u for inviting me to testify today. i look forward to any questions you are other members may have. >> thank you for your continuing professionalism. we appreciate you being here. our 2nd witness deputy assistant administrator for the tsa office of intelligence analysis. division director for checkpoint solution and integrity division within the tsa office of security capability. tsa efforts to identify, acquire, and identify acquire, and manage state-of-the-art technologies and capabilities that screen passengers at us airports. prior to beginning of federal career she held management positions at airlines reporting corporation, us airways and trance state airlines. >> good morning.

i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to testify about tsa aviation worker vetting program. conducts conducts security threat assessments for more than 2 million workers requiring badge access to airport. these individuals undergo terrorist watch list checks as well as immigration status and criminal history records check. check against the terrorist screening databases are constant and give us near real-time notification of any changes to the list of known or suspected terrorists so that we can take appropriate action. tsa has made key enhancements to aviation worker vetting through projects that began in 2012 including 2012 including the ability for airports to upload immigration and identity documents to conduct robust identity verification and immigration checks and implementing

system logic to reject inaccurate information. airport operators are responsible and making a determination about granting badges to workers that provide secure access to our nation's airport. airport operator may not issue a badge. airports represent a critical layer of security by making risk-based decisions using tsa provided information and locally driven information for the final badge and decision. recognizing the value of conducting more frequent and recurrent criminal checks to identify cases where they have been subsequent criminal activity. the use of criminal history record checks is considered by the fbi to be for noncriminal justice purposes according to pre- 911 law and regulation.

as such tsa has not had access to criminal checks that are available to law enforcement agencies. the fbi implemented a new automated capability to provide the service to other agencies. tsa of the fbi have been working together planning for an initial pilot in the aviation sector to begin later this calendar year. the ig recently made several key recommendations on worker vetting including one that tsa has also identified as an area for enhancement. additional intelligence related additional intelligence related data that may provide value and informed tsa's wedding decision. the ig identified 73 cases for additional attention. to be clear these individuals are not considered to be known or suspected terrorists. tsa has we reviewed all 73 cases and from the individuals do not pose a threat.

these additional intelligence records do not meet the reasonable suspicion standard of being considered a known or suspected terrorist. that being said tsa recognizes the value of having as much relevant data as possible to make informed decisions and as such former tsa administrator signed a memo a memo in 2014 supporting the tsa request and receive for the additional data. may allow tsa to assist the intelligence and law enforcement community identifying previously unknown associations. aggressively pursuing automated access to the data and working to expedite the process to complete the request. tsa concurs with all recommendations and are taking steps to address them

we will be including a requirement for investors to include verifying an airport betting offices review records and legal status publishing guidance kemal regulated airports to ensure the airport betting offices deactivate the badges probably when an individual's temporary authorization to work in the us ends and working with airports to analyze the miles based upon legal status, validate the reason and issue guidance to airports to address any weaknesses complement the steps. we we recognize the value of complete and accurate information and will continue to identify areas for improvement.

i look forward to answering your questions. >> thank you for your testimony. our 3rd witnesses miss jimmy grover and justice at the accountability office including gal reviews of tsa and coast guard programs. she joined the gal in 1991. the chair recognizes her to testify. >> good morning. i am pleased to be here today to discuss tsa implementation oversight of the aviation worker program which tsa and airports used to determine whether airport workers per security threats tsa in collaboration with airport operators and the fbi complete applicant

background checks known as security threat assessments for airport facility workers, retail employees and_employees. in general security threat assessment include checks of an applicant's criminal history from immigration status and know links to terrorism. tsa and airport operators have different responsibilities within the process. airport operators collect applicant information and send it to tsa for the security threat assessment. tsa reviews the results of the terrorism and immigration checks to determine if the applicant needs the eligibility criteria for holding an airport credential. tsa transfers the results which contain information from a national fingerprint, or history system back to the airport operator for review. based upon this information the airport operator evaluates the criminal history to identify

potentially disqualifying criminal offenses and then make a determination of eligibility. the airport also enrolls approved applicants and issues a credential providing for access to secure areas of the airport. tsa has faced long-term challenges obtaining the necessary criminal history information to accurately assess aviation workers. in december 2011 the front limitations of a kemal history tax increase the risk that the agency was not detecting all applicants with potentially disqualifying criminal offenses. for the purposes of accessing fbi, history records tsa is considered an uncontrolled just as requested. similar to that of a private company conducting an employment check our new applicant. as a result the information that tsa received an aviation work applicants was often incomplete. at the time of our report tsa did not have access to many state records with information on sentencing release dates, and parole probation violations.

we recommended tsa and the fbi jointly assess the extent to which this limitation pose a security risk. tsa and the fbi concluded that the risk of incomplete information can be mitigated through improved access to state supplied records. the the fbi is as reported expending the criminal history information available. our remaining vulnerability as others have noted, is that until recently tsa did not conduct periodic criminal history checks of airport workers after hiring. in fact, workers to maintain continuous employment with the same airport authority did not undergo any assessment. in april 2015 tsa change this policy by requiring periodic criminal history checks. according to this

requirement tsa will conduct these jerks until there able to establish a system for real-time recurrent criminal history checks similar to the way that tsa conducts current vetting. in conclusion with more complete and updated information about applicant a current worker lester's tsa and airports are better positioned to detect all individuals with potentially disqualifying criminal offenses. the new requirement to periodically conduct history checks is a positive and a positive interim step will tsa and the fbi work toward full implementation which is intended to provide tsa and the airports with real-time, or activity monitoring. chairman, ranking member chairman, this concludes my statement and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you. the chernow recognizes the german from the full community for any statement he may have. >> ranking member, thank you for holding this hearing. recent reports are deeply disturbing and call into

question some of the post 911 security measures. the 14 years after that islam is terrorists are still poorly barely plodding daily to kill americans and lately the threat picture has gotten worse. the aviation sector is of particular interest. they think that by taking down airplanes that can bring down our economy. last week reportedly hit the number two. the chair group has been focused for years. it won't stop terrorists aiming their sites at the skies. we stayed on the threats they need confidence in our defenses. terrorists have to be right only once. we have to be right 100 percent.

