arrived in the of as children. that thatconcerned issue was not addressed. some are also concerned that the jamte will turn around and them with a comprehensive immigration overhaul that they fundamentally opposed so. they're about saying no money at

can deal withdent it. and that no additional money is needed. >> one of the headlines in your piece says no wildfire, no iron dome funding, referring to the israeliing to the missile defendants program. why weren't those figures bill, then the house iron dome was included this the senate proposal, correct? gaves, the senate proposal about 615 million to fighting aboutres out west, and 225 million for the iron dome missile suppression system in israel. the house side, chairman rogers says he was hoping to address the iron dome issue separately, that's something they they they can get taken quickly.retty the wildfire issue is something they've been grappling with for a long time. the administration wants to change the way that wildfires are funded. currently not considered a natural disaster. and under fema's program. house budget chairman paul ryan is against the approach

proposed by the administration, it seems like chairman rojers and leadership just stepped off and decided that was something deal with later. >> let me ask you about an item you tweeted out last week. what is that law all about and is it included in the house proposal and how does it affect debate with the senate? >> that easily passed both asmbers of congress in 2008 an anti-trafficking bill. but conservatives say it encourages immigrants to come across the border because it gives them their day in court, but they say a lot of imgrand show up at their immigration hearing. democrats are scared that if you do include changes to the law, which means you allow all central american, you deport all central american children, they're you allow, sorry, central american children to self deport immediately if they like, they're concerned

that it's not giving those children due process. now mexican and canadian immigrants are allowed to choose to self deport. >> and lastly about the process for debate in the house this days left a few obviously. >> yes, looks at this point that they're going to take up the measure on thursday under a closed rule, which means there are no >> on the next "washington journal" we'll talk about immigration policy with republican representative stee pierce of nume. we will also talk about border .ssues with diana deget will talk ws yak

about how the act affects egislative debate today. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2014] while congress is in recess american history will be in prime time featuring events from water gate on its 40th anniversary. >> when the house passed its

bill on the trust fund it provided 11 billion through next may. the senate was expected to pass the bill unchanged. however senators amended the bill sending it back to the house with only a couple legislative days left before the august recess. the senate amendment would provide funding through the end of the year. if no legislation is passed and approved by president obama by friday, the transportation department would ration trust fund payments to states for road and bridge projects. here's some of the senate amendment debate. over here today that is a short-term extension. mr. president, i don't know if you know this or not but this will be the 11th short-term extension since 2008. let me say that one more time. this is the 11th short-term extension that has occurred since 2008.

this is the fifth time, mr. president, that we've taken money out of the general fund -- taken money out of the general fund to fund the highway trust fund, which is supposed to be funded through user fees. so for what i'd like to say to my friends on this side of the aisle, this is the fifth time for the highway trust fund that builds the highways and bridges around our country that we're engaging in generational theft -- generational theft -- where we take money out of the general fund -- everyone knows it's not paid for -- we use gimmicks to pay for something that the constitution says we're actually supposed to deal with. so the house has sent over a bill -- and there's been a lot of consternation on the floor about that -- they use $6.4 billion worth of pension smoothing. everybody in this body knows it's not a real pay-for. all it does is move revenues up a dec decade.

and because it uses $6.4 billion worth of pension smoothing, it has a $5 billion budget point of order against it. let me say that one more time. a $5 billion budget point of order against the house bill that's coming over. and so there's been some consternation, people have said, well, if we don't take up the house bill, then the road program's going to fall apart and we're going to go home for august recess and everybody's going to be blamed. well, fortunately -- fortunately speaker boehner today said, no, if the senate sends something over, we're going to send something right back. so everybody ought to be relieved. so it doesn't matter today that many of our finance committee members that serve with chairman wyden, they've made commitments to him that we're going to get on the senate finance committee and they should all know that that's not a problem now. the house today said they're going to send something right back. so the first vote that's going to take place today is a vote to

go -- to strip out the house bill, which has $6.4 billion worth of pension smoothing, a total gimmick -- everyone knows it's not a pay-for. it loses money. loses money. and the senate finance committee bill is going to be -- the first vote is to replace the house bill with the senate finance committee bill. by the way, which was done under regular order, done the way bills are supposed to be done. now, unfortunately it also is a short-term fix. i've never voted for a short-term fix for the highway trust fund because i -- i can't believe -- it's so simple for us to resolve. onlthe only issue is we haven't been willing to address itment there'it.so i'm going to vote ae short-term extension but we have an amendment to improve it. what it does is take owl all the pension smoothing that is

