and if, in fact, the asia infrastructure bank that is being set up ends up having those kinds of safeguards is run in a way that ultimately is actually going to lead to good infrastructure and benefit the borrowing countries, then we're all for it and look forward to collaborating with the asia infrastructure bank just like we do with the asia development bank and the world bank on a whole bunch of stuff. so this could be a positive thing. but if it's not run well, then it could be a negative thing. and what we don't want to do is just be participating in something and providing cover for an institution that does not end up doing right by its people.

because when these countries borrow money even from a development bank for a boondoggle project that doesn't work, they are often on the hook for paying the money back and there have been experiences like that across continents. and across decades. with respect to t.p.p., it is never fun passing a trade bill in this town and because people are understandably concerned about its potential impact on specific industries, but also the general concerns that people have had about globalization and technology displacing workers. we are addressing those. systematically. here is what i'm confident about. this will be the most progressive trade bill in history. it will have the kinds of labor and environmental and human rights protections that have been absent in previous agreements. it's going to be enforceable and it's going to open up markets

that currently are not fully open to u.s. businesses. it's going to be good for the u.s. economy and because i always believe good policy ends up being good politics and i'm confident that congress will have the votes and congress will have a lot of time to review it, when and if it's actually completed. this whole notion is no secret. they will have 60 days days before i sign it to look at the text, and a number of months before that before a final vote. thank you very much, everybody. >> president welcomed the japanese prime minister to the white house earlier. the event kicked off a couple of days of events surrounding the state visits, including the state dinner and an address to the joint meeting of congress.

♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. [cheers] ["hail to the chief" playing]

♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, the national anthem of japan followed by the national anthem of the united states. ♪

["the star-spangled banner" playing]

♪

>> mr. prime minister, the honor guard. >> mr. president, this concludes the honor. ♪

♪

♪

[yankee doodle playing]

>> mr. president, this concludes the honor. president obama: good morning. [speaking japanese]

[applause] [laughter] president obama: on behalf of the american people and michelle and myself, it is a great honor for me to welcome prime minister abe and mrs. abe of japan, one of america's closest allies in the world. [speaking japanese] president obama: across japan, over the coming days, our japanese friends are marking special holidays, honoring their history, celebrating their constitution, giving gratitude for nature's beauty and expressing their hopes for their children. now with this visit, it is a truly golden week.

[speaking japanese] president obama: for michelle and myself, it is an opportunity to return our hospitality that shinzo, akie and the japanese people have had in the past. in kyoto, michelle had the honor of playing taiko drums. i played with the robot.

this visit is a celebration of the ties of friendship and family that bind our peoples. i first felt it when i was 6 years old when my mother took me to japan. i felt it growing up in hawaii. like communities across our country, home to so many proud japanese americans. [speaking japanese] president obama: today's the ultimate chance for americans, especially our young people, to say thank you for all the things we love from japan. like karate and karaoke and of

course, manga and anime, and of course emojis. [laughter] president obama: this visit has historic significance. in 1960 president eisenhower welcomed prime minister abe's grandfather. here to the white house. they signed the security treaty that endures to this day committing america and japan to an indestructible partnership. [speaking japanese]

president obama: today we welcome president obama abe as we broaden our alliance. we have renewed our relationship in the asia pacific. prime minister abe is leading japan to the role on a world stage. the foundation of both efforts is a strong u.s.-japan alliance. [speaking japanese] president obama: ours is an alliance focused on the future the security of our nations and the world, trade that is fair and free and the equal opportunity and human rights of all people around the world and in our countries as well. women and girls because they truly deserve to shine.

[speaking japanese] president obama: prime minister abe, mrs. abe, members of the japanese delegation, we are truly honored to have you here as great allies and as true friends. welcome to the united states. [applause]

prime minister abe: mr. president, mrs. obama, mr. vice president, dr. biden, ladies and -- [speaking japanese] prime minister abe: mr. president, mrs. obama, mr. vice president, dr. biden, ladies and gentlemen, i thank president obama's warm welcome. two years ago when i visited washington, d.c., it was in february during the cold season of the year. i am honored to be back in this season when we can enjoy the

beautiful season south lawn of the white house. and i'd like to express my appreciation for the cordial welcome from our american friends. [pm abe speaking japanese] prime minister abe: this official visit to the united states is a special one for me. since i took office, the top priority of my foreign policy has been to revitalize the

alliance between japan and the united states, and here in washington, d.c., i had a summit meeting with president obama two years ago. and since then, together with mr. president, we have been addressing issues such as the trans-pacific partnership and the realignment of u.s. forces. prime minister abe: and now our bilateral relationship is more robust than ever. our alliance is back on track and it is even stronger. this official visit is the culmination of what we have been doing for the past two years and it is a great pleasure for

me to realize this visit. prime minister abe: the development of japan-u.s. relationship is not something we could achieve about the history of long-standing bilateral cooperation. the has been the relationship of trust between the leaders, of cooperation between the two nations and governments, and friendship through exchange between the two people. all these have played an important role as the keep alert

for the relationship. -- the key pillar for the relationship. [speaking japanese] prime minister abe: the world is facing numerous challenges more than ever. depend will be at the forefront with the u.s. in addressing regional and global challenges while developing our biological ties with the u.s. in a consistent manner and i very much look forward to having a discussion with president obama today on those challenges. [speaking japanese] prime minister abe: mr.

president, mr. obama, thank you again for the cordial welcome and your hospitality. thank you so much. [applause] >> this concludes the ceremony.