millions of travelers pass through our nation's airports every year command we need to the systems in place to protect them. in recent weeks tsa has given us more concerned than confidence. reports about the performance have along the american people and raised fears that bombs can pass through airport passenger screening and terrorist might slip to tsa's employee vetting. do everything possible. next month i plan to hold a hearing on aviation security within the tsa administrator once confirmed -- and i want him to outline his vision and give us answers on how he will close any identifying vulnerabilities. this will not be easy. in order to win the confidence of the american people tsa needs a good wire brushing and strong

leadership. we cannot become complacent about the threat. we can must improve her our screening capabilities in the aviation workers who are thoroughly vetted. as a 1st up to tackle these challenges i am cosponsoring hr 27 50 the emperor security vetting for aviation workers and used by chairman: which codifies inspector general six recommendations to ensure there are no loopholes in the security background checks. i am also strongly supportive of hr 2770 keeping our travelers safe and secure it is by ranking member rice which would close additional screening gaps and strengthen our aviation security. i want to thank the dhs inspector general for his leadership and strong oversight and bring in these vulnerabilities to our attention.

and i want to thank the tsa ngo witnesses here and hope there committed to changing the agency's direction and restoring the trust of the american people. when i heard 73 airport workers had ties to terrorism: i got the news 1st of all i cannot believe it and i wanted additional briefings. that is totally unacceptable 14 years after. the american people deserve better. the grandma, veteran, active-duty service, children being patted down with these airports in all this going on and 96 percent of the stuff goes through and we can talk about what it is because it's classified. ninety-six camara small 254 percent success rate.

the american people deserve better and deserve to feel safe when they travel on airplanes. with that i yield back. >> thank you very much. i now recognize myself for five minutes asked questions and i will start with mr. roth. briefly summarizing your findings and report in the recommendations. you recommend basically four broad categories. i just want to make sure i have them i have the night. tsa should request and review additional wants the status. >> that's correct. >> number two that they require that airports improve the verification of applicants rights to work. >> direct. >> number three that they revoke credentials. >> correct. >> a number four to improve the quality. >> yes. this tsa agree with all those recommendations? >> yes. >> i want to focus on requesting and reviewing additional wants the state

of 1st. i we will start with mr. rob. mr. rob. tell me -- you mentioned but 900,000 individual employees nationwide will run through the national counterterrorism subject identities. >> yes, sir. >> help onerous was that? >> it was actually the actual task of running it. in ctc did it for us. the legal authorization took some time. we have to get a memorandum of understanding to do it. it took about 18 months. the requirements of the data matching act. legally and bureaucratically it was a huge lift but then to do the match was quite easy. >> the mechanical checking against the database is relatively easy. >> the size of the data is not that large so it was not that big of a task to match one set against the

other. >> if we can fix these hurdles it should be relatively easy to have this go through the database. >> yes. >> okay. a couple questions for you. i would like to know when they 1st became aware of this problem not getting appropriate codes. i no police may of 2014 there was a memo advising they needed additional codes for ties to employee screening. >> that is correct. >> to your knowledge is that when the administrator 1st became aware of the problem? >> that is my understanding. >> may of 2014 at least the administrator, the head of tsa was aware of the fact that they were getting incomplete data and that may affect whether individuals with terrorist ties are working in airports across the country.

>> if i may explain the distinction of the information tsa received lots of information that it maintained by the fbi terrorist screening center. that information is the information we primarily use in our process. that is to the federal government has deemed to be known or suspected terrorists every -- meets the reasonable suspicion standard which is why that is been shared with us. what we are seeking access to his additional intelligence related information that is contained in the end ctc tied database. and it is important to understand that the information -- the information on the watchlist is tied, but not everyone is a a terrorist and means that reasonable suspicion standard to be put on the watchlist. >> understood, but the fact remains that there are 73 73

individuals that have potential ties to terrorism that were not identified. >> that is correct. we are seeking access. we did review the cases making that determination. >> may have some nexus the terrorism. to terrorism. we will consult with various law enforcement and intelligence committee partners. >> did you do that? >> we do that regularly as part of the process. >> the question is clear. with respect to a 73 individuals tsa has made their own independent determination that they don't pose a threat. >> tsa reviewed the records and determined that they did

not pose a threat. that is part of tsa day in and day out process. every time we understand the someone may have a potential lexus, they may not be designated as a known or suspected terrorist. we do that consultation. >> i just want to make sure your answering the question, a brief yes or no. did you consult? did you consult? >> yes. >> and i take i take it that is something we can see in a secure setting? >> yes. happy yes. happy to share that. >> more importantly, this has raised a concern about the a gap. the amount of time it takes once a concerns raised until the time tsa acts upon it. i guess we have may of 2014 when the information was

brought to administrator pistol. >> yes, sir. >> what the tsa do after that? i know as of today a year later the problem has not been fixed. >> certainly. the administrator did sign a memorandum acknowledging our interest to receive access to this information. we have been engaged in ongoing discussions in the inner agency to receive access to this information. i recently came back to the office of intelligence and analysis in march. since my return i have had numerous and her agency discussions on this topic, and we are working to expedite this process in our request to gain access. >> with all due respect it's been a year. it's it's been a year. what could be a potentially serious security gap. it has been a year.