unfortunately in the finance committee bill -- i thank them for doing their work -- but it has $2.9 billion worth of pension smoothing, which again is a gimmick. in other words, it moves revenues up. it weakens, by the way, our pension system in our country. you-all know all that. it weakens our pension system. it moves money into this decade but from then on it loses even more money. it's absolute -- no offense to those who put it in place -- it's generational theft. so what this amendment does is to take pension smoothing out of the senate finance bill and leave everything else in placement now, the secondary benefit to that is that it means that the highway trust fund will lose -- will not have funding except to make it through this year. and what that means is that this body in 2014 will have the opportunity to actually deal with this issue. i have to tell you seriously, i'm embarrassed. i've been here 7 1/2 years in

the united states senate, 7 1/2 years and we have yet -- yet -- to deal with one of our long-term issues. i can't remember a single issue that this body has come together on to deal with one of our long-term structural issues. it's an embarrassment. there really aren't new ideas around here. there's just been a lack of willingness to deal with it. so i want to thank the senator from california, the senator from delaware and others who will join in on this amendment. and all we're doing is one thing -- we're taking a gimmick out of the senate finance bill and forcing this body to act responsibly before year end. that's all. so i would just urge my colleagues to come to the floor and say, look, it's been a long time, 11 reauthorizations short term. by the way, think about the economic issues that come with

this. we do these reauthorizations and d.o.t.'s around the country have no idea -- departments of transportation -- whether there's going to be funding in place. what do the contractors do? they don't hire people long term, they don't buy equipment. and yet we come do this 11 times since 2008. five times, again, transferring money out of our general fund. the greatest generational theft that can occur -- taking money out of the general fund, spending it over a five- or six-month months, paying for it for 10 years -- my republican friends who railed over the president because of the health care bill because he was using six years' worth of costs -- by the way, i was one of those railers -- six years worth of costs, 10 years worth of revenues. we don't get off of it because it was so irresponsible. and yet in this bill -- in this bill we're going to spend the money over six or seven months

and pay for it over 10 years. it's an order of magnitude worse. and so i know that a lot of people have worked and they've said, no, we -- there's no way we can come up with a solution by year end. you have got to be kidding me? how could we not come up with a solution to such a simple issue, a trust fund, that's been funded by user fees, how could we not figure out some way in five days -- the senate finance committee has some of the smartest people in the senate on it. they know there are no new real options. the chairman's floated some ideas as to how to get there and i applaud him for it. and, by the way, i know that the senate finance committee is only doing its job today. in other words, you've got to come up with a short-term solution. i got it. i can't support it. i can't support it. i can't support another kicking the can down the road on one of the simplest issues we have to deal with in the united states senate because elections are coming up.

let's face it. and every time -- it's the election, we can't deal with this issue. so what we've said is, okay, we got it. we realize that during an election, people don't really to want show their cards, apparently. so we're saying hey, let's strip out the gimmick that's in this bill, the pension smoothing that we all know is not a pay-for, it's a gimmick, let's strip that out and let's force the congress this year before, the end of this year, to actually deal with an issue that's very important to our nation. so i hope that people will support it. i hope -- i've heard people say, well, i'm just -- i just don't see how we can figure out a solution to this. you've got to be kidding me? i mean, how many new ideas are there relative to this? so, look, i -- i thank my colleagues for joining in this amendment. i hope that we'll have support. again, we're going to be putting

in place a short -- this amendment puts -- lessens the kicking the can down the road, it takes out a gimmick, it forces us to deal with a long-term solution, which we should have done a long time a ago. and i thank all of those senators who support this amendment. i hope others will consider before they come down to the floor. and i hope that this senate will have the opportunity, and the house, before year end to actually deal with this issue. again, let me say this. the kick-it-can-down-the-road that's occurring takes us into next may and june. think about it. so we're going to have a presidential race underway. so then people are going to say, oh, we can't deal with this issue. we don't want our nominees to have to deal with this issue. remember the primaries this year are early so our republicans will say, well, we don't want to deal with this issue in may or june because the presidential race is coming up. and the democrats will say the same thing, we don't want our candidate to have to talk about this issue. and so again and again and again we'll can the can down the

road -- kick the can down the road, we'll engage in generational theft, we'll weaken our economy, we won't do the things we should be doing with on our infrastructure. it's the wrong thing to do. please support this amendment. with that, i yield the floor. mrs. boxer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: mr. president, i want to thank senator corker before he leaves the floor, because i'll tell you, i've been here awhile and i haven't her a more honest speech in my life on the senate floor, frankly. i haven't heard a more passionate speech and a speech in which you just spoke from the heart and from your brain, which is quite confiden competent. i just thank you for it. because, you know, there are some times when you do feel like shouting. i guess there was a movie "i can't take it any more and i want everyone to know." it is ridiculous that we are where we are. we knew this for two years, that the highway trust fund was going to run out of money.