♪

[applause] >> prime minister abe: will address a joint meeting of congress tomorrow. see it at 11:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. on the next washington journal sean duffy will discuss the upcoming debate in congress over the house and senate budget deal. then, congressman john delaney will talk about american hostages captured by terrorists and the need for u.s. official to oversee the rescue process. after that, judy collins and john madigan will join us for look at efforts to prevent suicide.

those conversations and your calls, tweets come and e-mails. our show is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> the new congressional directory is a handy guide to the 114th congress with color photos of every senator and house member and biography and contact information. also, district maps, a map of capitol hill come and a list of congressional committees federal agenciess, and governors. order yours at www.c-span.org. >> this weekend, the c-span cities tour is learning about the literary life of topeka kansas. >> the very act of signing the

act was viewed as an act of war. one northerners decided that popular sovereignty will decide the state that the fate of congress -- kansas and that was viewed as a act of war. there are raids back and forth across the kansas border almost immediately. in may 1856, john brown, his sons, and a couple other followers dragged five men from their cabins and they are shot and hacked to death. that effectively cleared area of southern settlers. >> in topeka, if you look at the schools standing outside, you're hard pressed to determine whether white students are african-american students

attended. what is even more interesting for most people when they come to visit is they find out after graduating from elementary school, african-american students attended integrated middle and high school. well there were no supporters of segregation and they saw the injustice of having to attend separate elementary schools, the african-american immunity was very proud of their schools because they were excellent facilities. other was support for the idea of integration, there is some resistance, especially from the teachers who feared the loss of these institutions and those jobs. >> what all of our events saturday at noon eastern on book tv and sunday morning at 10:00 on c-span3. >> coming up on c-span, we show

you some of today's reaction to the ongoing protests and riots in baltimore. in 10 minutes, this morning's prayer in the senate for the city. then reaction from senator cardin and harry reid. first, governor hogan focuses on response to the conflict. governor hogan: hello everybody. thank you for being here this afternoon. we have moved the governor's office here. we are currently running the entire state operation out of here in conjunction with our mercy operation center.

as you can tell, we have a lot of assets on the ground here. we have toured the community's all morning, net with volunteers, community leaders. we just came from a meeting with some of the faith and community leaders throughout the city. we wanted to do some listening and talking them about their concerns, to see what kind of needs they have and how we can address them as quickly as possible. discussion primarily focused on immediate needs of the city, making it safe, protecting our innocent citizens property. we also talked about longer-term issues and how that might be the start of an ongoing dialogue with community leaders to see what we can do to address the longer-term issues and problems. the vast majority of the people in baltimore who are protesting

did so in a peaceful way. yesterday, unfortunately, a smaller group of people acted out in a violent way. we see these as two entirely different groups. criminal activity will not be tolerated. we will bring whatever resources are necessary whatever assets are necessary, as much manpower as necessary, to let the citizens know their neighborhoods will be safe, they will not be in danger, and their property will be protected. we will not have another repeat of what happened last night. i want to thank the faith leaders for their involvement. all throughout this, they have been preaching peace, saying violence isn't helping the situation. the people who have legitimate concerns and frustrations about

the ongoing investigation with respect to what happened to freddy gray are not served well by these violent acts and this is not accomplishing anything. it is counterproductive. we are going to make sure we get ultima back on track and make sure our neighborhoods are safe again. reporter: could you explain how the state of emergency works when the declaration was prepared and what happened in the next 48 hours? do you have to wait for the mayor to ask for it? governor hogan: the violence started at 3:00 yesterday afternoon. we had prior to that taken preliminary action to prepare the state for its violence did take place. we had already activated our emergency command center.

i had already talked to the national guard. i'd argue been in communication with the white house. we had ongoing communication on a daily basis with the mayor. this violence started about 3:00 yesterday afternoon. finally, i believe around 6:00, in the mayor requested to bring in the national guard and declares state of emergency. we did so immediately because the order was prepared. we already had called up and the national guard was put on alert. emergency command center was already activated. with already called together local police and fire and other services from out of state. it was about 30 seconds before we completely activated all of the resources we had to bear. it has been now less than 24 hours. you see we have a couple

thousand more people on the streets in baltimore. knowledge, no incident -- to my knowledge, no incident this morning. we are continuing to bring more people in from around the state and country. we will put as much manpower and as many resources as we can to make sure we do not have that kind of situation tonight. reporter: [inaudible] governor hogan: what are the activated the emergency command center and when the mayor requested, we brought them in. reporter: between 3:00 and 6:00, you could do nothing? governor hogan: we did quite a bit but we waited for the mayor to ask us to come in. reporter: who is ultimately to blame? governor hogan: i don't want to

place blame, our response has been incredible. we acted instantaneously. i am very proud of the effort by the state and the local partners working together. reporter: [inaudible] governor hogan: our folks are in communication with the federal government. i plan to talk to be president a little later. we will provide all the assistance we can. we toured businesses burned and looted, met with citizens who lost their homes. we had a cabinet meeting before the community leader meeting. our insurance commissioner has created a rapid response. we have contacted the small business administration for financial assistance for people who do not have insurance. whatever resources we can, we

will provide. reporter: what resources are you and apartment -- department going to bring to bear? governor hogan: we want to make people feel safe. we are on our way to getting that accomplished. there are no more fires burning. you see a tremendous presence on the streets now. there are issues like emergency housing, which we are providing from the department of human resources and the housing agency. there is housing assistance, we have acted 2000 volunteers from around the state. we are asking for volunteers and donations. governor christie in new jersey has agreed to send in 150 state troopers and a lot of assets to help us. the guard is calling up another 1000 who will be your tonight. we are going to make sure the

city is brought back to peace. we have a couple thousand new police officers and guards on the streets currently. we continue to grow. we'll put as many as we need. reporter: some community groups ask you for the long-term health of the systemic programs? what are you do to help cut some of the systemic problems? governor hogan: we have a former delegate to meet with the groups. we met with them today. we talked about some of the issues. my number one concern is jobs, what i have been focused on, creating more jobs. it is a top priority of our administration. today, the focus is on the emergency action. tomorrow, we work on getting more jobs.

reporter: how we'll convince people to come back into baltimore after what happened yesterday? governor hogan: it will not be easy. reporter: did you call the mayor or did she call you? governor hogan: i called her several times yesterday. reporter: who is responsible you are the mayor of baltimore? governor hogan: the mayor has baltimore police on the ground. frankly, they were overwhelmed. all of the boots came from us. reporter: [inaudible] governor hogan: it is a concern. this is not the baltimore we know and love. this is not putting us in good light. it doesn't help bring in business. we will be strong after this is over. it is a very unfortunate and sad incident.