that does not sound like expediting. >> i understand your. we are working hard to gain access. >> what you say hard what does that mean? >> frankly with regard to employee screening we have had this problem since 2011 command we are still talking about it. we hear the same thing all the time. well, with all due respect, and i no you're just the person here filling in for someone of available but that is not acceptable. you have the nation security in your hands. to sit there and give us a bureaucratic response you are talking about a a gap in terrorist watch lists and you're saying you're working on it? >> we are working on it but what is important to understand is that we do

receive the terrorist screening database, and those are the individuals that are deemed to be threats to transportation security. we've that all the aviation workers against those in the taken action. but we are seeking to do is gain access to additional information that will assist us in providing full a context of who these are and potentially identify unknown associations. >> the.is command i ask you take it back to your supervisors. mr. rogers and i made it clear again and again. the fact remains tsa is not responding very important issues. as it stands now i highly doubt we would be any closer to getting access to the database.

we cannot have a bureaucratic -- in charge of guarding our airports. we just can't. i yield my questioning. >> thank you. you mentioned something in your testimony. limiting the ability for them to give relevant information. is that a change that needs to be made? ensure that the vetting to be thorough and complete. >> this is been a topic of discussion for years. the compact act from 1998 is what set the requirements for requesters the considered to be having criminal justice access versus noncommercial justice access. when we did our work several years ago tsa position was

that they did not really fit neatly into either one of those categories. it was their position that the noncriminal justice access records was not meeting the needs of which it clearly was not. at the time they only have access to information from about 15 states and really did not have the information needed to make a complete determination of eligibility they have worked with the fbi in the past to determine that they are not eligible for the different statuses of criminal justice and have expanded the database. database. i believe that they have access to information from 41 states and that certainly comes much closer to meeting the needs. >> but that is not going to be complete until they have access to all 50. we have to deal with that change. so you answer the 2nd question.

one of the 1st things you said in your testimony was that the vetting process has been found to be effective whether it's mr. ross findings are yours. and i have to tell you sitting here how is it possible that anyone can come to the conclusion we are talking about all of these deficiencies? >> i understand. let me provide some context. yes, the inspector general, part of this report did say they found a vetting process to be generally effective. additionally the department sponsored a review of dhs vetting program command we participated in that. the review of that found the tsa was one of the best performing and effective systems that dhs has in the vetting of price.

one of the key things that we have to keep in mind and part of what we're talking about is the information we have access to. we have a sophisticated vetting system that takes millions of records and effects that against the databases of known and suspected terrorists. we are absolutely dependent on having access to the right information about individuals who posed a threat to transportation and you also may have some value the other piece is important. the applicants who are seeking to work. we are focused on those areas right now. my comment was specifically referencing the effectiveness of the system that we have built, this very complex vetting system. >> it is clear after today

that we can't use that were effective. i just want to ask you said that the denied credentials to 4300 applicants who had previously been found to be okay. >> a couple others. >> the airports are legally responsible. >> the information. >> the airport operators the background information. >> legally able to work. >> with the tsa does is take that information.

>> fourteen years post 911 we saw federal agencies. >> well, certainly the airports themselves have the obligation to certify 450 airports across the country. only about 1 percent of the applications.

>> airport operators are not doing their due diligence to ensure the people they are sending to you, there not giving you the relevant information. >> are escorted escorted access to anyone in the airport. load baggage, have access, do basically anything unescorted. that is concerning. >> thank you.

i yield back my time. >> the chair now recognizes mr. rogers alabama. >> you have further you'll have access to give you the relevant information to make sure they don't get it. you made reference a little while ago. is saying you don't have that access. >> we do have access. we're seeking access to additional intelligence information. >> that is a database we're seeking automated access.

>> pursued any axis. >> am trying to figure out why we should have access to the database. >> why wouldn't you already people again? >> will we have to understand is that the watchlist which are maintained by the fbi terror screening centers individuals who impose threats to transportation and we receive those watch lists purposes of our vetting. we're recognized over time and understanding the additional intelligence information the value of

what we do by identifying potentially individuals who may be unknown. >> who has control of the database now? >> maintained by the nct see >> are they giving you any problems? they have the airports airlines, airports airlines, cementing information to us from our systems, getting information from the watchlist and community. more community. more of the complexities of that inner agency coordination process. >> frequent an ongoing discussions.

>> just for the record that hurts me. >> sixty days, 90 days. >> daily conversations. we will be continuing those discussions. >> somewhat. a little more complicated. a number of girls were talking about. about. >> what? >> codes or categories individuals are names. known or suspected

terrorists that tsa does not have access to. really not used for watchlist and purpose. there are really two categories of information some work that information. some than others good. difficult to describe. we can certainly explain it later on. >> the 1st time. >> we have done reports on access badges. this is this is the 1st time we have done a day to run.

>> identifies having terrorist ties? >> once we give them was named in november last year the more decisions that you make. whether or not these individuals did not pose a threat of terrorism. >> they recognize mr. payne. >> thank you. thank you to the ranking member think. a bit of a kind of confusing element in your most recent report the vetting process

can be considered generally. >> into little contradictory. >> thank you for that opportunity. what we're talking about is the operation that the vetting unit does. they are does. they are only as good as the information they get. they do a very significant job. over 2.2 million recurring vetting its. that's about 6000 per day. additionally they additionally they have to manually review 24,000 records in your to look at potential hits of the terrorism screening database

to see whether or not these in fact are the individuals listed. they do a good job. they uncovered a vulnerability. did not have all the information they needed. >> the volume that individuals. you only need one to have the her we will. >> that's the nature of the threat. asymmetric threat. >> your report acknowledges numbers as being strong matching elements yet neither is required. in your view can tsa effectively identify potential risk of such elements are discounted?

