over the next month we get a new able to budget for the fiscal year of 2014 2015. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] is we have not seen the senate confirm a surgeon general for this country. there are a number of nominations that must work its way in before the end of the year. we believe that we heard the public right. trying to helpo

as much as possible all those families that are survived the difficult times as a result of the wall street crash. we will focus most importantly on the middle class. than 10uild on the more point 5 million jobs created over the last 54 months. thatn hope to continue progression of more than 200 thousand jobs created for the last nine months -- we continue to have more americans with health security that we take for granted in this room. we learn just recently that we have the highest rate of high school graduation in our country ever. that five states, four of them red, the people in those states said, we should give americans who work for minimum wage arrays. the american people have spoken to us.

is all about helping the middle class. those are working very hard make it. if you do that, than everything else will fall into place good we are ready to do that. introduce my colleagues. they will say again order after the vice-chairman. all my atoms congressman from the 31st congressman from the second district in nebraska, and congressman elect from the 33rd district in the state of california. with that, let me yield to the vice chair from new york. chairman think that for his service. and to the caucus. it has done a great job.

through some very difficult times. those difficult times -- they will exist for some time to calm. we look forward to the 114th congress. i look forward to working with them. welcome to this wonderful and diverse incoming freshmen democratic class to our congress. now, it reinforces what this incoming freshman class -- before i turn it over to them, i think, as many of you of heard me say before, with all the natural calamities that happened around the world, and happened here in the united states, some of the more man-made calamities, like war itself and what we have seen happen with crimea, ukraine, middle east. the uncertainty that exists. the other natural calamities in and the ebola,

uncertainty that has created for the american people. the american people are looking for more stability coming out of washington, d.c. something they have not had over the past two years. man-madeeen instability, shutting down our government, threatening not to pay the national debt. we hope those days are behind us and we can pass a clean cr before we leave the 113 congress , that we can have tax extenders that makes sense for small businesses, entrepreneurs, that we can task terrorism risky insurance. that is important to our city and my country. thinkare ways in which i our republican colleagues can demonstrate that they are here to work on behalf of the american people, and not just

political self-interest. i look forward to working in a bipartisan spirit to make those things happen, and look forward to this incredible incoming freshman class. havingthe distinction of the opportunity to introduce to you the most senior of the incoming freshman class. seniority means everything here. adams from north carolina. thank you. >> thank you. i join with all of my colleagues , thanking them, and looking forward to working with them, and the entire democratic caucus, and the republicans as well. i come from north carolina. -- we have made national news there. i am happy to be here. to represent the citizens of the 12 district, who had no

representation for 10 months. that is almost a year. that is as close to a year as you can get. i was sworn in yesterday, i am happy to be here to get to work for them, to work with this sworn ingress and be again to the 114 congress. it is unique for me. i had two primaries. i had to general elections. i will be sworn in the second time. it has been a wonderful experience for me, to also be this 113thoman and congress. with that, comes a lot of responsibility. representing and advocating for women and children and families for working families for workers, and for middle-class families. training fortor by 40 years. i served for 30 years. i am here to work. i have the experience to do that.

i am looking forward to making a difference, not only for the 12 district, before the citizens of the united states of america. it is good to be here. thank you very much for the opportunity. i would like to introduce now my colleague from california, 31st district, pete aguilar. >> thank you. as the vice-chairman said, we are all a little envious of her position. it is my honor to be here. thank you. thank you for the opportunity to join you. i am currently the mayor in california. i am congress member elect for the 31st district. during this campaign, we talked about a lot of things. chief among them was a middle-class initiative, which was a return to discussing issues that are so important to the middle class in southern california. creating jobs, supporting

investments in education, making sure we honor the commitments to our veterans and our seniors. those are going to be the focus is of me and my colleagues in this caucus. we arereat leadership, already talking about these issues that affect our communities. i want to thank them for the opportunity and i look forward to this orientation where we continue to learn and grow and get ready to deliver for our constituents come january. we will be getting ready to deliver and to work together on both sides of the aisle. as a local mayor, i have a track record working together to a copper things. i look or do continuing those efforts. pleasure to introduce another one of my colleagues bradn the 114 congress, asher, congressman elect from nebraska. ashford, congressman elect from nebraska. >> thank you.

that.d on npr i am proud to meet you. i have never been to a caucus meeting. i have been in the legislature for 16 years. we don't have caucus is our party. this is interesting. this is a whole different deal. i also, whend -- i i was running for all those, i was going to find 25 friends. i've gotten over that. i have 25 plus -- democrats and republicans -- i've never been so impressed by a group of individuals in my life. so much enthusiasm, confidence, and hopefully, if i can just add, a tradition of nonpartisan problem-solving, like we have a nebraska, hopefully we can do that. thank you for the opportunity. thank you. >> all right.

congressman elect, ted lieu. from california. >> i am thrilled to be here. everyone forhank the incredible job you have done. i have been here less than 24 hours. somebody asked me what the differences between here and, -- southern california. cut checks. there are no code checks in southern california. this is diverse. we are also proud that a quarter of that class our veterans. i served on active duty in the air force. i'm still in the reserves. i look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle. it is clear to me that voters want us to work together. i believe we can get agreement on transportation, infrastructure funding, protecting the privacy of

americans from illegal surveillance. there were also the areas where we will not agree. those areas are where we will provide -- protect our core values. we will protect a woman's right to choose. we will protect social security and medicare. we will fight for the middle class on those issues where we can agree to help middle class, we will agree and cooperate on those issues that hurt the middle class, we will fight to oppose them. i look for to working with everyone to make our country stronger and safer. i'm thrilled to be here. thank you. food youyou very much can understand why we are very proud of the democratic caucus. minoritys are women or . it continues a tradition in the democratic caucus of continuing to elect individuals who today.nt what is america we are very proud of that. with that, we will take any questions. >> there's a report in the new york times that the president will likely act on immigration

reform in the coming weeks. i am wondering if you had heard about any of this or had a chance to reduce reports. if i can get your reaction to that. >> i have had a chance to reed this same reports, but i know nothing about their veracity. i do know that the president was very clear months ago. he was very clear last week in a senateith the house and democratic, republican leadership treaty was going to take action since congress had failed to do anything to fix the broken immigration system. he was going to try to do what he could to make the law -- well,ation law -- worked efficiently, and as intelligently as possible. to act befored the end of the year, but more than that, i do not know. >> you just rather reports?

>> he did not say in our luncheon when he would act. he did say he would act by the end of the year. what theuestions about president might do to make the broken immigration system work better were posed by republicans. they were opposed by republicans. president was responding to their inquiries. i know that he was hoping that we would have more time during the lunch to discuss economy, jobs, some of the pressing issues like ebola, syria, iraq here i. he made it clear that he thought about this part of that. ,ort of congress acting congress has not acted. he was going to try to see what he could do to make the broken immigration system work better where he could under the law. >> the republican position on immigration reform -- especially executive order -- we've had

several republicans today saying you are really -- his word was, there could be an explosion. is there concern here that we could be going back down that road like we did last fall if the president moves ahead of time and that really copper case the cr? -- that really complicates the cr. week --, tomorrow, next we could -- the president could take any type of action on immigration if the house of representatives what unstick it's ears and let us vote to improving our laws. a half, than a year and about a year and a half, the house has had -- been sitting in its chamber -- had sitting in his chamber a deal that had 60 aide votes that would fix the

broken immigration system. my sense is that the president would like to see the house republican leadership act, whether it is on the senate bill or anything else, to do something. short of that, i think the president is prepared to do what he can using his executive authority to prioritize how we go out there and make a broken immigration system with broken laws work. it is hard to understand why any member and congress would complain to the president about trying to make things work better when it it is in the full purview of those same members to make the law work right by making the changes necessary. we can act and dispose of the need for the president to do anything. --if it comes to that wouldn't this be different? the president of this action and created this problem. maybe in the court of public

opinion, it's different than the government standoff last fall. >> i will simply say this. ultimatums at a time when the president has said let's work together, i think it would be a bad way to start. the president said, if congress acts, i will stand down. i will not need to act. , and in congress acting six years, congress is not acted, he is prepared to try to do what he can, as he did two years ago. my sense is that all we have to do is see congress do its job and act. we won't have to worry about the president trying to act through his executive powers.