we will do everything we can to move on from here. reporter: can you talk about whether there were any conversations with the mayor about ferguson, what might have been learned from ferguson? whether you decided to hold back on bringing in troops because of what might have been learned in ferguson? governor hogan: those are questions you should direct to the mayor. i didn't have discussions with her about ferguson or why she was holding back. we're ready to get moving forward as soon as she made the decision. reporter: have there been a number of as mrs. and homes destroyed? governor hogan: our insurance commissioner has activated a team to come and work on the assessment. i don't have a number at this point. thank you, everybody. >> now, reaction from the senate

on the ongoing riots and protests in baltimore. we show you this morning's prayer to the city from senate chaplain barry black followed by remarks from ben cardin and minority leader harry reid. this is about 10 minutes. chaplain black: let us pray. oh god, our help in ages past and our hope for years to come. as baltimore maryland descends into chaos and the death toll in nepal rises, we come to you today in the assurance not of our feeble hold on you but of your mighty grasp on us.

twohank you for the beckoning glory and the fresh vigor of a new day. sustain our senators in their work. may they trust in your power as they strive to solve the vexing problems of our time. lord, use them to ensure that justice will roll down like waters and righteousness, like a mighty stream. strengthen them with your might and filled them with the spirit of your love. we pray. in your merciful name, amen.

sen. cardin: i know everyone in this body, this country has been focused on the events in baltimore. i live in baltimore. it is really affecting all of us. we love baltimore. it is heartbreaking to see the violence that has taken place over the last several days particularly yesterday. baltimore is known for its neighborhoods. neighborhoods are strength. people take great pride in their neighborhood. there is a lot of ethnic ride in baltimore. we haven't brought tradition, a proud tradition of blue-collar workers who help build this great country and steelmaking and shipbuilding. we have government workers who have helped divide the services to people of this country. we have a high-tech workforce that is the future of baltimore. baltimore is a great destination for tourists.

i could go on and on. baltimore is known for its people, its friendliness and real pride in the strong neighborhoods. that was shaken very badly during the events of yesterday. we saw violence. what happened to freddie is something that needs to be fully investigated. we want justice. i am least we will have that independent investigation done. thousands of protesters were on the streets exercising their first amendment rights, expressing their frustration and they did it in an orderly way come in a way that i think we would want to see people express their views about matters of importance, including justice. there were a small number that decided to take to the streets in violence. it was counterproductive to the message. the family of freddie gray urged

yesterday for yesterday to be a day without protest. these individuals decided they would take matters into their own hands and what they did was hurt their community neighborhood, the city i love. senator mikulski and congressman cummings have been in touch with the mayor of burlington and the governor. are taking steps to preserve public safety and make sure justice is provided in regards to the tragic death of freddie gray. i would urge all people to exercise restraint so we can provide the safe communities or the people of baltimore that we will rebuild from this episode and we will move forward. madam president, i wanted to

thank many of my colleagues left contacted senator mikulski and myself and expressed their concerns. we know these are very challenging times and we just urge all citizens of baltimore to exercise restraint but to continue their passion for justice as we will insist upon. with that, i would suggest absence. sen. reid: a man is dead who should not be dead. freddie gray's name will not be forgotten. his death is the latest in a series of unnecessary debt of young men of color. to be clear, violence is never except both in any regard. it is never an incredible response come even to judge a duty like this. -- even to tragedy like this.

this will only further damage a community that is already hurting. we should not let the violence be perpetrated by a few to become a way to refuse the underlying problem. many americans feel powerless in a system they feel is rigged against them. it is easy to feel powerless when you see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. it is easy to feel devalued one schools in your community are failing. it is his duty -- what president obama called a flow crisis -- a slow crisis of troubling police interactions with people with color. no american should ever feel powerless, like their life is not valued. that is what our system says too

many of our fellow citizens. no american should be denied the opportunity to better lives through their own hard work. that is the reality that too many face. in a nation that prides itself on being a land of opportunity millions of our fellow citizens go every day with little hope of building a better future, no matter how hard they try. we cannot condone the violence we see in baltimore but we must not ignore the despair and helplessness that gives the riots this kind of violence. this is not just about inner cities, it is about the deep crushing poverty that affects rural and suburban committees across our great country. it is not matter where you live when there is no hope, anger and despair moved in. we cannot ignore that. let's condemned the violence but

let's not ignore the underlying problem. let's not pretend the system is fair. let's not pretend everything is ok. let's not pretend things are still available to everyone if they work hard. they're not. there must be opportunity and hope. i cannot imagine what direction my life would have taken without the hope of the american dream. as a little boy, a teenager i had that. instead of turning a blind eye let's together and take the problem seriously. there is bipartisan work being done on criminal justice. we need criminal justice reform. that is a good start but it is only a start. we also need to be investing in and are cities and rural areas and training jobs where they are

needed the most. looking out, the only piece of legislation i see on the agenda that is anything to make jobs is the surface transportation bill. there is nothing else. that is not enough. it is up to us to create these jobs. democrats and republicans must work together to make sure americans have the right to succeed and america continues to be a land of opportunity for all of our citizens, not just some. i yield. sen. cardin: we are really hurting from what happened. i appreciate the leaders comments about it. we will get through this and restore order and there will be

justice for fr i appreciate the outreacheddie gray. -- for freddie gray. >> on the next washington journal, sean duffy will discuss the upcoming debate in congress over the house and senate budget deal. then john delaney will talk about american hostages captured by terrorists and the need for a u.s. official to oversee the rescue process. after that, judy collins and john mack again -- madigan will join us for look at efforts to prevent suicide. those conversations. our show is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.

the house oversight committee looks at the rules governing the airspace around washington d.c. and the challenge to law enforcement posed by new technologies like remote-controlled drones that have violated the restricted airspace of the white house and u.s. capitol. we have live coverage. >> remarkable partnerships iconic women, their stories in 'first ladies," thebok. >> she did say the portrait of washington. >> whoever can figure out where she was staying what she was doing, what you look like, that would help sell papers. >> she takes over a radio station and starts running it. how do you do that? >> she exerted enormous influence because it she would

move a mountain to make sure her husband was protected. >> "first ladies," now a book. looking at that the personal life of every first lady in american history. learn about their lives, ambitions, families, and unique partnerships with their presidential spouses. presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women, filled with stories of women who survive the scrutiny of the white house, sometimes at a great personal cost, often changing history. it is an inspiring read now available as a hardcover or e-book. >> here are a few of the book festivals we are covering this spring on book tv. in the middle of may, we visit maryland with former congressman tom davis and mark frost and

david axelrod. we will close out at book expo america in new york city where the publishing industry showcases their upcoming books. in june, we are live for the chicago tribune lit fest. that is this spring on c-span2. jeh johnson testifies before the senate judiciary. he speaks about the deferred action for child arrivals. border security, president obama's executive actions, cyber security, and combating extremism. this is just under three hours.