>> it makes the job more difficult. that's the best identifier you can use to match an applicant of the database. the privacy act which has some exemptions does not exempt tsa from requiring applicants to have a social security number something that i think would be usable >> okay. and during the q&a with the members appear what leverage do we have with the airport operator if they are not complying and giving the information? a lot sometimes at the airport operator in doing

that job. job. what leverage do we have to make sure that they are complying? >> before we get to the compliance piece of what is important is is working closely with the airport operators to identify the areas where improvement but without guidance on how we can do that will work with them to implement that and it sure we have a robust compliance mechanism to go back and you and ensure that they are doing that and take collective action if we continue to find that they are not complying. >> what would those collective actions consistent? continued issues around and getting to where we need them to be. what leverage do we have if they are falling short? >> we have formal security programs with all the airports that they are required to comply with and

have inspectors to go out and review the performance against those requirements. i am not intimately familiar with the consequences with respect to if there are issues of noncompliance but happy to follow up. >> what can we do to strengthen the relationship tsa has potential and current aviation workers? >> thank you. we concur with the recommendations that have been made. we have been making improvements are putting in system logic so that people reject information that maybe erroneous or inaccurate. we have also added automation to allow the upload of identity documents so that we have the information to review. looking forward to our

continued opportunities. one of the things we're looking at is further automation. the way the information comes from the airport operators through channelers is through both automated and some manual processes and we're looking to move to a fully automated process that will reduce the opportunity for erroneous data to be submitted. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank you. the chernow recognizes mr. rehnquist taxes for questioning. >> thank you, chairman and ranking member for holding yet another hearing on this matter. it feels a little bit like the movie groundhog day where the same things keep happening over and over again. you are back here again. we have had several hearings on this matter before the subcommittee on security breaches caused by improper

screening most recently in april we have been tsa administrator carol way talking about the steps that have been taken to make airport and airline employees creating more secure. earlier this month we have the report about official be able to get banned items through security checkpoints 95 percent of the time. we have your report revealing that the tsa failed to identify the 73 active workers was linked is terrorism setting a lack of effective controls. i know in your report you conclude with this statement will with our recent report we had another security vulnerability. i agree with you. tsa does need to address these issues. as the chairman as the

chairman noted it has been almost 14 years. some of what i see in your report calls to mind the troubling pre-september 11 trend we had. your. your former department of justice official we will formally assistant united states attorney. we had a problem before september 11 where intelligence were not sharing information that had an excuse back then. a lot of not allow. we changed the law. i want to ask you about your report. tsa did not identify these individuals because tsa is not clear to receive all terrorism categories under the current inner agency guidance. >> you talked a little bit about this. i'm not clear. is this a

situation where we need to change the law? >> it may very well be. the office of national intelligence and determine whether or not they will have access to this information. if not it may require a change in the law. i share your concerns that information sharing is critical. even if there is information contained within the database that is unsubstantiated is useful for individuals doing a review of someone who will have unfettered access to secure areas. what is troubling is that tsa is being treated as if they were walmart. an individual stands in line with walmart to determine whether or not there will be a criminal history check.

>> let me ask you about that. we talked a little bit about that. you talk about the fact that airport operators review the criminal histories for new applicants for badges. but tsa and the airports are not legally authorized to conduct recurrent criminal history. >> that's correct. >> currently have is tsa and the airport know if an employee has committed a crime during her tenure? >> that is the difficulty of the. try to attempt to get recurring vetting. as far as the current conditions that is a vulnerability.

>> of a checking, do they have the ability to check against marshall service wants and warnings this? >> we do check against the open wants. >> that does not include disqualifying crimes. >> correct. i see my time has expired. i yield back. >> thank you. i recognize the gentleman from massachusetts. >> thank you. reminded him of the movie groundhog day and reminds me of the leonardo dicaprio movie catch me if you can. these are real issues. we had a hearing at the oversight community. one of the major things that came out of that was there was real jurisdictional

problem with airports, and we are hearing it again today. i want to follow up. if you have noncompliance what can you do? we found holes in fences were parameters not being looked at cited in vulnerability assessments and nothing was done because there is no enforcement. whoever runs these things. we are seeing now in testimony this morning that when you are reviewing some of the employment that you are doing only 1 percent of the and finding mistakes. how is that followed up? how are they penalize? what are they threatened with? it seems like we have a

basic jurisdictional issue. .. what are you doing with the municipalities? move of the authority away from tsa employees. give the responsibility to the local municipal employees. given what we have discussed this morning, is it fair to say that is dead? are you going to stop pushing that effort to get rid of tsa employees and replace them with municipal airport employees their employees?

are you aware of what that effort has been. ms. fitzmaurice: i want to make sure i understand. you are asking whether we would take back the responsibility of the airport worker? >> you have been asking the airports over the last couple years to shift the responsibility take the responsibility -- they are putting their employees in the exit lane. many airports, is right next to where people are coming in. the has been delayed, and part because members of the committee expressed concerns. is it fair to say, given what we have heard that that is not going to be pursued anymore? ms. fitzmaurice: i apologize. i do not have an answer for you. >> when we are looking at the numbers on the vulnerability studies of the aspects of this we found it's less than 3% being

reviewed. this morning we found out that only 1%. is there a need to have more accountability and needed to enforce the operations of the airport authority's? when they can look at the recommendation and what has been found and we are not even clear if anything has been done. in the the minnesota airport authorities they are pointing at the federal government other law enforcement are pointing

fingers. it's dangerous and it's going to get us nowhere and that's what we have been dealing with for the last few years. do you think there is a need to put teeth into what the tsa can do with airports? >> you raise a good point and we haven't done any work on that but it's something we would be willing to consider purchase irrespective of whether they follow up and actually find out for example. when they find noncompliance would do they do it about it. >> thank you mr. chairman i appreciate your leadership in this most disturbing situation that we find ourselves in a.

it's my understanding that security credentials are being given to individuals regardless of their work or authorization date is that correct? >> that's correct what we found is what say you are authorized to work for 18 months he would get a security badge that wouldn't turn off at determination to work. >> so you are saying we might have people -- we probably do have people that are walking around unescorted in the airports and security areas who are here illegally. >> they do not have authorization to work yes we identified that as a former buddy. >> you know certainly we have these peoples social security numbers, correct? >> i'm sorry i missed the

question. >> we have their social security number, we have that. so you are telling me we have people walking around on escorted in secure areas of airports and we don't have their social security number? the passport number or the social security number. >> the report in the inspector general's investigation found that we have thousands had thousands of incomplete or inaccurate applications and biographical information. can i ask you if you will bear with me please can you give me the first initial of your first name? >> i have three minutes left to ask questions. do you think i can get guess your first name in a three-minute?

