with these proposals. because i think it is not just a matter of public safety that we do this. it is now a matter of homeland security, that we make it harder for a terrorist to acquire a gun. representative thompson: director comey, let me commend you on your website, do not be a puppet. i understand puppet. education of he children. law enforcement offices have looked at it also. can you tell me how that website -- has it accomplished what you wanted to? or are there other things that you would like to get the community engaged in helping

identify some of these extremist groups? . thank you, mr. thompson the website, hopefully is cooler for kids to explore the way in which extremist groups and other extremist groups might try to recruit them or lure them. it's a series of games or interactive events on the website that allows them to go in and explore and learn from it. we've got great feedback from around the country. we invited a lot of people to give us input. gotten great feedback from teachers especially that they like it -- i think the kids think we could be a little cooler. we've stretched as far as we can stretch in the coolness department. we're getting great feedback. the dave: of homeland security is doing a ton -- the department of

homeland security is dining ton of things but there are other things we can do. bangladesh k in would threaten werners out of the middle east. they target cafes in bangladesh or a club in orlando, the new battlefield in which americans should expect isis to attack. if so, what can the u.s. do to counter this type of terrorist activity? >> thank you, mr. thompson. i guess we could highlight two things we can try to do to counter this vulnerability when americans are traveling or living overseas. the first is to be as open and transparent about the risks we see in overseas location. we work very hard with the state department about travel warnings

and travel a >> he first americans who are traveling overseas or living overseas. beyond that, our best show to work with local partners to build up their capacity to increase the capacity of local military authorities to respond to and to prevent local intelligence authorities to respond to or prevent these kinds of acts of terror if you think about all the different places in the world where isil has been active that's a very, very mixed story. there are cases where we can work with partners and in other cases those partners suffer from a lot of capacity deficits that we're going to have to work out overtime. mr. thompson: thank you, yield back. >> the gentleman from new york is recognized. >> let me thank all the witnesses for their service.

director comey, i would like to discuss orlando with you not for the sake of monday morning quarterbacking but planning for the future. the investigation was stopped by the f.b.i. based on the criteria that he did not seem sophisticated. he didn't know the difference between sunni and shiah. didn't have any formed ideology at all. based on the profile that's sys is looking for in some cases the person who was deranged, the person who may be influenced by islamist ideology and whether or not he was islamist himself or whether he appreciates it. i would ask going towards the future how long investigations can be left open, basically it's a six-month investigation. can there be an indefinite period where the local police -- obviously, you don't have the personnel to be carrying out surveillance all over the country or to be following

people. but if you have local police detectives, informers, sources it could be handed off for a period of time to the police. they can say here's the person, doesn't mean we can meet the threshold of terrorism. but can you keep an eye on him? i'm thinking in new york you probably have more cops than f.b.i. agents than others. could better use be made of local law firm and could these people who are serve in the twilight zone between terrorism -- eing disfunk nal sit dysfunctional citizens could they keep you apprised? >> i don't know yet. although we're having that conversation with our state and local partners. the way it works, is a preliminary investigation stays open for six months and it could stay extended for another six

months. it requires higher levels of approvals. what happens, it's designed to figure out -- is there anything here. if there is we convert it to a full examination. if they rebut the initial allegation then we close it. our local partners have asked that in addition to being on the joint terrorism task for, is there something else that we can do to flag a person? that's a naughty question but a serious one. i don't know. but it's worth the conversation. >> i think in terms, of course, the marathon bombing. nothing in the preliminary investigation showed anything but if the local police may have they would have been aware of why he was thrown out of the mosque. i think it's really essential because they are -- certainly added elements and they would have sources just by the nature of being local cops and may not

be available to the f.b.i. secretary johnson, i know that your department has been exploring the use of social media. give us the status of those efforts and do you feel you have sufficient resources to do what you between do as far as vetting, employees, immigrants -- go forward. >> we use social media for something like 30 different purposes across the department. we have expanded the use of social media when it comes to immigration reviews, immigration benefits. what i'd like to do is bailed centralized social media center for excellence which will be housed in our national targeting center and c.b.p. request reprogramming with dong help fund that. and in the outyears, i'd like to see congress do a bit more to help us out with a centralized