sen. grassley: oversight is a critical function of our branch. every year, this committee tries to invite the secretary of homeland security to brief us on the state of affairs as the department gets an opportunity to question the administration's policies as well as an opportunity for the department he take responsibility for its actions. as a pleasure to have secretary johnson here. this is the first opportunity for us to question him publicly since the executive action on immigration in november.

even though there is an injunction against the executive actions, we can still get a good idea of what to expect from the programs based on the way the department has unlimited the doctor program. it appears applications for deferred action are being rubberstamped. evidence by the fact that criminals and gang members are receiving special benefits despite policies against it. take for example the case of the recipient in north carolina, a manual hernandez, who was accused of murdering four people. last week, the department received information that you received help despite being in

deportation proceedings. the agency response indicated a lapse in the processing of this application. it is not yet clear who ultimately made the decision to approve the application but we need to get to the bottom of it. we know the agency has terminated 282 requests because of gang and/or criminal issues so this appears to be a bigger problem. this tragedy compels the question, what background checks are in place and are they adequate to ensure benefits are not being provided to those who pose a threat to homeland of public safety and his administration have a tolerance policy for granting immigration benefits to criminals and gang members as suggested by the president? the committee will also want to hear from the secretary about the proposed expansion and why the department provided over

100,000 work optimization extensions despite assurances lawyers gave the federal court that it would not implement any aspect of the president executive action until february 18, 2015. whether discussing the executive action come there also questioning how the department will fund the program and whether illegal immigrants will suffer due to the prioritization of the benefits of people in the country illegally. the secretary must also answer why this administration is allowing people to be put on a path to citizenship.

this loophole will set a dangerous precedent that will allow lawbreakers to obtain benefits. the administration needs to answer for the release of criminal aliens and the community in fiscal year 2013. the department released from detention over 36,000 convicted criminal aliens in removal proceedings or after they had been ordered removed. in 2014, they released every 5538 convicted ranging from convicts of homicide, sexual

assault, kidnapping, drunk driving. according to statistics, 58% of 30,558 releases or purely discretionary. the remainder due to court mandates and the ability jumped in trouble documents. why did the administration release on most 60% of the criminals in their custody and what are they going to do about it? i expect the secretary to address that today. i expect the secretary to address the problems in the immigrant investor program. at only are there gaping holes that risk our national security, there are serious management problems that were highlighted by the inspector general. the ig laid out how preferential treatment was granted to those

well-connected. it is clear that the secretary does not plan to hold the former director who now sits in accountable for his actions. it appears the violation of ethical conduct will go on unpunished. i would also like to hear secretary johnson's thoughts on combating an array of national security issues that the country faces -- the rise of isil poses a significant threat to the homeland. the transportation secretary

alerted local law enforcement to be on the lookout and to increase security earlier this month. there were a number of arrests of american citizens for their involvement with isis. a man from ohio had traveled to syria and was directed to return to the u.s. and commit a terrorist attack. other invasions, including a kansas man and two people in new york were allegedly inspired by isis propaganda. numerous other americans have been arrested in a way -- on the way to the airport as attempting to travel to syria. the president has downplayed the threat posed by isis but reportedly has billions of dollars and controls significant territory and is killing

innocent men women, children across the middle east including americans. as is a threat that requires a serious response to keep our homeland safe. another threat i expect the secretary to address is the ever-increasing risk of cyberattacks. news reports are filled with shocking examples of the federal government's lack of preparedness against the threat. it was reported this past weekend but the president's unclassified e-mail was hacked late 2014. the defense secretary carter said earlier this year, hackers accessed in a classified pentagon computer network.

cyber security cannot be on the periphery of our national security strategies any longer. it has to be at the center. there are many issues to discuss today and i think the secretary -- thank the secretary for being here and diane told senator leahy cannot come. go ahead, senator. senator schumer: thank you for choosing me. i thank you, mr. chairman. occam, secretary johnson. always a pleasure to see you and speak with you about the critical issues affecting our nation. i am proud of the work you have done. most americans join me. you have done a great job and i think i can speak for our friends on both sides of the aisle, you are always available, candid, ask the right questions you give answers. you are a credit to your department and the country.

i want to tell you have a great staff. a hear from me constantly. new york is a terrorist target. your staff is fabulous. i thank you for that. you know the dhs is tasked with a range of responsibilities from guarding our borders and coastlines to administering immigration, responding when disaster strikes, shielding the president, securing the homeland. it is a huge job. in my area from the departments work directly impacts our economy as well as our security. whether it is bps bridge in buffalo, jfk international hurricane sandy relief efforts dhs work is vital to new yorkers . unfortunately, we had an appropriations battle where we

thought from the beginning of the year and we emphasized time and time again that none percent of dhs personnel would be declared essential in the event of a department wide shut down. that meant they had to work without pay unless congress got its act together. it befuddled me how so many people don't want to hold up dhs funding when you have so many vital issues at stake and related to immigration. i am also relieved that you were able to keep your hands on the home during those difficult times. i want to close by addressing some issues. first is isis and terrorism. there are new terrorist threats. believe me, as a new yorker who lived through 9/11, i know that. i would say this to my colleagues -- with new and

ranging threats, we should be taking our hat off to the secretary of his people, and all of the people in the cia, dod nsa, who do an amazing job. just about every, with the exception of boston, every major terrorist incident has been forwarded -- thwarted ahead of time. i think the men and women who work for you and all of the other agencies deserve a tremendous amount of credit. they are wonderful. they are like our soldiers. they are wonderful civil servants. i talked to so many who are truly dedicated to preventing -- god for bid -- another terrorist attack on our homeland. i salute them. let's not forget to give a

little praise where praise is due. on immigration, i find it befuddling that my colleagues from the other side of the aisle cry out against a broken border. the bipartisan immigration bill passed. there is more to tighten up the border than by any proposal made by the other side. we talk about a broken system but our colleagues are just happy to let the status quo go on. we are employers that are allowed to hire new illegals. we get a lot of complaints that the president is moving forward on immigration but we have no activity, no solutions from the other side of the aisle. only complaints. that is not governing. now, they are in the majority. they have a responsibility to