we knew it for two years. that's why in may senator vitter and i, senator carper, senator barrasso and others, both sides of the aisle, passed the six-year bill. we knew it was coming. we wanted to wake up our colleagues. and we did wake them up. but, sadly, to a short-term fix instead of a multiyear fix, do a long-term bill. and my friend i, so agree with you. it is the political will that is lacking. there's always an excuse followed by an excuse followed by -- the next thing we know, they'll say, "the dog ate my homework." we've heard every excuse in the word." and you're so right, we're going to be in presidential races, then we'll start with more senate races and more congressional races and people won't want to take a tough vote again. you know, this is the greatest nation on earth but we have to reflect the greatness in our work here and we're not.

and i would just say the one thing i disagree with my friend on, he said we're only doing one thing in this amendment. we're actually doing two things in this amendment. one is we're getting rid of that gimmick called pension smoothi smoothing, which i've kind of studied it over the last few weeks to really understand what we are doing, which is when you use this pension smoothing, you're saying to companies, don't put any money into your pension obligations. and through some smoke-and-mirrors, because then it means they get to pay a little more income taxes, by thy the way, some don't pay more income taxes -- it comes out a plus. the fact is, it's in essence telling companies they don't have to set aside money for their workers' pensions. that's not something that's go good, especially since the pension guaranty corporation is short $34 billion. i don't know if my friend knows this.

the last time we used pension smoothing for a short-term fix, at least we had in the committee a comparable measure that ensured companies gave more to the pension guaranty corp. so although they had a chance not to give the money into the pensions, they did have to pay more into the pension guaranty corp. if the pension guaranty corporation is broke, the taxpayers have to pick up the tab. i'm looking at my friend in the chair, that great senator, elizabeth warren, who knows what happens when everybody is broke and the federal government says, oh, my god, that's too big to fail. so this attack that you make on the smoothing as a gimmick, it's worse an a gimmick. it is a gimmick, but it's worse because it has real-life impacts and those real-life impacts are that the companies aren't putting aside enough money.

so we're saying let's think about what we're saying here. we're saying that the highway trust fund is going broke, so to fix it, we're going to endanger another fund, the pension funds of our workers. it's terrible. that's why i love the carper-corker-boxer amendment and i thank my friends for their leadership on the pay-for. it does two things, this good amendment. it says we're not going to use the smoothing, we're going to protect our pensions, and secondly, we are going to attack the long-term issues of the highway trust fund in december in the lame duck after the elections and everybody knows that's the best time to do it. so i stand proudly with my friends. i hope we pass this. i don't know what happens, what the house will do but you know what my dad used to say, you can only control what you can control. we can't control them, but we can control us.

so i hope anyone listening to this debate, i'm going to support the wyden amendment because it does strip some of the pension smoothing out, i'm going to oppose the toomey amendment in the nature of a substitute, the lee amendment, i think they're dangerous, and i'm going to strongly support the carper amendment, the carper-corker-boxer amendment. i thank my colleagues for this and i know there is very important business

the house judiciary can he on tuesday heard from the head of citizenship and immigration services. the agency that oversees petitions for immigration benefits such as green cards, naturalization and asylum. this oversight hearing is 2-1/2 hours. issile defense system. senator wicker, i'll let you respond. >> that last item is iron dome -- good morning. the judiciary committee will come to order, without objection the chair is authorized to declare recesses of the committee at anytime. we welcome everyone to this morning's hearing on oversight of the u.s. citizenship and immigration services. i'll begin by recognizing myself for an opening statement. welcome to the house judiciary

commit, director rodriguez. i understand this is your first time testifying in front of congress as the director of uscis. your appearance comes at a time when americans are feeling the repercussions of the illegal immigration crisis on the southwest-west border. of course if president obama took seriously his duty to secure the u.s. border and enforce laws against illegal immigration there would be no such crisis. u.s. custom its and border protection is the dhs agency getting most of the attention during this southwest border crisis, but there is no doubt that policies implemented by uscis are a major source of the problem. by that i mean policies such as deferred action for child arriv arrivals. and fears of persecution claims and even higher asylum grant rates by uscis officers.