social media capability. right now a lot of that is done for uscis but as you know cis is a feed bank organization. there's enough but i want to see this expanded and funded. we have the program request now and we could use more money in the future years. >> thank you, secretary. i've been a supporter of the h.s.s. programs. there's concern among a good number of people about the grans that they may go to an organization like care which has been an unindicted co-conspirator. is there any assurance that those grans will not go to an organization like care. >> there will be a secure review conducted with each potential grantee before we grant out any money. this is a new program. we just announced notice of the proposal out to the public last

week. but there will be a security review in connection with every grant. >> being an unindicted co-conspirator, shouldn't that be grounds to deny a grant? >> without knowing the specific case that seems likely, yes. >> the holy land foundation and the f.b.i. will not deal with care because of that. director comey, is that true? director comey: that's true. >> thank you. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes mrs. sanchez. >> thank you, gentlemen, and i want to thank the gentlemen before us for all the great work that you're doing. secretary johnson, in march, you came before our committee and we re discussing the countering violent extremism mission. and we talked about having the department of homeland security allowing some of those grants to be used to nonprofit

organizations to help us in countering the fight in going after the fight against terror. and i just want to thank you and compliment you because i know and that you're finding new innovative ways to improve those nonprofits that we have in our area. as you know i have one of the largest muslim and arab communities in our nation some of we work very closely with a lot of our nonprofits too to keep an ear to the ground and to nsure that we are on the forefront of trying to eliminate any of this radicalization that has such a potential that we saw in san bernardino. i want to ask a couple of questions.

after 911 we try to share more information between local states and federal agencies especially in the intelligence gathering and sharing. and so i wanted to ask you a little bit about -- is that working? are we going to open up more or eliminate more silos? what more can we do as we see really the front line of information as we saw in los angeles for example when somebody saw something phoned it in and our local law enforcement as able to get to some bomb-making materials. how can we make sure that the information is being shared or is there enough going on? and i would ask any of you. >> i'll star. my general assessment is that e're doing much better now

jteps through fusion certains through our own personal relationships working together. jim and i, for example, have been on conferences calls with it will ally hundreds of state and law enforcement personal knoll share what we're seeing here at a national level in terms of the public sharing information with us, that is a work in progress that's the case when someone self-ra calizes there's somebody else that saw the signs. we all from the homeland security perspective and the law firm perspective need to encourage the public if you see something say smog something. but i think we're on the right track and we're much better than we used to be. >> i have a question for y'all with respect to my transit authority in particular in orange county. we run a large bus system. e're getting ready for a streetcar, obviously california is working on this high speed real. i have a two-prong question.

the first would be any guidance that these agencies should follow in making these new systems because we're developing especially this fixed rail anything that we should worry about with respect to cyber attacks and secondly the biggest issue that my transit agency has is all of these attacks from a cyber perspective. every day people are trying to get into their system. they're trying to, you know, really raise chaos. what can they do, or what would you snugget -- suggest? >> i suggest that they would our critical infrastructure protection experts within nppd, programs al potential director. psa also has a rail security mission. but i've seen some fairly sophisticated analysis of how to bailed secure rail station or a

secure transit center that we can share with anyone who asks us. >> any of -- ok. i will submit the rest more detailed questions along this topic. and hopefully we can get some answers for the record because we're very concerned about these cyber type of situations going on. thank you. thank you all. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. smith. chairman smith: director comey, thank you for your many years of snfs this country. it's appreciated by many individuals. i would like to ask you first about syrian refugees. last october, you testified that you had concerns about admitting syrian refugees when a thorough background check was not possible. in fact, you called it a risk. do you still have concerns about admitting syrian refugee where is you cannot conduct the thorough backgrounds and do you