start governing on the issue instead of complaining when the administration -- because of the paralysis on this issue by republicans blocks us from moving forward. you will your a lot of those complaints but let us all there in mind that this senate came together on a solution that dealt with border illegals, all of the issues we face at an overwhelming support in the country. a majority of republicans supported the bill but because of a hard right view, we have a neighbor -- unable to pass the bill. with that, i yield. sen. grassley: i would like to have you affirm that the

testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. secretary johnson: i do, sir. sen. cardin: proceed. secretary johnson: thank you mr. chairman. thank you, members of the committee for hearing me today. let me say a few things. in my view counterterrorism needs to remain the cornerstone of the department of homeland security's mission. it is the reason i excepted service as the secretary for this department. in my view, the global terrorist threat has evolved to a new phase. it is more complex decentralized. in many respects, harder to detect. there are more groups and we therefore need a government approach to our counterterrorism efforts that includes the department of homeland security.

we have a phenomenon of foreign fighters who leave their home countries, go to places like syria, and return. we need to track foreign fighters, foreign fighters from countries from which we do not require a visa. my staff is developing as a follow on to what we did last summer, greater security measures that can be taken with regard to travelers from those countries. we continue to focus on aviation security and what to build a preclearance capability on the front end of a flight into the u.s. and we are working daily to do that. a lot of our efforts centers around airport security. we directed a number of things concerning airport security last week. we are engaging state and local law-enforcement, which in my view, given the nature of the homeland threat, which involves the threat of the independent actor, it is more important we work with city police

departments, commissioners state law enforcement as well. we have our engagements in the committee to counter violent extremism. i personally traveled to places like minneapolis boston, los angeles, chicago, columbus, to engage community leaders about countering violent extremism. i am pleased the congress is active in evaluating and voting on cyber security legislation. it is one of my top minorities -- priorities. we are doing a lot to enhance border security. with added resources stemming from last summer. we have prioritized those apprehended at the border, developed the southern border campaign strategy, which is a dhs wide combined effort and border security on the southern border.

as i reported last week, our numbers of apprehensions on the southern border midway through the fiscal year are down considerably from where they were this time last year and the year before. apprehensions aren't indication of total attempts to cross the border illegally and they are down considerably. i believe there is more we can and should do. as you all know, the president and i are interested in reforming our integration -- immigration system. we announced a number of executive actions that include deferred action for parents, the subject of the litigation in texas but it includes a lot of other things. added order security, pay reform for immigration enforcement personnel, we are ending the controversial secure communities program, which led to a lot of resistance from state and local law enforcement in an effort to get at the criminals who should

be moved from our country. i am interested in enhancing public safety, getting at the criminals. we are working with mayors, governors, county commissioners sheriff's chief's, to introduce them to our new priority enforcement program so they will work with us and an effort to get at the criminals who should be removed from the country. i am sure we will have an opportunity to discuss the eb5 program. i wrote a letter to the chairman on that yesterday. we are doing a number of things to reform the way we manage the department to make it a more effective and efficient place. i want to thank the members of the senate helping us build the vacancies in our department. over 16 months, we had 12 senate confirmed presidential appointments to the department including myself.

our nominee for undersecretary of management was confirmed two weeks ago. our nominee to be the new tsa administrator should be announced shortly. i thank the committee in advance for your time and attention and i am interested in building a more effective and efficient department of homeland security and i appreciate the support in doing that. sen. grassley: i'm going to start with a statement on that i don't expect you to respond to but i want you to know how i feel about it. the inspector general report on the eb five program, he laid out the evidence against.

the report explains how we intervene against three particular cases, each of which had high-profile political connections. it seems to me you have no intention of doing anything and plenty stick by mr. miorka. it is no wonder there is a moral problem at the department. employees see leaders getting away with violating the rules. employees are given clear rules on preferential treatment and how to if you do gate. yet, when the director himself breaks those rules, what our employees to think about that? the only defense i've seen so for any preferential treatment is the agency gets pressure from agents of congress.

i think that is comparing apples and oranges. members of congress are in a position to affect final decisions like a director. secretary johnson, i think that it causes a loss of credibility with many people that work within the department. it is a shame there has been -- it has been tolerated by you and others in the administration. i will go to my first question. i want to ask about mr. hernandez, a gang member that committed those murders are referred to. according to your april 17 response to me, mr. hernandez's application should have gone through several layers of review, including by u.s. citizenship immigration services, background check unit because of his gang affiliation, the department headquarters should also have reviewed the case.

thus, the adjudicator would only be able to approve such an application after a signoff from washington leadership. there was obviously a lapse. it is unclear who dropped the ball. why was mr. hernandez approved for deferred action despite his known gang ties? what office is responsible for approving the applicant and was it the adjudicator, the background check unit, or uscis headquarters? secretary johnson: the answer to the why question is simply, he should not have received benefits. i believe unbalanced, it is a good program. i also believe this case is a tragic case. this individual should not have received benefits. i cannot state that in stronger

terms. in reaction to that case, as i think you know, we have gone back and retrain to be entire workforce that deals with these cases to make sure that they identify trouble signs such as suspected membership in criminal gangs. if you're a member of a criminal gang, you should not be receiving benefits, you should be considered a priority for removal. the force and i done a retrospective review of every participant to see whether there are any similar to this case. we have identified some. we continue to evaluate this to make sure that we have produced situations like this to zero. i'm interested in deporting

criminals, sir. that is one of the reasons why we have engaged in things like operation crosscheck, one conducted several weeks ago where he rounded up some 2000 priorities for removal. i'm interested in getting at the criminals. this is a tragic case. sen. grassley: do you know whether it was the adjudicator or the background check indicator? secretary johnson: i believe the error occurred. i don't have the facts in detail but i believe the error occurred once he was referred to those normally conduct the background checks. i don't know the name of the unit but i believe the error occurred at that point. sen. grassley: you talked about a zero-tolerance policy and i guess it would appear to me that