-- ifrt with ultimatums you don't do this our way, we will to do anything else -- that to me would be a bad sign. let me ask my other colleagues to respond. that, as iadd to mentioned before, talking about threatening to shut down the government because they don't get their way, or because the president is trying to improve the way in which the laws are carried out, i think his childlike, quiet frankly. creating morep uncertainty. that is not going to help. it will create more uncertainty. that is what we need to into here. it is no secret, the president talked about executive order for quiet some time. coming that it has been down the path. it is not the first time a president has use executive order to carry out major events in history of the united states, quiet frankly. that, if and when --

and i believe the president will carry through with issuing executive order -- it still will not address every issue that needs to be addressed. the congress still needs to come back here and fixed what is a broken immigration system. that does not change. it still needs to be addressed. is it about time the republican congress and the house and senate take charge. the responsibility is squarely on them to act on this issue. >> what is your position on that right now? opportunityave an -- the bill was sprung on us. this is not the way you typically handle legislative alicy, where all of a sudden bill comes before you for consideration and debate. it is a closed rule, which is another sign that were not having full transparency and democratic action on the floor

of the house. not have an opportunity to fully express themselves on behalf of their constituents to try to make changes to a bill that we rarely saw and to try to improve it or perfected. the process is flawed to begin with. this is an important issue which has been on the minds of some numbers for for quiet some time. case, myticular biggest concern is this, someone wants to make money by shaleting petroleum from in canada, private through the united states to get to our , to then haveulf it exported to who knows which country are what place to sell -- therety good profit is no guarantee that an american will benefit one drop from the oil that will be transported

throughout turf. canada that isin getting ready to make money by exporting the oil out of our ports in the gulf. what is in it for americans? especially if there is some kind of catastrophe or leak of the oil -- it will happen on our turf. my understanding is that this proposal that is before us would exclude the company that is shipping this oil to the pipeline from any liability should there be a spill, which does not make sense. spill.the telefax of a we get the contamination. -- we get the ill effects of the spill. and this companies getting all the profits. ,hat would concern me greatly if americans are not going to benefit from a pipeline that is going all the way across our country, north to south, so that

some company in canada can make profits by selling oil to people outside of the united states. i have concerns. i would like to have an opportunity to debate and amend that. this bill and this process that has been set up by the republicans in the house will not permit that. i have real concerns about moving forward with the legislation as it is. >> [inaudible] given the results of tuesday's us some idea of the color or tenor of the meetings about the same leadership team going back in the field for 2016. >> this is where it would be nice to hear from the newer members as well. that and after 22 years election is an election. some of our colleagues have learned that you should not take

anything for granted. election for leadership in the democratic caucus, republican caucus, is no different. you still have to come out with the votes. i don't believe anybody in our democratic caucus will be elected to serve as a leader unless he or she deserves that opportunity to lead. we will have an opportunity to have a discussion, debate, about who should be our leadership team. i fully respect and will abide by the wishes of our colleagues in the democratic caucus on how to move forward on an agenda that will work for all americans. again, i have been to enough elections to know that if -- it is the votes that count, not what you say or do. we will find out who members of the democratic caucus vote for to be members of the leadership. if it is folks you have seen before, it is because they've earned the opportunity to meet again.

>> as a member of the present leadership, and i say this for the new members as well, something they will experience, the collective wisdom of the caucus. that is what i have faith in. i continue to have faith in that . it will service well as a caucus. >> thank you for that, mr. vice chairman. i think one of the things the new members are looking for is leadership. someone who shares our values. chief among them is an investment and commitment to the middle class. those are things that i hear being discussed in our community and that caucus room. that is what i'm looking for with the leadership and within the discussions we will be having in the future, to make sure that our leadership will reflect the values of the democratic caucus, reflect the values of my community, which is important to grow the middle

class, create jobs, invest in education. those are things i want to see out of our caucus and leadership. >> i might too, if i could. i would like to comment a little bit on the issue of the pipeline. nebraska, we spent a considerable amount of time debating and discussing where the pipeline should go through our state. the largestou know, deposit of underground water in the world is located under oklahoma.nd there is a great deal of concern in our state that that be protected. it should be a concern of the entire nation. my concern would be, as i said throughout my companion, when there is a decision made, and we decided in nebraska generally that if the pipeline is approved , it should be approved pursuant to the rules and regulations that we in the brassica have in nebraska have

designed for that particular project. as of now, in nebraska, we have not finally determined the process for approving the pipeline. now up to theis nebraska supreme court. i expect there will be a decision soon. i think there is some concern amongst my colleagues in the legislature and nebraska's generally that we respect the process in nebraska, which will be finalized very soon. that would be a concern that i would have as a representative of the state of nebraska. >> feel free to discuss anything and ask any questions of our colleagues as we conclude this conference. i want to thank all of those participating. i want to thank our call to -- thank our colleagues for participating in this press conference. with that, we will conclude. thank you.

>> nancy pelosi will run to keep her post. she had these remarks today. afteryour own leadership democrats lost seats last week, i'm wondering if you gave any thought to stepping down as the leader and what you thought about. >> let me start with the second question. i have heard it from you all a number of times. as i said most recently, you have lost three times, why don't you step aside. i said, what was the day that you said to mitch mcconnell when they lost the senate three times , taking back the senate, on to getting a little old, mitch. shouldn't you set aside. have you ever asked him that? i don't understand why that question should even,.

i am here. as long as my members want me to be here. i am not here on a schedule. i am not here on anything except a mission to get a job done. i am so proud of the confidence the members of waste in me. -- confidence the members have placed in me. i'm happy to be here. if you don't, i am proud of what we have done together. how many times is that question asked of a woman, and how many times is that question not asked of mitch mcconnell? >> senate republicans also voted on leadership positions for the next congress today. mitch mcconnell will become majority leader when the new republican senate convenes in january. the gop made one addition, mississippi senator roger

wicker, selected to chair the 2016 campaign operations. they spoke to reporters shortly after their party meeting. >> thank you.

>> good afternoon, everyone. let me start by saying we have a new member of our senate leadership team, senator wicker. he has been elected chairman of centerional republican and he will be speaking here in a few moments. i've been very disturbed about the way the president has proceeded in the wake of the election, whether it was his neutrality, on net his apparent decision to move with on immigration executive orders, the rather ridiculous agreement with the chinese under which they basically have to do nothing for the next 16 years, while we are losing jobs in this country as a result of epa's overregulation. i had maybe naïvely hoped the president would look at the results of the election and decide to come to the political

center and do some business with us. i still hope he does at some point, but the early signs are not good. let me tell you who did get the message, and that was senate democrats. they got the message on the keystone pipeline. that's why you have seen the current democratic majority in the senate have an ep if any and decide to allow a vote they have -- to have an epiphany. the senior senator from north him to i want to call on give you his thoughts about going forward on the keystone pipeline, which it looks like will be able to do in both the house first and then the senate next week. john. x thank you, leader. i'll just take a minute to talk about the game plan on the keystone xl pipeline approval bill. as you know, we have a