daca is a major reason for the influx of illegal immigrants to the united states. and discussion of the program is pertinent since uscis recently announced the renewal of an initial tough of two-year grants of daca will be process. ed. uscis made changes to the original daca guidelines and requirements including gutting the education requirements. i previously expressed concern about the lack of any constitutional authority to implement daca. the cost of the program increased weight times for illegal immigration from daca processing and fraud in the program. fraud is of paramount concern since an immigration system subject to rampant fraud is a national security risk. so i was particularly astounded in may when the uscis added question and answer number 21 to its existing daca guidance.

it's an absolute invitation for fraud in which the uscis virtually admits it will not verify the validity of documents as evidenced by daca eligibility. i understand when uscis leadership was asked about question 21, congressional staff members were assured that, quote, generally, the majority of documents received are valid, end quote. but forgive me if such an assurance is not comforting, especially now that uscis is broadcasting its lack of attention to even attempt validation. the uscia processes over six million applications per year. i understand the magnitude of that responsibility and the enormous volume of work should make anti-fraud measures all the more important. unfortuna unfortunately, what we've been hearing for years from sources at uscis and even the uscis

union is the existence of culture getting to question. yes. unrelentless adjudicators who are routinely overwithin that they deny applications or petitions. there are documented instances of employees at leadership at uscis taking control of applications or petitions that have been brought to their attention by immigration lawyers or other outside forces. and i understand that there are ongoing investigations of such illegitimate interference in the adjudication process. the very notion that an application can be approved, despite fraud on the part of the applicant, and that uscis leadership will intervene if they get a call or e-mail from an outside party interested in a certain visa application is disturbing, to say the least. we know that the president has promised more administrative action to allow unlawful

immigrants to remain in the united states and receive quasilegal status and the right to work. in fact, some of the different tactics he may try to take were even outlined in a set of 2010 leaked uscis memos regarding administrative alternatives to comprehensive immigration reform and immigration administrative relief options. however, let's be clear. such policies of this administration including many implemented at uscis, as well as promises about future administrative legal administrations continue to encourage unlawful immigrant parents to smuggle their children into the united states. these policies are putting money directly into the pockets of human smuggling and drug cartels. and they're undermining the fundamental principles that congress creates the laws and the president is bound to enforce them. i'm interested in hearing how

under director rodriguez's leadership the uscis will no longer contribute to this state of affairs and i look forward to the director's testimony. it's now my pleasure to recognize the ranking member of the committee, mr. conyers for his statement. >> thank you chairman goodlatte and members of the committee. in a nutshell, the united states citizenship and immigration service services are vital in examining the young people that are coming across our southern border. and i want to suggest that before we leave for five weeks

that we try to ease the deportation of children and appropriate emergency funds. bus we have too few judges, too few asylum offices. we have 243 immigration judges. for 375,000 cases. we're talking about a more than four-year backlog, my colleagues. and, so, youngsters with valid claim should have a speedier way to have that determined. now, more -- those without valid claims, i'm sorry to say, should

be sent back. but that determination is what democracy is all about. and it's our responsibility. to be careful in how we do this. i know the strong feelings about these youngsters pouring over here. but the question is how do we dispose of it consistent with democratic principles that will guide us. and nowhere should this be more keenly felt than the house judiciary committee itself. so, we must determine even though there may be violence, persecution, trafficking. we're at a recess, and we still

don't know. throughout this session of congress, there have been too many of us that have had but one theme. the president isn't enforcing immigration law. and this is a myth. a myth that has been debunked in hearing after hearing where we have heard about record-breaking detentions, removals and prosecutions. still, the majority is not persuaded by facts and continue to blame the president for their inaction on immigration reform. many of them have argued that the president's use of prosecutorial discretion is

unconstitutional. and they should be removing young people seek the opportunity, if they qualify to live, work and study in the united states. they said that our laws protecting people fleeing prosecution and torture in their home countries should be rolled back and more of them should be detained for longer periods of time. and most recently, some is have used a humanitarian crisis affecting women and young children in central america to say that we can't fix our broken immigration system and provide relief to millions of undocumented americans living within our borders. and that begins right in this important committee.