you don't have a zero-tolerance policy and you just told me you do. so i guess in the future, we would expect things like this not to happen. secretary johnson: in the future, i'm interested in deporting criminals, including those that have committed crimes in the program. sen. grassley: on april 9 -- can i have a response by may 1. on april 9, i wrote about another individual in the country illegally, i'm allegedly sick the charge with suspicion of second-degree murder. i've yet to see a response. could you see i get a response to that? secretary johnson: i will undertake to provide you a prompt response. sen. grassley: the department no longer seems to have a well to

enforce immigration laws. i start with the statistics into a real removers that removals. omitting from 237,000 in 2009 2 102,000 in 2014. saying officers were reassigned from the interior to the border i don't think -- i guess i would say it doesn't explain why interior removals had already declined by 44% between 2009 and 2014. what can the committee expect with regard to removals in the interior? will they continue to decline? secretary johnson: with the resources we have come i'm interested in focusing on criminals and recent illegal

arrivals at the border. we have prioritized criminals those who came into this country after january 1, 2014, and we -- at the border, so that is one of the reasons why we have a new priority enforcement program where we want to work with law enforcement to get at those who are behind bars. it is one of the reasons why we have developed operation crosscheck, greater interior enforcement against criminals so i am interested in going after the criminals. one of the reasons i believe that the removal numbers are down this year, and we are in the middle of the fiscal year is because of lower apprehensions. there is lower intake, lower apprehensions, as i referred to in my opening remarks. there are fewer people attempted to cross the southern border, and there are fewer people apprehended. the other reason friendly, is

because of all of the resistance we were receiving in state and local law enforcement to the secure communities program something like 239 jurisdictions resisting cooperating with us in our enforcement activities, so we developed a new program that i believe remove the political and legal controversy with the old program, and i am now personally engaging in conversations with mayors, governors about the new program so that we can work together again at interior enforcement against criminals, those who represent public safety. i also believe, sir, that one of the reasons the numbers are not as high as they used to be when it comes to removal is because of the changing character of the migrants. they are increasingly from noncontiguous countries and the process of a removal from someone -- of someone from a

noncontiguous country is more time-consuming. we see greater claims for the manic and relief, for asylum, so it is not just as simple as sending somebody back across the border. senator klobuchar. thank you so much, senator grassley, and thank you so much, secretary johnson. we have talked about this in the last week, and you're aware of where six men from the twin cities area were arrested for plotting to travel to the middle east to fight for isis. our u.s. attorney there, as you know, is doing a good job, as are the law enforcement officers and one of the reasons we are able to make these cases is the relationships with the somali group, being able to bring these cases, and i think that gets forgotten sometimes. part of this is the effort that you mentioned you are coming to

minnesota. i was with you then, and the idea of fighting extremism and the pilot program that is going on in minnesota and i would hope that this is a long-term priority of the department of homeland security, and one of the concerns that we have about the current state of the program is that the grant programs that support the extremism initiatives are not sufficiently focused on helping the programs in the pilot cities, and you mentioned the pilot cities, and i was wondering if we can get some more funding, to be so blunt, given that we have shown we are actually having these problems as was recognized. we did just get $100,000 from the justice department, but it is kind of hard to add to everything else what we are doing with the prosecution, and that is what we're trying to do in the twin cities right now. senator -- secretary johnson:

senator, i agree that our so-called engagements are fundamental to our counterterrorism efforts, which is why i am spending a lot of my personal time doing it myself, so as you know, i came to minneapolis some months ago. i think it is important that we engage communities, community leaders, the islamic community in this country, and i believe that through the good works of people like u.s. attorney andy luger, there has been a lot of progress made in building trust the between community leaders family members, and law enforcement, even federal law enforcement, so when i go to these committees myself, i recognize it as an exercise in building trust so they want to talk to me about profiling at the airports or some of their issues with how we enforce our immigration laws, and i want to listen. i want to learn from those

experiences, but i always have a ask, as you know, which is everybody up us to guess homeland security. it is your public security, your homeland security, and help us with public safety. senator klobuchar. ok, when the pilot programs were set up, they came with some kind of funding that would support the kind of goals of the program, so i think that is very important if we want to show that this works. second thing on u.s. customs and border protection is, as you know, one of their key enforcement responsibilities is it forcing our trade law including the anti-dumping and countervailing, and in minnesota, we have had 1100 workers laid off. this is true to my heart. this is where my grandpa worked, where my dad grew up. my grandpa worked 1600 feet in the ground in a mind my whole life. we could do more based on

talking to the white house talking to people with various departments, with u.s. customs to be checking these shipments when they come on our sure if they are filled with illegal steel products, why can't we see it and call it as it is? i think that sends just as strong a message as sending -- changing statutes which makes it easier to bring these cases, but i would like to stop these things from getting on our land to begin with if they are not supposed to be there, so can you talk about the efforts going on with that now? secretary johnson: part of our mission is promoting lawful trade and travel and combating customs fraud, illegal dumping, as you referred to it, and so our cbp personnel as well as homeland security investigations are spending a lot of time dealing with fraud in connection with our imports exports counterfeit items. i think hsi, in particular, does

a pretty good job when it comes to tracking inappropriate, illegal shipments of things, and we are also focused, frankly, on promoting lawful trade and travel, and we have had record numbers of imports inspections last year in that regard. but our efforts need to be focused on the items you referred to, as well. senator klobuchar: right, and we will be pursuing this as we move along in the next month or so but to me, we would get more bang for the buck if we did a better job enforcing the law when the shipments come in, and it seems to me pretty easy to find a bunch of steel rebar when we are able to find drugs in small containers of things. if you have got a shipment of steel, there has got to be a way to find it and track it, and i think it would be a very smart way of enforcing these laws. the last one, the victims of

domestic violence and trafficking, i know you are supportive of comprehensive immigration reform, and we worked on this as part of the bill that passed the senate, but on the first a of the fiscal year, they feel their limit of 10,000 visas. the vermont service center is processing new visa applications filed in march 2014 that will not leave the waiting list until fiscal year 2018. what are the ramifications of running out of these victim these is so early? secretary johnson: well, the ramifications, if demand exceeds supply, obviously, is that the people worthy of the visas do not get them, so i appreciate the efforts that were undertaken in the comprehensive senate bill to address this issue, and i hope we can readdress it at some time. senator global shark: from a policy standpoint, you are supportive, and i think it is important for my colleagues to know him as my experience as a