bipartisan bill and we worked out unanimous consent for a vote, first in the house, then that's the house will be friday, tomorrow, and then we will vote on it in the senate on tuesday. this is a bill that is bipartisan, but it's got all 45 senators on board. this is an issue that we in pushing for quite some time. we think there is very strong support for it. it's about jobs, it's about energy, it's about building the right kind of energy plan for this country, which is important for national security as well. the american public overwhelmingly supports it. so we have been working to get a vote for quite some time on this bill. -- the past -- the house will pass it overwhelmingly tomorrow. we have all 45 republicans on board. all 45 republicans are

cosponsors of this legislation, so we need 15 democrats. we will see what happens on tuesday. we hope to have 60 votes. we will see. the point i want to make is this. all along we anticipated that we will win on this issue because the american public wants keystone xl approved. if we don't get 60 votes on tuesday, in the new congress, we will have 60 votes. if you just go through the election results, not only did the american people speak, but if you look at the candidates, we have 60 votes for the bill. then it is up to the president. you have seen this comments. one of his folks people traveling with him in asia said that he wasn't fond of the bill. it sounds like he might veto it. if he vetoes it, we will have the ability to bring it back, maybe an appropriations measure that we think he won't veto. again, this is about what is

good for the american people. i think we have a good plan to advance keystone. i want to thank our whole caucus for getting on board and getting behind this important legislation. >> we are very excited with the new majority that will be sworn in in january to do important things on behalf of the american people and to get americans back to work again. pipeline hasxl been something he has been fighting for and we've been advocating for for at least the last couple of years. according to the secretary of state, it will add about 42,000 jobs. the kind of thing we ought to have been doing years ago, but we are grateful to have the chance to vote for that on tuesday. given the opportunities we have, i think an emerging bipartisan consensus, the american people really are more interested in us

getting to work again, solving problems on a bipartisan basis ith dayey had to live whe in and day out. i can't think of anything more discouraging for the president to do, to issue an executive amnesty order which disregards the law. think about it. if you are someone who has tried to play by the rules and immigrate to this country , we naturalize almost a million people a year. we are a nation of legal immigrants. how much more unfair could it be for the president to issue this order and essentially bump all of these new folks ahead of those who have been waiting patiently and trying to play by the rules and doing it the right way. i hope the president will he the request of people like senator

angus king who says he hopes he delays this. i hope he delays it permanently, but at least of the president would give us adequate time to be able to work together to try to begin to build a bipartisan consensus on repairing our broken immigration system. if he does that, is going to make it much harder, not easier. >> i want to start by thanking my colleagues in the senate for the opportunity to serve with this leadership team. what we will be doing is continuing to speak directly to the american people about our policies to create jobs, grow the economy, and strengthen the middle class. we believe the present policy has been harmful to the american people. we believe there is a better way. taking of these bills, many of which have languished on harry reid desk, passed by the house of

representatives, that are not creating jobs and growing our economy. we will work very hard to protect the american people from government overreach in areas where it has added extra burdens to our economy and made more difficult to create jobs. different there's a come a better direction for the american people. we will talk very directly to the american people about those differences. we hope the president and the democrats will work with us. it will be up to them, the ball is in their court. we are pleased to have an opportunity to serve as the majority here in the u.s. senate, and we look forward to hopefully bipartisan cooperation. we think it is in the country's best interest for us to get not only the senate working again the people'set government working again for the american people.

>> i also want to thank my colleagues for giving me the opportunity to continue as chairman of the republican policy committee chair read we are committed to policies that are going to put americans back to work, focus on jobs, the economy, affordable energy, affordable health care. that can many bills pass in a bipartisan way with a significant number of democrats also on board. those are the things we will work to try to pass through the u.s. senate. we have heard the message loud and clear from the voters. that is that we have now been given an opportunity to help try to change the direction of the country. i believe that's not just an opportunity but an obligation, and we are focused and committed to focus on the economy as well as getting people back to work and strengthening the middle class. to what myin colleagues have said, there is a lot of work out there to be done. i'm optimistic. we have the rules of the senate

that allows us to do it, if you will just follow those rules. i'm also optimistic that there are a lot of things beyond the keystone pipeline that there is tremendous agreement on, if we could just get to that work, and i believe the new majority leader is absolutely committed to see that we get this work done. for a moreislation american energy, for things that produce good jobs that take care of families in ways that families would like to be able to take care of themselves. frankly the president is going to engage one way or another. the last four years, not much reason for the president to engage with the senate or the congress. in the next two years, he will either have to engage the day the bill wind up on his desk, at that point his choice is to sign or decide to, engage earlier in a way that we might be able to do hard things together. i think the american people have sent a clear sign, they want the

government to do what it is supposed to do come and better than it has been doing it. they want the government to get out of the things that they could do better for themselves. that's a challenge for this congress and this president. i'll the president decides that this is a good time to do hard things. we need to get those hard things out of the way so we can see more good, private sector jobs, provide good take-home pay for families. by reiterating what i've been telling my colleagues the last hour or so. i very much appreciate the opportunity to represent the republican conference in the 2016 campaign. i also want to congratulate dean heller for a gentlemanly, friendly campaign. thatde it clear all along this was a race between friends,

a contest decided among friends, and we began it and ended it that way, so i congratulate him on a very fine race. i also want to congratulate jerry moran and rob portman for the wonderful job they did leading this committee over the last two years. let me just say, we are determined that we build on the success we had in 2014 for the 2016 cycle. our 24cludes protecting incumbents, increasing our majority, and making it possible to elect a republican president in 2016. the american people sent a with a, a strong message huge swing in the united states senate. listening to that message begins with good government in the u.s. senate. i am so pleased with the agenda

that leader mcconnell set out today. the american people want us to return to regular order, to bring up issues of concern to them, to protect minority rights as they have not been protected over the last several years, and to send to the president of the united states and in act into law changes that benefit the american middle class and american families. winning in 2016 begins with good government, with good legislation, and i'm glad to be part of this team for that reason. you be able to follow through with your pledge to have no government shut down if the president goes ahead with his executive order? >> we will not be shutting the government down. we will not be shutting the government down or threatening to default on the national debt.

care, did mention health and i wanted to get you and anyone else to weigh in on jonathan gruber. what does it tell you that is new, and doesn't change the way you planned to approach obamacare with the senate majority? >> i think you all heard the definition of a washington cap, when a politician to stay coolly tells you what he really thinks. we were subjected during the obama care debate to a whole lot of stuff that we all knew was not true. not even close to true. saying isinsider is taleshey were spinning from beginning to end because they knew they couldn't tell the truth and have a hope of it passing with 60 votes. the american people hate,

detest, and despise obama care. virtually all of us would like to see it pulled out root and branch. we understand the president obviously is not sympathetic with that point of view, but we will be voting on these issues. issue andl obama care the various pieces of it, like the individual mandate, the medical device tax, and trying to restore the 40 hour workweek. >> you talked about being disturbed by the president's proposal for immigration. tot should congress do oncess this next year republicans come to the majority in the senate? >> what we hope -- what we said is we hope the president is going to do that. there is a lot of interest and republicans in both the house and senate in passing and immigration reform bill. i don't think there's anybody in our conference who doesn't think

the current system is a mess, and we would like to improve it. the president has been told over and over again, and we are telling him again today, don't do this, because his executive actions are not permanent changes. they won't necessarily be there under the next president. if he really wants to improve the immigration system we have in this country, he is stuck with the congress that he doesn't like. never had thean house in eight years. president clinton didn't have the house or senate for six of their years. he understood the american people elected a divided government. we would like for the president to recognize the reality that he has the government he has, not the one he wishes he has, and work with us try to find weight to improve our immigration system.