so, today, let's listen carefully. over a year ago, the united states senate passed a comprehensive reform bill allowing millions of individuals to apply for earned legal status. the house majority has refused to bring the bill, or its companion bill, h.r. 15 for a vote. the congressional budget office tells us that we would reduce our deficit by $900 billion over 20 years through these proposals. and so this refusal to bring a bill to the floor, despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of americans support comprehensive immigration reform is something that i feel very

badly about. if such a bill were brought to the floor, i'm confident that it would pass, even the house of representatives in the 113th congress. and unfortunately, i'm beginning to think that the only immigration bill that we might ever see in this congress will be a bill to strip protections that all of us unanimously agreed to extend to child victims of trafficking, persecution and torture and abuse. and i don't feel or believe that merely -- i feel that we can do better than this. we were sent here to solve problems that demand action on

comprehensive immigration reform. and so i urge my colleagues, majority and minority, in the house to end the delay and to start acting. and i join the chairman in welcoming our distinguished witness. and i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. >> thank you, ranking member. it's my understanding that the ranking member of the immigration subcommittee would like to make an opening statement. ordinarily, we could ask at this time that members put their statements in the record. however, noting her request and noting that the chairman of the subcommittee is not present, the chair will turn to the gentleman from utah, mr. chavets for an opening statement. the gentleman from utah, mr. chaffetz recognized for his

opening statement. >> i thank the chairman. this is obviously a vital issue to the united states and it is something that is exploding on our borders and exploding in this country. as somebody who represents good hard-working americans who are doing the right thing. they're paying their taxes, they're working hard, they're trying to take care of their kids. they may be an individual who has just graduated trying to get their feet on the ground. there's a whole other wave of people coming here. i happen to believe, mr. chairman, there is a proper place for asylum, for those people who are truly in harm's way whose life is in danger. this is a country who's had open arms but we're being taken advantage of and by great numbers. the flow coming across our border is absolutely unbelievable. by every metric, every account, everything i've seen, people who are coming here and trying to take advantage of the united states of america and our generosity are overwhelming the system and the consequences, we have people who are legally and

lawfully trying to come to this country, we've been ignoring those people. the people who are legally and lawfully getting in line, doing it the right way, trying to come in in the front door, what about those people? because the resources that we've had to take for people who aren't willing to play by the rules have put a huge strain on the system. that's why i think this hearing today is so vital today. we have to address some very important topics. those people that are coming across and claiming asylum. and they're not just coming from one or two countries. when i went and visited the border and i went to the detent center in phoenix, there were representatives from 60 countries trying to come across the border. they were overwhelming the district. when i visited the phoenix i.c.e. office and what's going on in the system, you had people literally knocking on the door saying please arrest me because i want to get in the system. and the system generally works

like this. you come in, you make your claim. you're going to get some sort of court date. now in phoenix, when i was there, what they told me in 2013, you would get a court date in 2020. in the meantime, what are you going to do? you're going to say, because my court date is so far in the future, i need to be able to work. and then we grant these people a work permit. so, now, they get free education, free health care, and they have a work permit to compete against somebody who is legally, lawfully here. whether they're on a green card or maybe they're maybe a united states citizen, competing for those jobs. again, we can be compassionate. but the reality is, president obama and this administration has created a magnet. and the magnet says this, come step foot in the united states of america and nothing's going to happen to you. there's not going to be a consequence to this. it's unfair.

it's not right. the president owns this issue. the president has created this situation. there's a reason why, particularly the unaccompanied minors are flowing across the border. because they don't feel like anything's going to happen to them. we're going to take care of them. we're going to actually -- oh, we'll go ahead and take you. then we'll pass you off to somebody else. if you had a note in your pocket, we'll pass you off to somebody else, do we do any background checks on who we're passing these minors to? no, we don't. do we check the legal status of the person we're handing them off to? no, this administration doesn't do that. it's fund mentally to its core wrong. and a key part of this system is what the united states citizenship and immigration service does along with this process. we've got a lot of good men and women. patriotic, working hard, trying to do the right thing for their country. but i worry about the direction that they're giving. the direction that they're being given by their management.

and i worry what this administration is telling them to do. or not to do. and that's a deep concern. so, mr. chairman, i appreciate you holding this hearing. a lot of members have good questions. i look forward to hearing. and i yield back. >> chair thanks the chairman and welcome miss lofgren for the opening statement. >> thank you. let me begin by opening the hearing by welcoming him to his new position. i think it's fair to say that uscis doesn't get the attention that the rest of the components of dhs do. but its mission is very important. as we know, uscis adjudicates a wide array of immigrant and nonimmigrant petitions. families hoping to reunite. businesses searching for talent.

persons fleeing torture, all to become american citizens all go through your agency and it's critically important to our country that your agency perform well. it's also important to point out that the uscis is responsible for all of these important activities without taxpayer money. it's entirely fee-driven except for a minor amount used for e-verify. all of the applicants pay for the services that they receive. our country? i sometimes mention my grandfather who came to the united states in the early 20th century. got on a boat, got off the boat, and i'm in congress today because he had the courage to want the american dream. the director's own story of his family fleeing turkey and poland to escape anti-semitism and to cuba, then fleeing cuba to escape communism.