prosecutor, people would deliberately prey on people and then tell them to shut up after they rate to them, because they were going to report them, and that is why this visa program has been so successful, to get people to come forward who are victims, who have documentation issues so i am hoping that we will be able to resolve this and going forward, when we do pass some kind of conference of immigration reform bill, but people need to know the nationwide numbers and what is happening, so thank you, mr. secretary, for your work. senator: thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you, mr. secretary, for your leadership. good to have you with us. i comprehensive immigration bill. it was not supported by the people and over a 10-year period, the number of green cards would increase lawfully than 10 million people get

permanent residents, and 30 million people are getting permanent residents, and asked to the enforcement situation senator grassley offered a bill that said, well, we want to see the border secure for six months before the amnesty occurs, and that was rejected by the democratic majority in the senate. senator cornyn had a bill to certify and improve the border situation using governors and others create that was rejected, so that is part of the reason we have such a difficult time. secretary johnson i believe senator grassley is correct that we see a lack of will in your department, and before you took the office, and from the president, frankly, on down. he mentioned interior enforcement. 40% of the people here unlawfully today came lawfully and refused to leave on time. we have no real ability to deal with that and have not taken steps required by law to deal with that.

on the first day the president took office, he stopped work site inspections and basically threatened agents never again to do that. he canceled and effectively ended the 287 g program that welcomes officers to betrayed by the federal officers to help them improve their situations and their ability to help. sanctuary cities continue unabated. a do not even honor your detainers. why we would not push back against that, utilizing financial incentive, i don't know. operation streamline, worked in a number of border sectors has been cut back dramatically if not ended. true interior removals are much lower than they have been. the president's push for amnesty is continual discussion of it. his promise of amnesty, and he

is actually carrying out executive amnesty after congress refused, has increased immigration unlawfully into the country. we have continued to allow foreign countries to refused to accept back people that we are trying to deport. if they do not accept that, then they should not have other citizens admitted here. more row in your department is the lowest in the government. indeed the even filed a lawsuit against your predecessor because the department was blocking them from carrying out plane law, and deportations are down 41% over three years, 25% over last year. 160,000 criminal aliens are on the streets, and now you have announced a program to fly people from central american countries who apply for refugee and parole status in those countries to the united states of america.

courtesy of the u.s. taxpayers. all of this has i believe a loud millions to conclude that if they will be successful. we have to change that fundamentally, and if you do that, i think we can make progress. in fact, i would note you have gotten a good bit more resources, although border patrol numbers are beginning to slip again, and fiscal year 2006 before the first big battle over amnesty occurred, there were 12,000 agents. now they are 21,000 agents, although they have declined the last three years, border patrol agents. i just cannot say, mr. secretary, that you have led, and the president, and your predecessors have led it effectively, demonstrating a will to do what the american people want. which is a lawful system of immigration that serves the

national interest, one that we can be proud of. we are not there yet, and you need to do more, and you can do more with the resources we have, and if you need more resources and legal changes, please let us know and i think congress will respond. let me ask you this. some fundamental questions. how many illegal aliens with final orders of removal are currently in the united states and have not been removed? secretary johnson: i do not have the numbers sitting here right now. i am sure it is a large number by your measure and mine, and it is an unacceptable number, but i know there is a huge backlog in our immigration enforcement efforts. we need to prioritize those, in my judgment, who are public safety threats in this tremendous backlog and those who have come to this country illegally recently which is why

in the new priorities, we have put an emphasis on those who arrived here after january 1 2014, so going forward -- senator: and you need to prioritize. i understand that, that that can't in itself become an amnesty. a priority can say huge numbers of people are not going to be deported. what i hear you say, and i think others could hear you saying, if you do not commit a serious crime, you are ok. you're not going to be deported. me ask you this. in fiscal year 2014, 400 and 79,000 individuals were apprehended at the southwest border. how many of those currently remain in the united states? secretary johnson: a lot have been removed. a lot were sent back on it expurgated bases last year, but as i said before, a lot of them are from noncontiguous countries, and they have

asserted claims. senator: that is a problem. i think we need to pass a law to help make that easier. but how many of those are actually here, having been released on bail, have not been deported, and have gone someplace throughout the country? do you not have the numbers? secretary johnson: let me say two things. one, when we had the spike last summer in the rio grande valley we expedited return flights to central america. we reduced the turn around town from something like 30 days to something like four days, and we searched resources, so we turned them around quicker, and we have kept the resources on the southern border. senator: my time remaining. i think you need to be able to tell us how many of those have actually not been deported but have successfully entered the country through that illegal process. senator johnson: senator, that

is a knowable number i just do not have it sitting here. i can provide it for you. senator: secretary johnson thank you for your leadership at the department of homeland security. you have a tough job. unfortunately, congress has not made any easier for you. my friend says what america wants is a lawful system of immigration. i could not agree with him more. lawful. does that suggest that congress should pass a law? wouldn't that be novel? we did pass a bill, enacted, and the house of representatives refused to call it up or anything since, so if we are going to have a lawful system of integration -- immigration, we should have a lawful congress. stepping in to make it better, i do not know how anyone can argue we are a more secure homeland if

we don't know who is living here. and what the president has said is that if you are a young person brought here through no fault of your own and have grown up in this country, we will give you a chance on a temporary renewable basis to summit yourself to a criminal background check and to live in america without fear of deportation, temporary renewable process, criminal background check. it seems to me that is not only fair but makes our country more secure and when congress failed to pass a conference of immigration law, the president said with the 10 million or 11 million undocumented in this country, we are better off to know where they are and where they live, that they have submitted themselves to a criminal background check, and that they're going to pay their taxes when they are here. i think most of america would agree that makes us a more secure nation, but there are just people who loathe this notion, that the president would use his power as an executive as other presidents before him

to make this a more secure nation. i have interested in this. there was the dream act 14 years ago, hearings at this committee, called before congress, before immigration past, but, sadly the house of representatives refused to even can did of the issue. a concern of reports that say that more than 11,000 dreamers who applied in a timely manner have lost their status because of delays in processing at your agency, through no fault of their own, so can you tell me what the status is on applications for renewal, mr. secretary? secretary johnson: yes. as you know, we encourage those participants, if they are renewing, to do that months in advance of when their current authorization expires. you are correct that a number were not issued their work authorization in time.