we will let you know. thank you. accented democrats also reelected most of their leadership team today. during the conference meeting they added montana senator jon tester as chairman of their rulestee and created new for elizabeth warren and amy klobuchar. they spoke to reporters shortly after the meeting ended. >> i always try to start my

meetings on time. the meeting this morning started at 9:00, and we just finished. very productive, very constructive meeting. i was so impressed with every senator. i don't know how many spoke, -- how many? >> 28. >> 28 senators spoke, and it was very, very good. what i wanted to announce today is that we are going to expand our leadership. we're going to do things a little differently, just a different approach. the one thing that came out of the conference without any second-guessing, is that we have to continue fighting for the middle class. speech after speech after speech. i would be hard-pressed to think of three of the 28 that didn't talk about the middle class. what isle class is

concerning to every one of my senators. they are not getting a fair shot. were going to do everything we can in the 114 congress to make sure the middle class of this great country of ours has a fair shot. dsccgoing to have a new chair, jon tester of montana. john is a very plain man. has one ander who extremely difficult races in a swing state. amy klobuchar is part of the expanded leadership. i don't know anyone who tries harder to work across party lines than she does. senatorse of the top in any legislative body, whether

you are in the house or senate, if you want to get something done on a bipartisan basis, talk to klobuchar. elizabeth warren, somebody asked me on the way in here, what do you expect her to do? i expect her to be elizabeth warren. we have to take a few questions. >> what message do you believe voters [indiscernible] >> i believe that if we look at voter patterns and what we saw in this incredibly difficult election is the people that should have voted that didn't vote, or people who needed a reason to vote. atmospherecreate an where the middle class feels we are fighting for them. we had a number of brilliant

statements and are caucus. a number who talked about how important it was that we do something to let those people out there know we work for them. some say some pure members didn't have much of a record to run on. looking back, do you think you should have managed the senate a little bit differently? >> we tried on many separate occasions to have a vote. the minority refused to let us have a vote. we try to have a vote, remember? energy efficiency, not once, but twice. said this is the time to do something. we haven't done anything in energy in a long time. first time, never ending stalling, we had to take it off the floor. the second time, i had

republicans who were part of that committee come to me with shaheen and say ok, we've got it this time. thatve five amendments make this bill so good, bring it to the floor, and the republicans told me, in the presence of jeanne shaheen and we will vote for cloture . just before that vote took place, they wanted to vote on keystone. they said no, we want an up or down vote. i said yes. they came back and said we will only want to vote with the guarantee we can win it. the bill was so awful as far as time consuming, we got nothing done.

example after example. and the to have votes republicans made a decision after obama was first elected that they would oppose everything that he wanted, and that's what they have done. they couldn't stop us in the congress where we -- where we had 58, 59, 60 senators, but that is the story. >> [indiscernible] why.will tell you there are women here with me. i came to the senate in a sweep when reagan got wiped out. eight of us came. i served at that time with one woman, barbara mikulski. i have seen this institution change, for a lot of reasons. one reason has changed for the good is because of women. it has changed.

women think differently than men, and i'm so impressed with the women i have in my caucus, that i wanted to reach out to them because they represent what america is all about. [indiscernible] >> i've said that many times since the election. this is not get even time. i do not intend to run the democratic caucus like the republican caucus has been run. i'm not going to do that. for example, i just told amy we have a lot of bills that are bipartisan bills. she is going to get me a list of those and were going to sit down and see if we can get the republicans to agree that they want to pass bipartisan bills. we want to legislate. we are not forestalling.

we want to move on to the next congress with a record of accomplishment. >> can i ask why you wanted to be part of the democratic leadership, and what message you believe voters were sending? >> i believe in what the democrats are fighting for. wall street is doing very well. families all across the country are struggling. we have to make this government work for the american people. that's what we are here to fight for. i am grateful to the leader. i'm grateful to the caucus for giving me a chance to be part of that fight. that's what we are all going to be here doing every single day. that's what we are about. >> i see this as a tremendous opportunity for our country right now. our economy has stabilized and we need to move forward.

when we talk about those bills that are sitting around, many of which have now passed the house, we can get this done by the end of the year. the idea is to break through the gridlock, to start having votes again come and we will take them at their word, when they say they want to move with us and move this economy forward and get going. i think it's an opportunity and we need to seize it. [indiscernible] >> ok. >> first of all, it's going to to make the senate functional again. really to move the ball forward for the middle class. i think it is critically important. if there was one message the voters sent out, a lot of them by not voting, it was that we need to work together. my role will be going out to

find candidates that can lead, that can win, that can advocate for the middle class in their elections. i live forward to that challenge. i still have my duties as a u.s. senator which are very important for the state of montana. the bottom line is that we work hard before and we will work hard again. i think we will be successful passing good policies. >> i think we've done enough, everybody. thanks. >> lauren french covers congress for politico. she's joining us on capitol hill

on this thursday. thanks for being with us. new faces on the leadership team for both the house and senate, but the same leaders. let's talk about the senate democrats first. what happened? >> harry reid his current majority leader but he will take his new role, only three members voted against him. there was not a lot of opposition. back andg to come continue to be the leader. that really is a sign that those demo -- though democrats lost the senate, they're willing to give harry reid another chance, looking forward to 2016. quick senator mark warner, recently reelected in a very close senate race in virginia, and centers claire mccaskill and joe manchin, both likely to seek reelection. they also voted no. a political vote. you can never stop running for reelection. once you get here, you are

comfortably running. even though mark warner just got for read, if he voted that would likely be used against him during the next cycle. you have to lay down that new boat. you have to say i'm not happy with the current established leadership if you're going to be in a tight race that pits a republican against a democrat, especially a republican that the party is nationalizing all these races and making everything about obama and harry reid and nancy pelosi. it would have been used against them. face, you face, -- a new elizabeth warren, freshman senator from massachusetts. explain what her role will be. and she will be the envoy to the liberal groups that the senate wants to reach out to. she is constantly mentioned as a foil to hillary clinton as a presidential candidate. progressives love her.

she bucks wall street, which is near and dear to more of the left wing of the democratic party. bedership decided she should the outreach coordinator for them. she will help them get a larger voice in the conference and make sure these groups -- progressive voters >> the senate republican caucus today.ant mitch mcconnell becoming the new majority leader. a republican team that will include others, and the is roy blunt of missouri. there was a contest, though, for of theirmanship republican senatorial campaign committee. there?ppened >> roger wicker was ultimately elected. off against dean heller. both have been lobbying to thaty gain the seat for campaign.

ultimately, wicker beat him out. >> do you have a sense of what was inside both of these senate caucuses? >> so, i mean, republicans are jubilant. they won. they won nearly every race that was tight. kay hagan in north carolina was expected to win reelection. thom tillis is going to come. republicans are very happy with they're leadership. to really push legislation and show that they can legislate. they don't want to be the party the government shutdown. democrats are a little bit more despondent. they really -- they thought they would do better in the elections. they thought kay hagan would come back. they thought they had a chance georgia with nunn. they were looking to landrieu's race and realizing she doesn't have a good shot. they recognize they're now in the minority and all of these sort of tricks that have been used to keep the debate down, wheneep amendments down, the democrats were in the majority, are now going to be

turned on them. have to fightto tooth and nail to get their priorities heard, especially when already you're saying of the keystone xl vote -- go toren french, let's the other side of the capitol. house democrats and republicans also meeting today. theirappened in respective caucuses? >> so the republicans had a clean sweep. any of their to leaders in the house. john boehner will be returning as speaker, kevin mccarthy as the majorityer and whip. they expected these elections to be very contentious. but boehner and mccarthy have done really good work in moreing out to the conservative members of the party and bringing them on board, giving them reasons to the current leadership team. that was really the least