and here he is today part of the rich american fabric. i've always admired immigrants who have enough get up and go to get up and go. they made our country. we here have inherited that rich history, and we're now in a position to help shape the future for those who come after us and it's incumbent we preserve that legacy. there are many topics that will be discussed today, but i want to touch on the issue because it's already been mentioned about the children, the unaccompanied children who have been apprehended at the southwest border. as we know, these individuals are under law placed in the safe keeping of the department of health and human services, but it is uscis, asylum officers who determine whether there is a well-rounded fear of persecution and in the director's written testimony he explains that almost 65% of the asylum

applications filed by unaccompanied children that have been adjudicated this fiscal year have been approved. some argue this somehow means that there is a rubber stamp of these applications or that the asylum system is vulnerable to fraud and abuse. i look at that statistic and think these are vulnerable children who are fleeing persecution and extreme violence, and they are thankful that they are receiving the protection to which they are entitled under domestic and international law. i think it's worth pointing out that an application for asylum isn't illegal. that's part of our immigration laws and it has been since after world war ii. now, children who have been abandoned, abused or neglected and who obtain a state court order can apply to uscis for special immigrant status. the director notes over 3,900

applications for this sij status have been received this fiscal year. those of us who went to south texas this month know that these applications require a finding by a state court that these children have been abandoned. state court makes that determination that's only then that the uscis will proceed. now, children who have been victims of severe forms of human trafficking are eligible for a t-visa. it's important we maintain and defend this procedure. as mr. conyers pointed out, we had a nearly unanimous vote in 2008 that put the congress and america on record saying we will fight human trafficking and we will make sure that the victims of human trafficking are given safe haven in the united states. much of this discussion in the congress and in the country has overlooked the fact that the

wi wilbur force act is about human trafficking. if we eliminate the protections in that act what we will be saying is we win countenance the victims of trafficking being returned to their traffickers. i will say this, that we did make an exception for the children from contiguous countries and we have learned much to our sorrow that those exemptions need to be revisited because the united nations at our request has reviewed our processes and found that children from contiguous countries who have been trafficked are, in fact, being returned to their traffickers. with that, mr. chairman, i look forward to this hearing and i yield back. >> without objection all other opening statements will be made part of the record. we thank our only witness for joining us today. director rodriguez, if you would

please rise, i will begin swearing you in. do you swear that the testimony that you are about to give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you. let the record reflect director rodriguez responded in the affirmative. mr. rodriguez serves as the director of the united states citizenship and immigration services, the department of homeland security agency responsible for administering and processing immigration benefits including asylum, naturalization and visa petition. prior to joining uscis, mr. rodriguez was first an assistant u.s. attorney in pittsburgh, led the department of labor's wage and hour division, and served as the head of the office of civil rights within the department of health and human services respectively. he attended brown university where he earned a bachelor of arts in history in 1984. mr. rodriguez received his jd from boston college in 19 88.

thank you very much for coming and we look forward to your testimony. your written statement will be entered into the record in its entirety. i ask you to state your record. there is a timing light on the table. when it turns yellow, you have one minute left to summarize your testimony. thank you and thank you for being here today. you may again. >> thank you, chairman goodlatte. good morning, ranking member conyers, congressman chaffetz and other members of the committee. i am extremely honored to be the new director of the united states citizenship and immigration services and to be before you today. i hope that today is the beginning of a long and fruitful and constructive relationship that i will have with this committee as a whole and with its members in particular.

i am also honored to be the leader of more than 18,000 extremely dedicated men and women who are the employees of the united states citizenship and immigration services. i have worked in many different government positions. i have worked in the private sector. and i can say even after the short time in office that as a country, we really should be pleased to have the extreme level of talent, commitment and work ethic that characterizes so many of the people that i had the opportunity to meet in these last three weeks. i accepted this job because i am a patriot. i am a patriot who believes that america is indeed unique in its freedom, its equality, its energy and its enterprise. and those qualities are the product of the kind of people who are in this country and who come to this country. they are people who work hard,

they are people who take risks, they are people who are dedicated to making a better life for their family. and those kinds of people come from all over and do all kinds of things. they can be tomato pickers, they can be physicists, they can be captains of industry, they can be plumbers. and for me, the challenge as director of citizenship and immigration services, the reason i am embracing this challenge, is to create a fair and efficient system for those individuals to find a place in our society. i am the son and grandson of immigrants. my grandparents did flee communism in cuba and both fled anti-semitism and hardship in both turkey and poland. these are motivators for my work here, as well. like so many, my parents hoped for a better future for me and