my point is simply this we have applications that only have the first initial in the first name. >> i usually travel once or twice per the busiest airport in the world through atlanta, hartsville jackson airport. >> we have people walking around the airport and we don't even know what their name is. we don't have their social security number. >> i am okay.

my son is coming up later today and i want to make sure he's okay. isn't this something that should be taken care of immediately? immediately? i can't believe in the world's busiest airport. we have people walking around on escorted in secure areas that we don't know their social security number, we don't know their names. we have to figure this out i'm just appalled at this and i appreciate the efforts here and

appreciate all of the efforts of all of you that we but we need to take care of this immediately on passenger rail safety but instead we chose to have this hearing and i want to juxtapose. we will fix this right after the hearings at the point is if you have issues and you need things done i highly encourage the tsa to come to us because we can get your legislative fixes for the security gaps continue. i know they are trying to fix

things. let me tell you what they are doing in the meantime. we have a problem with pre- check that can be introduced next week or in the next couple of weeks. we put them into pre- check because it flows. that can be fixed and they are introducing a bill regarding that. we have access control and screening issues that are absolutely positively abysmal. and when people have guns on airplanes or they are dealing dope out of the oakland airport if the problem.

i highly encourage the tsa to work with us and not just close ranks and say we it is now a year after you found out -- they are still spinning their wheels. you were entrusted with our nation's security. you have to do a better job. it took us months of begging the president's for tsa. i can tie you one thing going forward, we will legislate. we cannot wait for these things to be done. mr. ross, you're doing a superb job of keeping us informed. we know it's a lot of work.

what you're doing is critically important. keep it up. i would like to thank the witnesses for the testimony, the city -- they may have some additional questions for the committee. the hearing will be held open for 10 days without objection. democratic senator chris murphy

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[music playing] >> that is some group of people. so nice. thank you very much. thank you. it is great to be at trump tower, in a wonderful city, new

york. it is an honor to have everybody here. this is beyond anybody's expectations. there has been no crowd like this. and i can tell you some of the candidates did not know the air-conditioning did not work. they sweated like dogs. they did not know the room was too big because they didn't have anybody there. how are they going to be isis? i don't think it is going to happen. our country is in serious trouble. we don't have victories anymore. we used to have victories but we don't have them. when was the last time anybody saw us beating let's say china in trade deal? they kill us. i be china all the time. all the time. when did we be japan at anything?

they sent their cars over by the millions and what do we do? when was the last time you saw the chevrolet in tokyo? it doesn't exist folks. they beat us all the time. when do we beat mexico at the border? they are laughing at us, and our stupidity. and now they are beating us economically. they are not our friend, but they are killing us economically. the u.s. has become a dumping ground for everybody else's problems. and these are the best and the finest. when mexico since its people they are not sending their best area they are sending people

that have lots of problems and they are bringing those problems with us. they are bringing drugs, they are bringing crime they are rapists, and some i assume, are3 good people. i speak to border guards, and they tell us what we are getting. at only makes common sense. they are sending us not the right people. it is coming from more than mexico. it is coming from all over south and latin america and coming from probably the middle east. we don't know because we have no protection and we have no confidence. we don't know what is happening and it has to stop and it has to stop fast. islamic terrorism is eating up the large portions of the middle east. they have to he come rich.

i may competition with them. they just built a hotel in syria. can you believe this? they built a hotel. when i have to build a hotel i pay interest. they don't have to because they took the oil that we left the wrecked i said we should have taken. now isis has the oil. and what they don't have, iran has. and i will tell you this and i said this strongly years ago, i said come and i love the military and i want to have the strongest military that we have ever had and we needed more now than air -- ever, do not hit the rack -- iraq because you will destabilize the middle east. iran is going to take over the middle east. think of it. iran is taking over iraq.

we spent $2 trillion in iraq. 2 trillion. we lost thousands of lives thousands in iraq. we have wounded soldiers who are love, i love. they are great. all over the place. thousands and thousands of wondered soldiers and we have nothing. we can't even go there. we have nothing. every time we give iraq equipment, the first time a bullet goes off in the air, they leave. less week i read 2300 humvees these are big vehicles, were left behind for the enemy. you would say maybe two maybe four.

2300. sophisticated vehicles, they ran in the enemy took them. you are right. last quarter, it was just announced, our gross domestic product, a sign of strength, right? not for us. it was below zero. whoever heard of this? it is never below zero. our labor participation rate was the worst since 1978. gdp below zero. horrible labor participation rate. and our real unemployment is anywhere between 18 and 20%. do not believe that 5.6%. that's why a lot of people cannot get jobs. they cannot get jobs because there aren't any. china has our jobs and mexico

has our job. but the real number, the real number is anywhere from 18% to 19% and maybe even 21% and nobody talks about it because it is a statistic that is full of nonsense. our enemies are getting stronger and stronger by the day. we as a country are getting weaker. even our nuclear arsenal does not work. it came out recently, they have equipment that is 30 years old and don't even know if it works. i thought it was horrible when it was broadcast on television because that sends signals to pugin and all of the other people that look at us and they say that as a group of people and that is a nation that truly

has no idea what they're doing. they don't know what they are doing. we have a disaster called the big lie. obamacare. obamacare. yesterday, it came out that cost are going up for people up 29 percent, 39% 49%, and even 55% and the dr. bulls are through the roof. you have to get hit i attractor attractor, to use it because it deductibles are so high it is basically useless. it is a disaster. remember the $5 billion website? to this day it does not work. a $5 billion website.

i have some a websites all over the place. i hire people. they do a website. it cost me three dollars. $5 billion website. >> politicians are all talk and no action. they will not lead us to the promised land. as an example i have been on the circuit makings reaches. i'd hear my fellow republicans, and they are wonderful people. they all want me to support them. i am meeting with three of them in the next week. are you running?