traumatic thing of the day. >> finally, lauren french, as house democrats prepare to meet next week, any opposition to nancy pel pelosi? wholly ands are totally loyal to her as a leader. no one is going to stand and her.st this is not the republican side of the house. reported --hat, i many of my colleagues have been reporting that there is a simmer against pelosi and simmering of anger against their leadership team. want new blood injected into the party. pelosi has led democrats in some form or another since 2002. most of the leadership team has been in their positions for have younger democrats, staffers who are looking as, you know, it could them to grow.r so you have some grumblings of blood, energize the base, energize young voters and voices in there who can talk about issues that really do

matter to that under-30 voting block, which just did not support democrats as much as the would.hought they but when it comes down to it, fund-raisingis a juggernaut. even if they want new blood, they love nancy pelosi. it would be very shocking if she faced any sort of race on tuesday. >> we'll look for that next week. we will look for your reporting online at politico.com. lauren french, who is joining us on capitol hill, appreciate you being with us. >> any time! >> on the next washington journal, an update on the open period for health insurance and the impact it's having on consumers. at the effect of the health care law on the u.s. economy. henry aaron of the brookings institution will join us. live everyjournal is 7:00 eastern on c-span. join the conversation on

facebook and twitter. >> tomorrow, c-span 2, live knch three event -- coverage of three evens. at 9:30, a discussion about in the workforce, hosted by politics 365. house foreigna affairs subcommittee hearing on energy supply and security in africa. at 2:00, a look at fiscal policy in the next congress, the concord coalition, all live tomorrow on c-span 2. >> this weekend on c-span, author of arabs for israel. night,d arrived late at almost on september 11 morning, i arrived in my home in los angeles. ad i woke up at 6:00 a.m., at time to feeling the second

airplane hitting the twin towers. i was traumatized, because when i knew that this is terrorism. one-airplane accident. so i ran to the phone and i people in egypt. i wanted them to comfort me, learned thatter i of the, the leader terror group, fled from cairo, from.me city i came called around eight people. they all said the same thing, even though some of them don't other.e they told me, how dare you say ort this was done by arabs muslims. don't you know this is a conspiracy? jews did it. andi hung up the phone wept.

i suddenly felt i cannot relate to my country of origin anymore. very hard feeling, can't relate to how the people you love and were brought up with for many, many years of don't see that they the reality as it should be. >> her entire interview, sunday 8 p.m. eastern on c-span's q and a. on book tv, we're featuring new releases. best-selling author armstrong on religion and conflict. president george w. bush on his biography of his father. and on american history tv on c-span 3, our all-day live coverage of the world war i fromnnial symposium norfolk. find our complete schedule at know what and let us you think about the programs

you're watching. 202-626-3400. e-mail us at comments@cspan.org. tweet at c-span #comments. conversation.n "like" us on facebook. follow us on twitter. >> joint chiefs of staff chair general dempsey said today a number of american forces could be sent to iraq to help troops with complex missions against the islamic state. alongsidee statements defense secretary chuck hagel, who said the campaign against has made progress, although isis continues to represent a serious threat. from capitol hill, the hearing is just under three hours. [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2014] >> the meeting will come to order.

good morning, ladies and gentlemen. to saywe begin, i'd like up-front that i will not tolerate disturbances of these proceedings, including verbal disruptions, photography, or holding signs. hard stop at 1 p.m. today because of a house organizational meeting. after consultation with mr. smith, i ask that each thanr shall not have more four minutes rather than the usual five to question the panel of witnesses so that we can get to as many members as possible. thank you. meets to receive testimony on the administration's military syriagn and strategy for and iraq. i'd like to welcome secretary general dempsey. we appreciate you being here to address these very consequential issues. when we last saw you in september, the congress had just train andauthority to

equip modern syrian rebels after a lengthy debate. the air campaign in iraq had been under way for a few weeks not yetkes in syria had begun. i stated then that i did not president's minimalist strategy was sufficient to achieve his ofectives 06 degrade -- degrading and destroying isil. this hearing is critical to our of the progress made by the president's strategy and to hear from our military else may behat needed. we budget amendment that received monday afternoon pays and addsir campaign for advisors. but it does not appear to any changes in strategy. know that targeting and air strikes are getting harder, as isil changes tactics. and limiting our advisors to headquarters buildings will not

help newly trained iraqi know tg and air strikes are getting and opposition, their forces hold terrain, much less defeat isil in the field. yet the president has doubled of no bootspolicy on the ground, despite any advice you have given him. so my fundamental question is, how can you successfully execute to mission you've been given degrade and ultimately destroy your best some of options are taken off the table? mr. secretary, both of your leoncessors, bob gates and panetta, have stated that we need boots on the ground if there's to be any hope of success in the strategy. even coach k, a west point successfuld very basketball coach at buick, told army- at duke, told an conference declaring we won't use ground forces is like noting your opponent you're going to play your best players. we may very well be considering aumf if the future.

but i would offer a warning that the aumf proposed by the president contain such be doa ins, it will congress. i will not support sending our way withinto harm's their arms tid tied behind their backs. lastly, the risks are even more with terrorist detainees to the battlefield. isil's leader, al-baghdadi, is chief among them. there are reports of former detainees returning to the fight. despite these disturbing trends, we've seen an increase in notifications regarding detainee .ransfers mr. secretary and general immense you shoulder an responsibility each time you sign off on or concur on these releases. you're under pressure to release even more. detaineesughly 150

that are left are the worst of the worst. to continue these releases just as we have had to open a new terror ishe war on unwise. mr. secretary and general dempsey, again, thank you for being here today. this is likely the last hearing have together. and all of the issues that bring easy,ether are never easy,gh they are never i've always appreciated your friendship and candid conversations and your service and dedication to this nation. for those of us who will not be here in the 114th congress, let gratitude to you for your leadership, your service, and above all, your to our troops. ms. sanchez? >> thank you, mr. chairman. againntlemen, thank you for being before us. mr. smith could not be here this

be reading i will his statement, so please, i hope the chairman -- again, these are not my words, because as you mr. chairman, i am probably very different than a lot of the thought that's going in manye committee ways. but these will be mr. smith's words. thank the witnesses for appearing here today, just three months ago the president that he hadgress authorized the commander of central command to undertake air against isilaq just two shorts months ago on september 23. the administration provided a war powers notification of strikes in syria against isil. and since that time, the againsl just two shorts months ago on september u.s. has taken hundreds of strikes in iraq and syria, killing hundreds of isil fighters, eliminating their freedom to move in substantially impacting their ability to sell oil to and their operations, driving their leadership underground, which complicated their ability to command and their forces.

the d.o.d. has deployed about protectops to iraq to the embassy and to advise and assist in iraqi security forces, army,ing the iraqi counterterrorism services, the kurdish pershermga. the administration has enlisted countries tound 60 fight against isil. them haveer of undertaken strikes in either iraq or syria and some have volunteered to send special forces to iraq to help. of course, congress approved a temporary authority for the d.o.d. to begin training and equipping elements of the syrian opposition to fight isil. in other words, mr. smith says, we have come a long way in a of time.ort amount and thank you to the two of you arriving atip in

mentioned.t i just even though we have made substantial progress, more remains to be done. isil able to control territory withoutand syria will question plot and plan attacks about the west. i think we all agree, as we've been doinghey have to the people that they have people that -- the beheadings, the executions, et cetera. i'm paraphrasing here in order to make this short. mr. chairman, going forward, we have many decisions to make about combating the threat of isil. the president, for example, has requested that congress authorize the use of military force against the group rather than relying on the 2001aumf have many decisions to make about combating the threat of isil. the president, for example, to combat al-qaeda. i agree that congress should but i and pass an aumf, cankeptical that we