consider them a risk now? >> thank you, mr. smith. i think what all three of us said when we last talked about this together is we were comparing or able to vet iraqi refugees favorable where syrian refugees. we've made great progress and we've made even more progress at getting better at knowing what we know about anybody who is looking to come to the united states. the point i'm trying to make then, is that we will know certainly on average less about somebody coming from syria than somebody coming from iraq just giving the united states's long standing presence in iraq. and so there's no such thing as zero risk. the challenge we face is not being able to see somebody coming from syria as from iraq. i've stayed away from the policy question, to let in refugees. so my view of it is basically the same as it was last october. >> because you said last october there is risk associated with bringing anybody in from the

outside especially like a conflict zone like syria. i don't want to talk about publicly in the data. so you stand by there. there's a rissk and you have concerns -- risks and you have concerns. you testified before the oversight committee that foreman secretary state clinton did not comply with the federal records act at least in some respects. you thought she violated at least some aspects of the federal records act. i understand that anyone found guilty of willfully and unlawfully con sealing, removing, obliterating or destroying or atemping to take any such action against a federal record can be fined for up to three years. >> anyone helling federal office can lose his or her position and

be disqualified from holding federal office in the future." if mrs. clinton violated the federal records act could these penalties alie to her? >> i do remember vividly my 4:40 minutes. i don't think we stephed that we're doing a federal investigation about. and whether it's mishandled or transmitted. >> here's your exact statement. you ask if you thought secretary clinton come plined with the federal records act. your first sentence back was "i don't think so." at least in some respects, no. you're saying that she violated the federal records act. >> i thought i was answering a estion with respect to the

department. >> did you consider prosecuting her for violating the federal records act? >> did i consider that? >> yes. >> no. >> thank you, mr. chairman, yield back. the e chair recognizes gentleman from rhode island. --] >> so obviously we're in these two stages. s the result of the residual

people that traveled -- sit more because -- of the homegrown violence problem or is there some other explanation? >> thank you for the question. i guess the way i would think about it is that we've always looked at isil as having multiple agendas being a multifaceted organization. as we talked about with this committee they were in the business of trying to create and run a cal fat. and in my testimony, i think we've made progress in diminishing some of the capacity they have, denying them a rich flow of resources as they had at the beginning of the conflict. but they've got another prong to their agenda and that's their effort to carry out or inspire or enable attacks of various places around the globe. and that line of effort that'sle is engaged in we've had less

success in that area. we shouldn't be surprised because there isn't necessarily a one for one connection between success and our efforts in one area denying them territory constraining their resource an success in this other area diminishing their attack capacity. it is only true that the greater success in shrinking their territory, overtime we will degrade their capacity. i was simply making the an letic and scation that there may be significant niff can't lag too. when they're small and operating -- clan december tan way clandestine way can still carry out attacks around the world. that's simply the distinction we're trying to make is that there's multiple things going on with isil.

>> thank you some of to the panel, as you all know i'm very deeply concerned about the issue of cyber security something i've spent years on. i share this with the chairman and as well as with the d.n.i. threats s recent through testimony, is the threat that we nace this domain. one of the threats is the lack of metric some of for each of you, how you do measure how much the threat is increasing and what progress we're making in defending ourselves. >> so for each of you, i would be interested know what metrics you rely on. how do you decide whether we're ving forward, treading water or falling behind? >> the metrics that first come to me in the d.h.s. commission,

we're building capability to block intrusions into the system. so i measure the number of intrusions blocked. a, wetime i looked with e-3 ad blocked well in excess of 5700,000. increase security by the number of companys that we have with the information capability and our progress in terms of getting federal agencies online with our d.h.s. capables. so those are the three things right there. >> thank you. dr. comey? director comey: that's not susceptible of a great set of metrics but we look at the demand for our services. complaints to our internet crime center. number of cases open that is referral to us and other