i think you are right that the number is about 11,000. most to renewed renewed timely and were able to get their work authorizations on time. i also know from the director of cics that we have set up a hotline, so to speak for expedited treatment. if someone is facing the laps of their work authorization, and they have not gotten a new one in time, and if that process is utilized, we will do our best to try to turn that around in a timely manner, making sure that we appropriately assess the renewal application, but i do know there is an expedited route to getting work authorization before it lapses it and take advantage of it. senator: i thank you for that. as you might imagine, there are numbers trying to encourage the president to create the daca program, and there are thousands who have applied on a temporary, renewable basis and have similar themselves to criminal background checks, and i have

met many of them, getting on with their lives and on a path to making a great contribution to this country. it would certainly be helpful with our broken immigration system if congress stepped up its responsibility also and that we did something to enact the law which would make us a more secure nation. when it comes to our border, we not only have invested more resources in protecting the border of the united is with mexico than ever in our history it is one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies that we have in this country, and the comprehensive immigration reform, which many on the other side voted against would have dramatically increased that technology and manpower to protect the border. in your opening statement, you talked about a decline in apprehensions at the border. could you repeat that for the record and suggest what that says about what we are doing at our border? secretary johnson: i think we

have invested -- well, i believe our investment in border security over the last 10 to 15 years is showing results. we have more people, more technology on the southern border in particular now than in the history of this nation, and i think that issuing results. in the year 2000, there were 1.6 million apprehensions on the southern border. that number in recent years has ranged somewhere between 350,000 to, as senator sessions noticed 479,000 last year. that increase last year was due almost -- the majority to the spike in the rio grande valley sector. i expect that the number will be down considerably from 479,000 but longer-term, our investment in border security is showing good results. i believe that the downturn in the numbers is due to that. i believe it is due to the fact that we have got the word out in america, that there are no

coyotes, which were spinning last summer. you can see our public awareness campaigns. i believe our law enforcement efforts against the smugglers are showing good results and all of this is in the face of an improving economy in this country. normally migration is tied to the economy, and we have an improving economy, so the whole -- pull factors are there but we are seeing a marked decrease in apprehension this fiscal year and i was looking at the air will numbers this morning, and the april numbers are pretty much consistent with the march numbers. senator durbin: i only have a few minutes. i want to say that when we are judged by history, the world

will point to the military and crisis in syria and ask every civilized nation in the world what did you do, and some countries have made extraordinary sacrifices. turkey, lebanon, and jordan have excepted huge amounts of refugees. the united states in the last years has accepted 700 from syria. we can do more. we should do more, and i hope there is a way to find ways to safely, safely bring in those refugees who are no threat to the united states but represent a true he military in challenge to our country. senator: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, thank you for joining us today. thank you for your service. i would like to address two different topics. i want to start with an issue you raised, which is isis and foreign fighters. to the best of dhs's knowledge

about how many americans have traveled abroad to join up with isis? secretary johnson: senator, the way i -- the way we calculate that is there are approximately and this is the last time i looked, it could be a little higher now, 180 individuals who have left to join the conflict in syria and iraq or attempted to leave. that number, as i said, is probably a little higher by now but that is the number we have said publicly, and i think that is a fairly accurate number. there is an unknown factor clearly, sir. senator: so in an order of magnitude, 180 is a good approximation. senator -- secretary johnson: that is about right. senator cruz: there is an act where an american who travels abroad and joins isis and joins up with a foreign terrorist

organization has, in so doing constructively forfeited his or her american citizenship. there is legislation on the books that provides for other grounds of forfeiting your citizenship, but right now joining a foreign territories and is not one of them. in your judgment, would it be beneficial to have additional tools to prevent u.s. citizens from using american passports to come back to this country and potentially wage jihad and attempt to murder american citizens here at home? secretary johnson: senator, i don't know that stripping somebody of their american citizenship is the most effective tool. i do believe that we need to enhance our efforts to interdict those who are attempting to leave the country and prosecute them for material support or deny them boarding or deny them boarding on the return flight or

in some way investigate and apprehend them before they can get on the flight once they return, and once they have spent a lot of time with our counterterrorism partners overseas and within the department of homeland security better efforts to detect those who are engaging in travel to iraq and syria, including broken travel. we spent a lot of time in dhs and with law enforcement doing exactly that. senator cruz: i guess the track record of apprehending people coming back is not what it should be. if i recall correctly, the elder tsarnaev brother who carried out the boston balmy, when he came back to america his return and his travel was not flat, although it was supposed to be. is that correct? secretary johnson: very clearly, there were some lessons learned from that case, and we have done, i believe, a better job at connecting the dots in reaction to that case.

senator cruz: well, let's shift to another topic, which is the enforcement at the border. i am very concerned by the lack of enforcement at the border, the lack of enforcement of our immigration laws. i am very concerned on multiple levels. number one, from a perspective as national security and dangerous, illegal immigrants being able to come into this country, and number two, from the perspective of this administration, not enforcing the law. now, last week, the washington times ran an article, the headline of which was illegal immigrant deportations plummet as amnesty hampers removal efforts, and it described that this year, deportations have fallen by another 25% this year and, indeed, over all deportations of those who are here illegally are down 41% from three years ago.

and, indeed, the article goes on to say that the drop began almost exactly at the beginning of president obama's illegal amnesty. mr. secretary, how do you explain a 41% drop in removals of aliens here illegally? secretary johnson: a couple things, sir. one, the apprehensions are in fact, lower on the southern border, so the intake is lower this particular fiscal year, and two, secure communities. secure communities was a controversial program that led to the enactment of restrictions prohibitions on cooperating with our immigration enforcement personnel in a number of different state and local municipalities and so forth. secure communities was becoming so controversial that mayors and governors were passing laws and

ordinances that prevent it cooperate with us in our enforcement efforts, and so we have ended the secure committees program, as i mentioned and put into place a new program that i believe will promote enforcement so that we can get at the criminals. but secure communities, in my judgment, is one of the reasons why we're seeing lower numbers along with a few other things, sir. senator cruz: you talked about getting at the criminals which is the same of the president's purported justification for the illegal amnesty program, that it would allow the focus of prosecutorial resources on violent criminals. it strikes me there is a fairly serious problem with that argument. the number of criminal aliens deported from the interior has declined 23% from last year and declined 39% since the peak in 2011. so when it comes to violent