are you not running? what do we do? how do we do it? i hear the speeches, and they don't talk jobs or china. they are devaluing their currency to what level that makes it possible for -- and possible for our countries to compete. you don't hear that from anybody else. you don't hear it from anybody else. and i watch the speeches. thank you. i watched the speeches of these people and they say the sun will rise, the moon will set. all sorts of wonderful things will happen and people are saying what is going on? i just wanted job. just get me a job. i don't need the rhetoric. i wanted job. and that is what is happening.

is going to get worse remember, obamacare really kicks in in 2016. obama is going to be out playing golf. he might even be on one of my courses. i have the best courses in the world, if he wants to, i have one on the potomac. if he wants to play, that is fine. i would love him to leave early and play. that would be a very good thing. but obamacare kicks in in 2016. it is going to be amazingly destructive. doctors acquitting. i have a friend who is a doctor. he told me the other day, i have more accountants and i have nurses. it is a disaster. my patients are beside themselves. they have no plan now.

we have to repeal obama care. it can be replaced with something much better for everybody. let it be for everybody, but -- but much better and much less expensive for people and the government. and we can do it. >> so, i have watched the politicians. i have dealt with them all my life. if you cannot make a good deal with the politician, then there's something wrong with you. and that is what we have representing us. they will never make america great again. they don't even have a chance. their controlled fully -- their controlled fully by the lobbyists, by the donors and by the special interests, fully.

i have lobbyists that can produce anything for me. they are great. you know what, it won't happen. it won't happen because we have to stop doing things for sim -- for some people, but for this country it is destroying our country. we have to stop and it has to stop now. now, our country needs -- our country needs a truly great leader. and we need a truly great leader now. we need a leader that wrote the art of the deal. we need a leader that can bring back our jobs, manufacturing our military. can take care of our vets. our veterans have been abandoned.

and we also need a cheerleader. you know, when obama was elected, i said, well, the one thing i think he will do well, i think you will be a great cheerleader for the country area i think he would be a great spirit. he was -- i thought he would be a great cheerleader. he is not a leader it you are right about that. he was not a cheerleader. he is actually a negative force. he was the opposite. we need somebody that can take the brand of the united states and make it a great again. it is not great again. we need -- we need somebody that

literally will take this country and make it great again. i we can do that, and i will tell you i love my life. i have a wonderful family. they are saying dad, you are going to do something that is going to be so tough. all of my life i have heard a truly successful person, a really successful person, and even modest least successful cannot run for public office. it just can't happen. and yet that is the kind of mindset that you need to make this country great again. so, ladies and gentlemen, i am officially running for president of the united states and we are going to make our country great

again. [applause and music] it can happen. our country has tremendous potential. we have tremendous people. we have people that are not working. but they will have incentive to work because the greatest social program is a job. they will be proud and they will love it. and it will make much more money than they would have ever made and they will be doing so well and will be thriving as a country. thriving. it can happen. i will be the greatest jobs president that got every

created, i tell you that. i will bring back our jobs from china, mexico, japan, from so many places. i will bring back our jobs and money. right now, think of this -- we owed china $1.3 trillion. we'll japan more than that. they come in, take our jobs, take our money and then we pay them back. then the dollar goes up so the deal is even better. how stupid our -- our our leaders. how stupid are these politicians to allow this to happen? how stupid are they? >> we want from. we want trottrump.

i will tell you a couple of stories about trade. the people negotiating it don't have a clue. our president does not have a clue. he is a bad negotiator. they get five killing terrorists, that everybody wanted over there. we get a traitor. a no good traitor and they get the five people that they wanted for years and those people are now back on the battlefield trying to kill us. that is the negotiator we have. take a look of the deal he is making with iran. he makes that deal israel may be won't exist very long. it is a disaster and we have to protect israel. we need people -- i am a free trader, but the problem with

free-trade is you need really talented people to negotiate for you. if you don't have talented people, if you don't have great leadership, if you don't have people that not just a political hack back up this job because he3 made a contribute should do a campaign, which is the way all jobs are just about gotten, free freight does free trade is terrible. it can be wonderful if you have smart people, but we have people that are stupid. we have people that are not smart and we have people that are controlled by special interests, it's just going to work. here are a couple of stories that happened recently. a friend of mine is a great manufacturer. you know, china comes all over and they don't all buy it. i have an obligation to buy because they devalue their currencies so brilliantly and nobody thought they could do it again. with all our problems with

russia, with no everything, they got away with it again. it's impossible here to compete. i want to tell you the story. a friend of mine runs a great manufacture and he's very upset. i said what your problem? he said i make a great product and i said i know because i like the products. but he said china will not accept it. they actually send it back. they talk about ulcers of crappy that had nothing to do with it. i said this anybody know this? he said they do it all the time with other people. i finally got over there and they charge me a big tariff. they are not supposed to be doing that. they do charge you tariff on troughs -- trucks. they wanted boeing's secrets

before they agree to buy planes from boeing. hey i'm not saying they are stupid. i like china. i just sold an apartment for $15 million from somebody -- to somebody from china. am i supposed to dislike them? i own a big chunk of the bank of america building and 1290 m avenue of the americas that i got from china in a war. very valuable. i love china. the biggest bank in the world is from china. you know where there united states headquarters located? in this building intro tower. i love china. people say you don't like china. now i love them. but they are much smarter than our leaders. it is like take the new england patriots and tom brady and have them play our high school

football team. that's the difference between china's leaders and our leaders are in they are ripping us. we are real building many countries. you go to china now, roads, bridges, you know never saw anything like it. they have bridges that make the george washington bridge look like small potatoes and they are all over the place. we have it, but we don't know how to use it. we don't even know that we have the cards because our leaders don't understand the game. we could turn off this bigot by charging them tax until they behave properly. now they are going militarily. they are building a military island in the middle of the south china sea. our country could never do that because we would have to get environmental clearance and the amount of dish and they would not let us.