assemble an authority to do so. and, again, these are the words mr. smith. likeend and i would unanimous concept to put the statement into -- let me end with just this last pair mr. chairman. going forward, prosecuting the campaign against isil in either extremelyria will be complex and challenging. not delude ourselves about this. both iraq and syria are complex, perfecttuations, where outcomes are extremely unlikely. whatever course of action we take years and dedicated effort. we will have major disagreements and partnerses about desired outcomes. russia's role in syria will be challenging. to have seem overlapping interests with iran outcomes our desired

do not clearly align. we certainly do not have the ine overlapping interests syria. all of which is to say that these situations are going to be messy and require constant attention and management. fortunately, managed correctly, we have a real path toward the of degrading isil. denying them safe haven, eliminating their leadership, curtailing their ability to strike at our allies and at us. panelists here will help to explain to us and the american people the strategy. you, mr. chairman. con --sk unanimous it forward into the record. >> without objection, so ordered. mr. smith had ten days ago -- had surgery on his hip and he is recovering. i want to let you know he's fully engaged. had our big four meeting, working on the bill. he was -- technology made it

possible that he was in the room with us and fully totally engaged. one other thing i would like to mention at the outset. several of our members will not next year. some retired. some lost their election. of you fork each your service to this nation, to service on this committee. it's much appreciated. committee, as always, has tried to work in a bipartisan manner. and we -- anyway, i think enough said. thank you for your service. mr. secretary? mckeon, members of the committee, thank you. have no -- you have no this! prevent

>> there is a disturbance in the proceedings. the question will be in order. i'd like to formally request that those in the audience causing this disruption cease their actions immediately. >> stop! stop! >> thank you very much. the capitol police for restoring order. mr. secretary. >> chairman, obviously your last unnoticed not going and unrecognized. proceed.ll as i was saying, i very much appreciate, and i know general dempsey does, an opportunity to ofe back after a couple months and update this committee on what we're doing and how

doing it, why we're doing it. i know that this has not been, as you all know, the only communication we have had with this committee. we have had many, many briefings your staff. many of you, i have spoken to as general well dempsey and many of our military leaders. opportunity to bring together some convergence explanation of what we are i verynd why and how, much appreciate it. leadershipn, your and your service to this committee, to this congress, to many years haser been recognized many times, appropriately, over the last few months. it will continue to be recognized. recognized. i want to thank you personally yourour support,

friendship. i have valued that over the last two years that i have had the holding this job. i will miss you personally. and i know this committee will. are so many very able and capable and dedicated people that are right next to you that will carry on. so i didn't want this opportunity to go without me and bestg my thanks wishes to you and to your family and to the next chapter in your life and your many new adventures that lie ahead. as i noted, i'm joined this morning by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general dempsey, who i too have, like you, have appreciated his wise partnership as we have dealt with some of the and difficult this country think

has faced in a long time. and i know general dempsey servicetes all of your as well. general dempsey has played a the last six over shapingspecially, in and developing our strategy along with our commander, who you all know, general lloyd austin, to general off the and his commanders and to our men i want to thank them. obama,irman, president chairman dempsey, general austin, all of our leaders and i been very clear that our bepaign against isil will long and will be difficult. a are three months into multiyear effort. as we enter a new phase of this effort, working to train and equip more counterisil forces in we willq and syria, succeed only with the strong theort of congress and

strong support of this committee. since i evidence testify before this -- since i testified before two months ago, progress.gn has made cases hasance in some been reversed. but isil continues to represent serious threat to american interests, our allies in the middle east. and it wields still influence over a broad swath of territory northern iraq and eastern syria. said, president obama has isil will not be defeated through military force alone. our comprehensive strategy is supporting inclusive governance, sustaining a regional and global coalition and strengthening local forces on the ground. undercuttingdes isil's flow of resources, messaging,isil's

constricting the flow of foreign providing humanitarian assistance&our intensive global effort. in iraq, much more needs to be done to achieve political reform. in theare seeing steps right direction. in the wake of years of leadership, iraqi prime minister abadi is leaning forward by engaging all of iraqi's diverse communities. he's appointed a sunni defense minister, after that post was fourvacant for more than years. and he is moving to create an whichnational guard, would empower local forces, tribal areas sunni in the anbar province. you may have noticed that yesterday it was announced that he replaced 36 of his most commanders, integrating the iraqi security forces with leaders.or sunni

this is essential to the iraqiing not only security forces but strengthening a central in iraqnt, a government and in fact can build trust confidence of the iraqi people. thanks to intensive diplomacy, supporting this effort alone. we built a global coalition to local forces in both iraq and syria. 60 nations of over that are contributing assistance toging from air support training to humanitarian assistance. testified here, 16 nations have joined the military campaign against isil. the first coalition air strikes bahrain, saudied emirates. united

coalition partners have carried isil30 air strikes against in both iraq and syria. launched itsnada first air strikes in iraq, bringing the total to 12 nations participated in strike operations in iraq and syria. partners provide tanker, command and control and intelligence, surveillance and aircraft.ance coalition nations have also todged hundreds of personnel support our mission to train, advise, assist and help build the capacity of iraqi forces. global coalition is also helping to shape the campaign. with the president's special counter-isil coalition, general allen is in coordinates the strategy and

contributions across all our lines of effort with our coalition partners. as a coalition and as a nation, we must prepare for a long and difficult struggle. there will be setbacks. but we are seeing steady and sustainable progress. and mr. chairman, i think that's an important part of answering the questions we have. the contributions across all our lines of effort with our coalition partners. as a coalition and as a nation, questions we have about our own strategy that we ask ourselves, the questions you have about our strategy. can we sustain it? after, atsustained some point, we leave? component oftical our strategy. asking that question and answering that question. steady andng sustainable progress along d.o.d.'s two main lines of effort. seeing progress in degrading and destroying isil's war-fighting capacity. and in denying safe haven to its fighters. directly and through support of

iraqi forces, coalition air strikes have hit isil's command control, its leadership, its revenue sources, its supply lines and logistics, and impaired its ability to amass forces. in resent weeks, these strikes inhed isil out of zumar, northern iraq, and helped iraqi security forces begin retaking around major oil refineries. last weekend, air strikes hit a of isil battlefield commanders near mosul. have been forced to alter their tactics. we knew they would. they will adapt. adjust.l maneuvering in smaller groups. moreimes making it difficult to identify targets, hiding large equipment, and changing their communications methods. sustaining this pressure on isil help provide time and space. time and space for iraq to

reconstitute its forces and continue going on the offense. having anure is effect on potential isil collaborators, striking a blow to morale and recruitment. we know that. our intelligence is very clear on that. and today, many of the approximately 1400 u.s. troops in iraq are engaged in advise and assist programs with iraqi kurdish forces. as you know, last week the defense department announced we'll expand the support to iraqi forces by deploying up to 1500 additional military personnel, including two new advise and assist centers at locations beyond baghdad and

irbil, as well as four new training centers in northern, western, and central iraq. i recommended this deployment to the president based on request of the government of iraq, u.s. central command's assessment of iraqi units, general dempsey's recommendation, and the strength of the iraqi and coalition campaign plan. these additional troops and facilities will help strengthen and reconstitute iraqi forces, expanding the geography of our mission, but not the mission itself. u.s. military personnel will not be engaged in a ground combat mission. our phased plan to help strengthen iraqi security forces has three major components. first, our advise and assist mission to provide the iraqi forces at the headquarters level. u.s. and coalitions advisors are already helping plan future

and current operations. we'll expand this mission with two new assist and advise centers we have announced. second, we will support the regeneration of iraqi forces so they are better equipped to launch offensive operations over the coming year. centcom's new training sites in -- northern,ern western, and central and western iraq will train 12 iraqi brigades, and more than a dozen coalition nations have expressed intent to send trainers and advisors to build a capacity of iraqi forces. third, we will concentrate on broader security sector reform to help transform iraqi forces into a more coherent and capable unified force.