for my sister, as well. i have spent the majority of my career as a law enforcement officer. i don't need to have done that to know that there are many people who wish the united states harm. and so i do view it as a very solemn and important part of my work to safe guard the security and safety of the united states. i'd like to relate two particular experiences that i've had during my few days as director of u.s. citizenship and immigration services. i had the honor of attending a naturalization ceremony where 53 different countries were represented. showing the remarkable energy and talent that continue to pursue the dream of becoming new americans every day. and i had the opportunity recently to meet with the recently-returned refugee processing team from our refugee asylum international operations division that had recently come back from iraq.

these are incredibly dedicated and talented public servants who i can say with great confidence inspired me when i heard the stories of the work that they do. and we have some challenging issues to talk about today. i have no doubt that we'll be talking about the deferred action for childhood arrivals program. i can say as a former prosecutor, i have exercised discretion, i have worked for leaders who exercised that discretion. that is not anything novel in the various an enforcement enterprises in our country. it is my view that daca provides an opportunity to exercise pros cue torl discretion. for an individual i met about to receive her degree in harvard or another individual in medical school trying to decide to be a dermatologist or obgyn. i imagine we will also speak about the crisis at the border.

i think that has been noted, the president has recognized this as a very serious problem, as has my agency and has secretary johnson. i would like this morning to talk in more detail about how our asylum process works, and the degree to which these asylum claims actually play a role in this crisis. i look forward to our continuing conversation this morning, thank you. >> thank you. i would like to take a few minutes away from this hearing to talk about someone who was a dear friend of mine, a mentor and a member of the house judiciary committee, my predecessor representing the sixth district of virginia congressman m. caldwell butler passed away last night around midnight. he served with a special

election in 1972 until his retirement at the beginning of 1983 he served on this committee that entire time, and he served here with great distinction at a time when this committee went through some very difficult issues, including his being very actively involved in the watergate investigation and in the impeachment proceedings relating to former president richard nixon. he was a public servant in the truest sense of the word. he has given immeasurably to his country, his state and his community roanoke, virginia, where he lived his entire life and to which he was extremely dedicated. he attended the roanoke public schools and was undergraduate degree at the university of richmond and law degree from the university of virginia. he was admitted to the virginia bar in 1950 and commenced practice in roanoke.

he also served in the united states navy. he served in the virginia house of delegates from roanoke from 1962 to 1971. and served as the minority leader from 1966 to 1971. he was a friend of everyone who knew him and someone who i had great respect. he will be badly missed. his wife june passed on just a month ago. it is a great loss for the roanoke community and for our country. and i thank the committee for allowing me to remember him for a few moments here. the gentleman from michigan served in the house of representatives and on this committee with congressman butler. i would love to recognize him for a few words. >> i thank you very much. so did zoe lofgren serve with

him. i remember him very well. there are very few conservatives that i remember, going back that far, as clearly as i remember him because he was an impressive member of the congress. we exchanged views on a almost regular basis, but our friendship was never impaired by the different perspectives that we had on how government should run. so i join you, mr. chairman in observing and remembering a distinguished member of the house judiciary committee. i would like to yield to the gentle lady from california for any comments she might have. >> i appreciate you yielding,

mr. chairman. i was a young law student working for congressman don edwards, also a member of the committee. i remember mr. butler very well. he was a person who we all admired. even if we didn't agree on everything that he thought, he was a man of tremendous principle, totally honest and totally brave in standing up for what he thought was right and the constitution, and he will be greatly missed. i count myself as one of his many admirers and i remember him quite fondly of my days as a young staffer, and i thank the gentleman for yielding. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> i thank the gentleman from michigan and gentlewoman from california for their remarks. we offer our sincere condolences to the butler family. they are in our thoughts and prayers in this difficult time. it was a great honor to know and to have the privilege of working

for caldwell butler. i learned a great deal from him over the years. his guidance and wisdom will be missed by me and many others. i thank you all for allowing me to say a few words. we'll now turn to the questioning of director rodriguez. director, i know you are new to the job. i would like to get your perspective on things that concern us greatly and if there is an opportunity to correct some things or clarify what the uscis is doing in certain areas. as i mentioned in my opening statement, question 21 of the revised deferred action for childhood arrivals or daca, frequently asked questions states, will uscis verify

documents or statements that i provide in support of a request for daca? and uscis answer is, "uscis has the authority to verify documents, facts and statements that are provided in support of requests for daca. uscis may contact education institutions, other government agencies, employers or other entities in order to verify information." this answer seems to put applicants on notice that uscis in most cases will not, in fact, verify the validity of documents submitted to satisfy eligibility requirements. and thus, the frequently asked questions invites fraud. if uscis takes seriously its stated anti-fraud commitment, why is it a good step to basically notify potential applicants that documents will not be verified?