they built this massive military port. they are building up their military to have point that is very scary. you have a problem with vices, you have a bigger one with china. and the new china in terms of trade as mexico. this man tells me about the manufacturing. i say that's a terrible story. i hate to hear it. i have another one. four. mexico takes a car company that was going to build in tennessee, rips it out. everybody thought the deal was done. it was reported recently. everybody thought it was a done deal, it is going to into tennessee. great state, great people. at the last moment, this big car manufacturer announces they are not going to tennessee. they are going to spin their $1 billion in mexico instead.

not good. now ford announces a few weeks ago that ford is going to build a 2.5 billion dollar car and truck and parts manufacturing plant in mexico. to $.5 billion. could be one of the largest in the world. for, good company. i announced that i am running for president. one of the early things i would do probably before i even got in , i would not even use i know the smartest negotiators in the world. i know the good ones i know the bad ones and the overrated one in summer overrated. i know the best negotiators in the world.

we will do very very well. i wouldn't even make waste my time with this one. i would call up ahead of ford who i know, if i was president. i would say congratulations. i understand it you are building a nice, $2.5 billion car factory in mexico and that you will take your cousin seldom to the united states, zero tax across the border in usage yourself how does that help us? it is not good. i'll say congratulations. let me give you the bad news. every car truck, part manufacture in this plan that comes across the border we will charge you a 35% tax. that tax will be paid

simultaneously and that's it. it is one of these politicians we are running against. then they get a call from their donors are probably from the lobbyists from ford and said you cannot do that to ford because ford takes care of me and i take care of you and you cannot do that to ford. yes what? no problem. if they are going to build in mexico they will take away thousands of jobs. so unnerved my presidency, here is what will happen. the head of ford will call me back and i would say within an hour after i told him the bad news. it could be, you might want to

wait till the next day. he will say please and beg for a little while. i will say no interest. you will call a bunch of political people and i will face are all, no sorry, no interest. i don't need anybody's money. i am using my money. i'm not using the lobbyists, or donor. i don't care. i'm really rich. i will share that by the way. i'm not even saying that, that is the kind of thinking you need for this country. we have to make the country rich. it sounds crass. we got $18 trillion in debt, nothing but problems, a military that needs equipment. we have nuclear weapons that are obsolete, we have nothing, we have social security that is

going to be destroyed if somebody like me does not bring money into the country. i'm going to bring money in and we will save it. here's what is going to happen. after a call by 30 friends of mine who contributed two different campaigns, after on call by all the special interests and the donors and by the lobbyists, they is zero chance of convincing me zero. i will get a call the next day from the head of ford to say to say please reconsider and i will say no. he will say mr. president with decided to move the plant back to the united states. they have no choice. they have no choice. there are hundreds of things like that. i will give you another example. saudi arabia. they make $1 billion a day. $1 billion a day.

i love the saudis. whenever they have problems we send over the ships. what are we doing? if the right person asks them they pay a fortune. they would not be there except for us. believe me, you look at the border with yemen, you remember obama year ago yemen was a great victory. two weeks later, the place was blown up and they kept our equipment. sales keep our equipment. we are to send some real -- we should send our surplus. we are always losing this brand-new stuff. look at that order was saudi arabia. do you really think these people are interested in yemen? saudi arabia without us is gone.

they are gone. and i'm the one that made all of the right predictions about iraq. all of these politicians that i am running against now it is so nice to say i'm running as opposed to if i run. i'm running. all of these politicians that i am running against now, they are trying to you look at bush. it took him five days to answer the question on iraq. he said he didn't know. i said is the intelligent? i looked at rubio. he was unable to answer the question. is iraq a good thing or a bad thing. he could not answer the question. how are these people going to lead us? how are they going to make it great again? they don't have a clue. they can't lead us. they cannot even answer simple questions. it was terrible. saudi arabia is a big big trouble. thanks to fracking and other

things, the oil is all over the place. i used to say it -- this was during the worst crisis, that were loaded up with oil and the cartel kept the price that because they were smarter than our leaders. there is so much wealth out there that can make our country so rich again. therefore, make a great again because we need money. we are dying. we are dying. we need money. we have to do it. we need the right people. so, formal comeback. they will all come back and i will say this -- this is going to be an election, in my opinion, that is based on competence. somebody says -- thank you, darling -- somebody said to me the other day -- a reporter. mr. trump, you are not a nice person.

that's true. actually, i think i am a nice worsen. does my family like me? i'm proud of my family. speaking of my family, the necessary, therein vanessa tiffany if i got did a great job. i'm very proud of my family. they are a great family. so, the reporters said to me the other day mr. trump. , you are not a nice person. how can you get people to vote for you. i said i don't know. i said i think that number one, i am a nice person. i give a lot of money away to charities. i think i am a very nice person, but i said this is going to be

an election -- based on competence because people are tired of these nice people and they are tired of being ripped off i everybody in the world and they are tired of spending more money on education than any nation in the world per capita, than any nation in the world at 26 in the world. 25 countries are better than dollars in education and some of them are like third world countries. we are becoming a third world country because of our infrastructure, airports and roads. one of the things i did you know what i'll do, number one, he doesn't want to give up his lifestyle. you are right about that. number two i am a private company so nobody knows what i am were good when you run, you have to announce and certify to

all sorts of governmental authorities your network. that's ok. i'm pride -- i'm proud of my net worth. i started off in a small office with my father in brooklyn and queens. my foes said -- and i love my father. he was a great negotiator. i learned so much sitting at his feet, playing with blocks and listening to him negotiate with subcontractors. i learned a lot. he used to say donald, do not go into manhattan. that is the big leagues. we don't know anything about that. i said that i have to go into manhattan. i have to build build buildings. i have to do it. after four of five years in brooklyn i ventured into manhattan and made a lot of good deals. i was responsible for the convention center on the west side. i did a lot of great deals and i did them young. now i am all over the world.