minister with the national guard units i mentioned earlier. coalition partners are playing a role in efforts by providing advisors and trainers to regenerate iraqi brigades. together we are also providing more arms and equipment to iraqi security forces. this year the united states alone has shipped more than $685 million in critical equipment and supplies to iraq ranging from grenades and small arms. hundreds of which will be arriving this month. u.s. and coalition partners together have delivered over $2$22.7 million pounds of supplies including ammunition to peshmerga forces. mr. chairman, in syria our actions against isil are focused on shaping dynamic in iraq which

remains the priority of our counter isil strategy. we are sober about the challenges we face as isil exploits the complicated long running syrian conflict. because we do not have a partner government to work with in syria or a regular military partner to work with as we do in iraq, in the near term, our military aims in syria are limited to isolating and destroying isil's safe havens. coalition air strikes in syria are accomplishing this by con continuing to target significant isil assets which has impaired isil's ability to move fighters and equipment into iraq. disrupted their command and control, damaged their training bases and significantly limited their financial revenue by hitting captured oil fields and

disrupting their crude oil distribution and corruption sites. the longer term effort is to train and equip credible moderate syrian opposition forcforce s especially areas most threatened by isil. this will require eight to 12 months to make a difference on the ground. we know the opposition continues to face intense pressure in a multifront battle space. we are considering options for how u.s. and coalition forces can further support these forces once they are trained and equipped. these forces are being trained in units not as individuals. our strategy demands time, patience, perseverance to deliver results. we cannot accomplish our objectives in syria all at once. the position of the united states remains that assad has lost the legitimacy to govern.

there is no purely military solution to the conflict in syria. along side our efforts to isolate and sanction the assad regime, our strategy is to strengthen the moderate opposition to the point where they can first defend and control their local areas. next, go on the offense and take back areas that have been lost to isil. ultimately as their capability and leverage develop to create conditions for a political settlement in syria. thanks to the broad bipartisan support in congress mr. chairman including majorities in both parties. preparations for our syria train and equip mission are now complete. we've established a combined joint task force to equip the coalition program for syria. saudi arabia, turkey and other partner nations have agreed to host training sites.

development of those sites, recruiting and vetting will begin when congress is authorized the actual funding. we are still moving forward doing what we must do to prepare for that vetting process and that training. we're still at the front end of our campaign against isil as president obama told leaders of both houses of congress last week during a session in which i attended with general austin. congressional support, your support is vital for the campaign to succeed. you all know the administration is requesting $5.6 billion in in in additional overseas contingency operations funding for fiscal year 2015 to help execute our comprehensive strategy in iraq and syria. $5 billion for the department of defense. $3.4 billion would support ongoing u.s. military actions against isil under operation

inherent resolve. $1.6 billion would go toward a new iraqi train and equip fund devoted to helping reconstitute iraq's security forces. this fund will be critical for enabling iraqi security forces including kurdish and tribal forces to go on the offense in 2015. and it will require the iraqi government in coalition members to make significant contributions as well. over 60% or $1 billion of the $1.6 billion fund would be available initially. the remaining 600 million would not be released until the government of iraq ask and coalition partners have provided at least $600 million of their own contributions. because the iraqi government must invest in its own security and its own future. as the president said last week,

the administration will be engaging the congress to support the effort against isil by enacting a new and specific authorization for the use of military force. one that reflects the scope and the challenges of our campaign against isil. dod will work closely with congress on each component of this effort as this mission continues to progress, we will continue to evaluate and re-evaluate each element of our strategy. having just marked veteran's day earlier this week, let me again thank this committee for what you do everyday to support all our men and women in uniform and their families serving this country across the world. mr. chairman, thank you. >> thank you. i want to thank you for all you've done for the defense of

our nation. your devotion to men and women of the joint force and importantly to their families that continue to resinate throughout our ranks. i too appreciate the opportunity to appear before this committee this morning to discuss our strategy against isil. secretary hagel has detailed the elements and progress of our comprehensive approach against isil. broadly our strategy is to reinforce a credible partner in the iraqi government and assist regional stakeholders to address the 20 million disenfranchised sunnis that live between damascus and baghdad. they have to reject isil from within. we have the first strategy enabled by the coalition, but as i've said before, it's not iraq only strategy. it will evolve with the coalition and multiple lines of effort overtime. we need to squeeze isil from multiple directions, deny safe

haven and disrupt operations in syria. we need to build up a syrian opposition to confront them. we need to take a long view. the multiple lines of effort all have to move at pace of each other. these lines of effort include counter financing, counter foreign tighter flow, counter messaging, humanitarian aid, economic progress, air campaign, restore an offensive capability to the iraqi security forces, and a ground campaign managed by the iraqi security forces with the isf from baghdad and peshmerga from the north with contribution from the tribes in particular in the provinces. an ongoing dialogue with my coalition counter parts, there's a consensus across the coalition about our common vision and the objectives across those lines of effort. and there's a strong commitment to work together closely in this

complex and long term undertaking. progress will be uneven at times but with strategic patience, the trend lines favor the coalition over the long term. we'll a are alert that the assumptions that underpin our campaign will be challenged. most notably, we don't know to what agreement the government of iraq will convince the kurds and sunnis it intends to have the nation of unity. one that gives confidence they have a future ethotheethaother ideology. we'll continue to revisit and review our assumptions as the campaign evolves and will adapt. which brings me to resources. our commitments across the globe as you well know are up. resources are down. to add to that sequesterization is months away.

everyday we don't have budget certainty, flexibility and time means that we will continue to erode our readiness. over time, i will have fewer military options to offer. the joint chiefs and i appreciate your support to help us work through not only our national security challenges but also the resources and flexibility necessary to meet them. thank you. >> thank you general dempsey. in september you testified to our colleagues in the senate i quote, if we reach the point i believe our advisors should accompany troops on attacks against targets i'll recommend that to the president, end quote. however, during a recent interview on front line deputy national security advisor ben rods announced the president will not reconsider his boots on the ground limitation regardless of any recommendation you might provide. further more the president seems

to equate boots on the ground to 150,000 person u.s. invasion force. i haven't heard anyone talk about sending in divisions. so please help us understand the circumstances where you would envision the need to introduce u.s. military troops into combat situations and the size and types of forces or capababiliti these would be. >> thank you. first of all i want to make sure i mention, i've never been limited in my ability to make a recommendation of any size or sort t to the president of the united states. as we look ahead to the campaign as it evolves, there are certain operations that could be more complex than the ones in which the iraqi security forces are currently involved. they're doing a better job, and i think soon we would be able to describe it as a good job moving

north out of baghdad the pesh moving south out of the krg. there's some places along the path that i think will be fairly complex terrain for them including for example mosul and eventually as they need to restore the border between iraq and syria. i'm not predicting at this point that i would recommend that those forces in mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by u.s. forces, but we're certainly considering it. >> the size and types? >> back to your point. you know, it's probably worth mentioning there's two ways we could go about this strategy to defeat isil. we could take ownership of it entirely and gradually overtime transition it back to iraqi security forces peshmerga, tribes, sunni opposition. or, from the beginning we could

enable them and then hold them accountable for the outcomes. after all, it's their country that is most threatened by this threat. obviously we've taken the latter course. in taking that latter course, we've established a modest footprint, one focused on development of security forces assisting them with planning, integration of fires, and advising and assisting them from higher headquarters. any expansion of that i think would be equally modest. i just don't forsee a circumstance it would be in our interest to take this fight on ourselves with a large military contention. could there be an exception? i mentioned assumptions in my prepared statement. one of our assumptions is that the government of iraq will be conclusive. one assumption is that the iraqi security forces will be willing to take by the provinces. if those assumptions are