you may want to pull that microphone closer to you. i don't think it's turned on either. there we go. >> i really appreciate the opportunity to work with you and this committee on various concerns that they may have. as i understand the concern here is the suggestion that there will not be a systemic verification of the authenticity of documents presented at the time of daca renewals. it is my understanding that there is scrutiny of these documents. certainly at the time of initial application. we have a robust fraud detection and national security directorate that includes law enforcement and military officials among its ranks that engages in a variety of systemic checks of any individual who

seeks any sort of benefit from uscis as to criminal history, terrorist behavior, possibly other threats to the united states. and our adjudicators also receive training so they can in appropriate instances, flag applications for benefits that appear to present fraud. it is for that reason that the agency felt comfortable in saying that in the ordinary course of business, while there would not be a specific attempt to authentic particular documents that, there is an ability our adjudicators have to look at documents. if they do present concerns at the time of the review during the adjudication process to flag those applications for further review. >> a great many applications contain fraudulent documents. it would seem to me a better policy would be to say that the documents are going to be reviewed and to leave applicants with the impression that they should not submit fraudulent

documents, that they will be checked, and if they are found to be fraudulent that there are severe consequences that would befall someone submitting fraudulent documents to your organization. >> chairman,ing i appreciate the concern that you have raised. i am in the process right now reviewing all the agency's processes, and certainly one of the things i will be dedicating special attention to are any issues related to national security or fraud. those are high priorities to me. >> thank you. the president indicated his intention to continue to act administratively to change u.s. immigration policy when and if congress does not do so in a manner to the president's liking. he has previously acted on daca, expansion of parole, reducing the issuance of notices to appear for unlawful immigrants, prosecutorial discretion regarding removal of unlawful and deportable aliens and several other means.

as you entered the agency a few weeks ago, you must have received a briefing on the status of the next administrative action. would you please tell us what is next on the president's agenda? >> let me be clear. i think the administration has also been clear about this. no decisions have been made. the directive that we have received is too examine possibilities for different avenues to exercising that prosecutorial discretion. i know that our secretary is in a process of engaging with frontline employees at dhs. members of congress from both sides of the aisle and stakeholders from a broad spectrum of american society. that process is ongoing. no decisions have yet been made in that process. >> the speakers border crisis working group, which i'm a member, recently met with secretary johnson. during that meeting i asked the secretary what would be needed

in order to address the surge in those claiming credible fear? secretary johnson indicated that a change in law to strengthen the credible fear standard would be necessary to fix the current six. do you agree that such a fix is needed? secretary johnson then said that while a fix is needed, now is not the appropriate time to fix the credible fear standard. when claims have gone from 5,000 to an estimated 50,000 in a short number of years, and your testimony indicates that those claiming credible fear are part of the surge, why is this not the time to fix this weak standard? >> i'd like to put this issue in a little bit of perspective. at this point, roughly 15% of individuals being apprehended at the border are presenting credible fear claims. we have searched our own capacity to address these

claims. we moved personnel to the various border processing areas to process those claims we accelerated our review time to a period of eight days so as to ensu ensure -- >> well, thank you. >> i'm sorry. >> go ahead. >> to ensure we adjudicate those claims as efficiently as possible. at least uscis has been able to surge in that manner. i think that is the basis for which the secretary may have suggested now may not be the time to address this particular issue. >> point of fact, the initial credible fear hearing is now resulting in 92% of those cases being approved to move on to the next status in the process, which involves the detention of people or releasing those people into the united states, and as we know a great percentage of those do not return for their

subsequent hearing. so it seems to me that increasing that standard and doing it now would send worth to people if they truly are seeking political asylum in the united states, they should state that when they come to this country and be prepared to show that it at least is more likely than not that they have a case that deserves to go on to that final hearing rather than being rubber stamped through, as i would argue, they are being now. >> congressman, i would not necessarily adopt the view these claims are being rubber stamped through. on my third day in office, i sat in on a credible interview. i am a former prosecutor. i conducted probably thousands of interrogations myself. i was very favorably impressed actually by the quality of the interrogation that i saw, by the probing nature of the interrogation i saw. i do think these interviews are bein