and i love what i am doing. and they all said, a lot of the pundits on television, donald will never run your it and one of the main reasons is he is private and he is probably not as successful as everybody thinks. i said to myself, you know, nobody will ever know unless i run because really proud of my success. i really am. i have employed tens of thousands of people over my lifetime. that means medical, education, everything. my accountants have been working for months because it is big and complex. they are put together a statement. a financial statement. it is a summary, but everything will be filed eventually with the government and we don't need

x engines or anything. we will be filing it on time to we don't need anything. it was even reported incorrectly yesterday because they said he had assets of $9 billion. that is the wrong number. not assets. they put together this and before i say it i have to say this. i made it the old-fashioned way. real estate. it is labor, unions -- some good and some bad. lots of people that are not in unions. it is all over the place and the world. i have assets, big accounting firm, one of the most highly respected, 9 billion 240,000 million dollars. i have liabilities of about 500.

that's long-term debt, very low-interest rates. one of the big banks can command said donna you don't have enough borrowings. they asked to loan me money and i said i don't need it or i don't want it. i don't want it. in two seconds they give me whatever i wanted. i have a total net worth with the increase it will be well over $10 billion. here a total net worth of not assets, not liabilities, a net worth after all debt after all expenses the greatest assets trump tower, bank of america building in san francisco, 40 wall st, sometimes referred to as the trump building. right opposite -- many places all over the world. the total is 8 million -- 8

billion, at 737 million 540 thousand dollars. i'm not going i'm not doing that to brag because i don't have to brag. i am doing that to say that is the kind of thinking our country needs. we need that thinking. we have the opposite thinking. we have losers. we have people that don't have it. we have people that are morally corrupt. we have people that are selling this country down the drain. i put together this statement and the only reason i am telling you about it today is because we really do have to get going because if we have another three or four years -- we are at a train trillion now according to the economists they say that

$24 trillion, we are very close. that is the point of no return. $24 trillion. we will be there soon. that is when we become greece. that is when we become a country that is unsalvageable. we will be there very soon. just to sum up i would do various things very quickly. i would repeal and replace the big lie, obamacare. i would build a great wall nobody bills wall better than me. i will build a great great wall on our southern border and i will not mexico pay for that law. mark my words. nobody would be tougher on ice

is then donald trump. nobody. i will find within our military, i will find the general patton or i will find general macarthur. i will find the right guy, i will find a guy that will take that military and make it really work. nobody will be pushing us around. i will stop iran from getting nuclear weapons. we will not be using them like secretary kerry, that has no concept of negotiation, who is making horrible deals just tapped a long as they make weapons right now and goes into a bicycle race at 72 years old and falls and breaks his leg. i won't be doing that. i promise i will never be in a bicycle race. i will immediately terminate

president obama's illegal executive order on immigration immediately. fully support and backup the second amendment. very interesting. today i heard it. through stupidity in a very hard-core prison, interestingly named clinton, too vicious murderers people escaped and nobody knows where they are. a woman was on television this morning and she said, mr. trump -- she was telling other people. i called her. she said, i always was against guns. i did not want guns and now since this happened my husband

and i are finally in agreement. we now have a gun at every table. we are ready to start shooting. i said very interesting. protecting the second amendment. end, core. it is a debt -- disaster. bush is totally in favor of common core. i don't see how he possibly could get the nomination. he is weak on immigration and in favor of common core. education has to be local. rebuild the country's infrastructure. nobody can do that like me, believe me. it will be done on time, on budget, way below cost, way below what anyone ever thought.

i look at these roads being built all over the country and ice day i can build those things for one third. what they do is pull -- unbelievable. we are building on pennsylvania avenue the old post office is. we are converting it into a great hotel. we got it from the general services administration. the obama administration, we got it. it was the most highly sought-after -- i think the most highly sought-after project in the history of general services. we got it. i got it for two reasons. we had a really good plan and we had a great financial status. general services who are great people by the way and talented they wanted to do a great job and make sure it got built. we have to rebuild our infrastructure our roadways,

airports. you come into laguardia airport it is like we are in a third world country. you look at the patches and the 40-year-old floor they put down and you look at these airports, we are like a third world country. i come in from china different places and they have the most incredible airports in the world. you come back to this country and you have l.a. ask disaster -- all of these disastrous airports. we have to rebuild our infrastructure. save medicare, medicaid, and social security without cuts. have to do it. get rid of them fraud and the waste and abuse, but say -- save it. people have been paying him for years and now many of these candidates want to cut it. you save it by making the united states rich again and take act all the money that was lost.

renegotiate our foreign trade deals. reduce our $18 trillion in debt because we are in a bubble. we have artificially lowered interest rates. we have a stock market that has been good to me but i still a to see what is happening. we have a stock market that is so bloated, be careful of the bubble. what you have seen in the past might be small potatoes compared to what happens. be very very careful. and strengthen our military and take care of our vets. so, so, important. >> yes. >> sadly, the american dream is dead.

if i get elected president, i will bring it back. bigger better, and stronger than ever before. we will make america great again. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. [cheers and applause]

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015]

janet yellen holds a press conference on monetary policy the and the positive realty of an interest rate hike.

later the house is in session and will be debate to bills. one will deal with the tax on medical devices and the others of a boy that will reduce medicare costs. it will also bring up a resolution directing the president to draw u.s. military forces deployed to iraq or syria. former governor and chief of staff to george w bush talk about a book he wrote called "the quiet man>" 8:30 a.m. senator chris murphy

appeared as part of our spotlight on magazine series, a recent story on whether any of the 2016 republican hopefuls will cut government spending. ♪ ♪ host: good morning. happening today on capitol hill, lawmakers will hear from top officials. ashton carter and martin dempsey on the strategy against the isis and middle east policy. we will have coverage of this on c-span3. we will begin with a conversation that many of you are having outside of washington, what about race and the former ncaa