rendered invalid, i'll have to adjust my recommendations? >> thank you. >> the u.s. and allies are facing an increased terrorist threat from isil and former detainees in part make up the leadership of isil and also are fighting along side isil. secretary haguehagel, how can t administration continue to press ahead with transfers from guantanamo at this time? isn't this in conflict with your policy of stemming the flow of foreign fighters? >> mr. chairman, as you know, the congress delegated the responsibility and the authority to make that ultimate decision based on risks to the united states and our allies of whether we would release any in which

detainees of guantanamo. i have -- as i have noted in testimony before this committee taken that responsibility very seriously. every time i certify and send up documentation to this committee, i am saying to this committee with my name and reputation that i believe the assurances substantially mitigate the risks to this country and to our allies of certain detainee releases. now, in september, this committee may be aware of this number, the intelligence community released a percentage of their -- based on their intelligence on those who have returned to violent extremism

since their release from guantanamo in this administration. i'm dealing with what i have right now. over the course of this administration's detainee release, i think there are over 80, total over 600 during the bush obama administrations, the intelligence community assessed that more than 90% of those detainees had not intended to or had, in fact -- we had no evidence of returning to the battlefield. overall, you know what the president's position and policy is on closing guantanamo. partner of defense supports that. i support that. but not at any cost. not at any cost. so every certification they make, bottom line, with all the other requirements by law that i have to apply with, and i do comply with every part of the

law, in my best judgment, the best judgment of our intelligence community, of our joint chiefs, of the interagency of our secretary of state, homeland security, has to be unanimous before i will seriously entertain it, and if i can get the assurances required by the host governments and the mechanisms, and i go into detail, that it substantially mitigates the risk they will assign it. and i have. >> thank you. ms. sanchez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i'm going to ask a little bit about what has changed with respect to working and training the iraqi troops in order to make them effective. and i say it with all due respect because you gentlemen weren't necessarily involved in which, but i've been here for 18

years so i've been clearly on this side asking some of these questions, because in afghan, of course, we saw that we had ghost people in the afghan army, meaning they didn't really exist. we had 63-year-old men, ill literal people, you know, and that's one of the reasons why i think we've been so ineffective with respect to the training and bringing up of the afghan forces. but i'm particularly very interested in the iraq situation. this goes all the way back to the bush administration where they were throwing out hundreds of thousands of numbers of who was being trained and who wasn't and of course they were completely and totally off and wrong. and so then what we saw was the iraqi army either run away from the fight with respect to isil or fall in with respect to isil.

and some have said that the malaak i cma la i can wasn't doing the 60-20-20 thing. but my question is what has changed or what needs to change in order for us to continue what i see is your strategy in part, what i called the iraqification of that army, of having iraqis actually fight the battles so that our people don't come in as boots on the ground? what is it that has changed, or what did you learn from the fact that we haven't gotten it right in afghanistan and haven't gotten it right in iraq? what are you doing to change that so that these men actually do take the fight to isil and our men and women don't have boots on the ground? >> congresswoman, i'll give you an answer, but i'm going to also ask chairman dempsey to answer

this because as you all know chairman dempsey spent a lot of time in iraq. and there are few military leaders that we have today in this country who know as much about iraq based on personal experience than general dempsey. so i will give you my brief response and then i think this committee will want to hear from general dempsey on this. what's changed? a number of things have changed. let's start with isil and the threat of isil and what it represents. i've said before this committee, i've said in other places, and believe it absolutely, we've never seen a threat like isil before. the comprehensive threat that isil remits, the sfis sophistication, the armaments, the strategic knowledge, the funding, the capacity, the ideology, it's new. the threat is significantly

worse than we've seen ever before not just in iraq but in the middle east, what isil represents. certainly to the future of iraq. second, you have -- >> mr. secretary, i'm not -- i understand the threat of isil. i'm asking what's the difference in the men of -- the iraqi men that we have in the forces there in making a difference, not running away from the battle, being trained correctly, being led correctly? >> i'm going to get to that. but i think it is important -- you asked what's the difference. there are a lot of differences, like i said, starting with isil. second, a national unity government by a new prime minister who, in fact, as i said in my system, for the first time has designated, picked a minister of defense. we haven't had a minister of defense in iraq for more than 44 years. prime minister maliki took that job unto himself as he did the

minister of interior. this new minister of defense and this new government is reconstituting the leadership of the iraqi security forces as i noted in my testimony, 36 new commanders were switched starting at the top, across the top. men and women will not fight if they do not have confidence in their leaders. if they do not have confidence in their country, in their government, if their government won't support them. those are fundamental changes. now, let me hand this off to general dempsey and i can get more of the specifics. >> with respect to that second point, maybe, general dempsey, you can clarify whether those 36 new commanders are a 60-20-20 split or the same as before. >> well, i'm hoping we'll find out. we don't know yet. we've got some who have been

retired, some who have been relieved, some who have been moved, and i don't -- we're not yet familiar with who's taking their place. and i hope it's not actually some artificial 60-20-20 ratio, because what you really want in the is fx is somebody who can lead and fight and inspire and be inclusive. but we'll see, we'll see here very shortly actually who takes the place of those who have been changed. this is a very brief answer to a very complex question. we left iraq and we left it with some things undone. we hadn't fully established the logistics architecture, an intelligence architecture. we -- they did not have close-air support and the capability to integrate fires. and we left there with a ministry of defense that was largely dysfunctional in the way it would assign leadership. and they knew that. they knew we knew that. but it was a -- it was not a

completed work. it was -- it remained a work in progress. and then to cup that will back to the secretary's comments about the -- what creates courage on the battlefield is can have that you've got somebody at the central government that actually will care for you and your family. i mean, look, you don't think we'd be out there swinging and fighting if we didn't have the support of the congress of the united states and the kind of support that the american public provide to our men and women in uniform. so we really can't hold the iraqis to a higher standard that just simply didn't exist. that's why i've said that one of the important assumptions about this campaign is that the iraqi government does establish its intent to create a government of national unity. i can predict for you right now, if that doesn't happen, then the iraqi security forces will not hold together. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you.

mr. cornbreadth. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you for being here. mr. secretary, you said that the president would be engaging congress to support a new updated, revied authorization for the use of force. my understanding is in every previous instance an administration has proposed language and sent it up to the congress. is this administration going to propose language and send it up to us? and if so, when? >> congressman, i don't know specifically what they are going to propose. i don't know specifically if they are going to send it up as a legislative proposal. i do know that conversations are being held right now, have been with various members and their staffs about the right approach. the president said as you know last week that he intend to engage congress on this. i know the president has had

specific conversations with specific members of both the house and senate on this. >> well, i'd just comment that having conversations is one thing, but as we learned with the authorization to train and equip the folks in syria, until you get words on paper, it's kind of hard to make progress. let me follow up a little bit with your -- some of your comments that you made to miss sanchez. and i noted never before seen a threat like isis or isil, worse than we've ever seen before. one of the key question s quest underlying this is to what extent we can ultimately be successful against isis without dealing with assad. and what is your view of that? some people believe -- some of our closest allies involved in this effort believe that we can only be successful against isis if we become involved in the effort against assad.

>> congressman, it's a fundamental question you ask, and i'll answer it this way. first let me just make a brief comment about my assessment about isil. i make that assessment, and by the way it's not only mine, but when you look at the brutality, the slaughter, the indiscriminate brutality and slaughter of what isil is doing and has been doing, killing, slaughtering, murdering women and children, sunni, shia, kurd, minorities of any kind, me completely indiscriminately. and t sophistication of that when you add it up represents a pretty clear and different at