government agencies as a proxy for the threat that we face. those are the two that dom mind. >> i have a somewhat narrower slice of this problem because i worry about from the perspective as an international terrorist organization trying to carry out an attack. the metrics speak a terrorist's organization desire to gain that capability to threaten the united states or other countries with that capability. and also when they've been able to succeed in doing that because thus far it's been generally true that this is something organizations have aspired to do but with not as much success as they would have liked. >> we want to understand whether we are making progress and not just your eye on anecdotal evidence. i yield back the balance of my

time. >> gentleman from st.? >> i would like to recommend to my colleagues that they view senator tim scott's floor speech from yesterday. it's on his facebook page. i would like to provide one for the record, mr. chairman. >> without objection, so ordered. the situationsut as an african-american and some of the situations that we have in this country. as white man, i can't relate to that. so i need those experiences from senator scott and others. so i would encourage everyone to watch it because i think it's important in the dialogue that we're having. the rank in file member mentioned no fly no by and asked the secretary about that. the problem with that, it seems common sense but the problem

with that no one can substantially tell us how someone gets on the no-fly list or when it's adjudicated how they get off the no fly list without complete understanding from members of congress and we have asked. it's based on somebody's sus nation somebody might be involved in an act of terror or crime. when we're talking about second amendment, we need to realize that no fly no by also violates the fifth and sixth amendment guarantees of due process. how do you get on it? do you have a chance to view the charge, interview the witnesses, hear testimony, defend yourself? we need to be cautious when we start eliminating our second amendment rights but also our fifth and sixth amendment rights. secretary johnson mentioned in his opening statement written and verbal, san bernardino and

orlando. we also need to remember that sis and al-qaeda, islamic, radical islamic jihad acts incured at fort hood, the beheading in oklahoma and the boston marathon and there are others. those are the ones i came across. these are isil inspired terrorism here in the united states. i don't belief thater can throw charleston into the same mix. i don't think he was inspired by il in the realm of radical islamic terrorism. so the question i have for secretary johnson and i get this in my district all the time. we use on the title of the hearing uses "isis" the islamic state of iraq and syria. the administration uses isil.

and i fully understand. why? why is that terminology use bdity administration? -- used by the administration? >> i've used islamic state, secretary kerry using daish. the press uses different phrases we generally refer it to as isil but not exclusively. there's not hard and fast rule. the secretary of state -- >> the reason i asked that question is because since 2001 and since the 911 commission reported came out we've seen under this administration where words have been stripped from the lexicons of d.o.d., of law firm here and the homeland security committee. we've had hear wrgs we talked about the disappearing language of terror. can't lieve say if you

identify the enemy it's it's very difficult to defeat them. if i'm using the wrong term, i want to know. but i will say that what we see in this country is radical islamic jihad. radical islamic terrorism. i want to make sure that we talk about that >> her department was set in 2w50e. but -- in 2003. we have the department of statement. where the department has the former center for and now known as global engagement center. they've got a couple of other offices dealing with count irterrorism. at the department of state. so we've got d.o.d. fighting isis and with south com and africom. ntce we've got the director here. we've got the national targeting

center looking to make sure that our container shipping is safe. now we've got got this at the department of state. we've got a lot of elements looking at, you know, whether 's isis in general whether it's border security or the virtual spear of dabik and inspire and twiter and facebook and all of that. >> so we've got all these multiple injuries. trying to make the same mission. >> are we not too big. the walls of separation wasn't share. that's the reason it was set up. help me assure the american people, mr. secretary that because of all that your agency and every lem that i mentioned that we're not creating another cumbersome large bureaucracy where we're not sharing information and that things might fall through the cracks.

help me assure the american people of that. >> my top priority is management reform. and through our kwlunity of effort initiative, i think we've come a long way in doing that. 2002 was a largest realign development create my department. since the create of the department of defense it is a work in progress. the number of forms we've put in place, we have moved a long way in the right direction speaking i think for all of us. i think we all do a much better job of connecting the dots, sharings information where we should. every incident, every attack is a lessons worned. >> i think we've come a long way. >> thank you for that. this committee was set up to oversee you so that those walls will come down and we don't miss signals. mr. chairman, i'm yield back. > the chair recognizes the

airwoman from texas, ms. jackson-lee. >> thank you very much for this hearing and outstanding americans who serve this nation. let me thank all of you for your service. i will not predict secretary zwhrans this is your last moment in testify in this committee, but i will say to you, thank you for your service. you may be going on and on and on, we do not know. but we thank you for your service. we live in difficult times and i believe that we should be a partner with you even as we have the stove pipes of the three branches of government take the homeland security department, the dave: of the f.b.i. and because we've used the name

homeland security so often, i have my own nightmares that as things proceed the nation will look to the homeland security to and ask the question why. i would like to answer that we did everything that we coal could possibly do. let me start with you, mr. director. and let me ask the chairman to ask unanimous consent to put into the report the strengthening the security workforce. >> without objection so ordered. >> in his speech on the 26th, mr. comey you indicated in terms of threats and cyber -- in the cyber world and there were five weeks. nations could not understand and then multinational cyber syndicate. that deal with selling fiber information to the highest

bidder. you then mentioned individuals who are purveyors of ransom wear. >> then activists who you continue with. >> would you care to offer. which of those gives you the greatest pain and what would you call on congress do to it. >> the biggest concern are that the top of that stack of badness which are the nation states and the near nation state actor who are engaged in sophisticated intrusion. becausethink maybe tied of the ordinary citizens or they lock up stoms threaten their children. that's a computer enabled crime. but the biggest intrusion is the nation states.

the biggest computer are the yaretty of thugs. i think congress has been very supportive of the department of hs prodding us to share tpwhfings the private answer. an gives us the tools and the rules of the road to insure the private sector that you not only need to share this stuff with us, it will always be safer. >> thank you for that. i'm going to get around to that again. but i want to answer mr. duncan's question. first of all, i did see tim scott's very eloquent speech and thank film her the experience. i understand. and it answers mr. duncan's questions in terms of looking on the tsdb and making sure that past weaknesses have been addressed.

you have a clean list to be able to utilized. >> i hope it will get to the senate. and we'll have at least a guideline to deal with. of i want to pursue idea cyber security from the perspective of another bill i have hr 85. we the government fiber system and the private sector cyber system and also to have a backup when either of us are deemed either vulnerable or incapacitated. mr. comey, what you do see in those alignments in making sure that we are security from the private sector and the federal sector. based upon the breaches that we've had. >> i think we're making great progress. it's not nowhere near good enough yet. i think we're getting reports of somewhere in the area 20% of the

incidents happening, we've got to do better for you. i think businesses are starting to figure out that's it's a business imperative to work with the government and i think they sent that message in a great way to boards and to c.e.o.s. so i would give it an interim grade of ok. >> mr. johnson, i've seen your work on countering violent terrorism. i've been engaged with the muslim community very extensively and have them tell me how frightened they are now. and i try to say how much we are with you but how porned is it to -- important it is to do that. . rasmussen let me ask you something. you work on terrorism issues. i want to associate myself with mr. thompson.

think the individual in my sympathy, i was at the memorial. i do think that was a terrorist act. it was an individual wanting to tries using a weapon of war. there are a number of things happening. i bring to you the attention which may wind up causing an enormous tragedy. that's being a manipulation of e-mails and breaching. this is what is happening to people around the nation. irthink i am a victim of such from a person in bangledesh. i didn't understand what it was but it is a dangerous phenomenon. so i'm wondering whether or nots that to the attention of the terrorism research and

what we can do about it. >> very quickly, ma'am, we need to go to these communities. i've been to houston. we have to remember that they're not a monolith. islam is as diverse as christianity. we encounter a fair amount of suspicion as you've noted when the federal government goes to these communities but i think we have to keep at it and keep building bridges. >> mr. rasmussen? mr. rasmussen: thank you for bringing this attention -- to our attention. foreign organizations are using online technology in order to try to put out target lists to try to inspire individuals to go after law enforcement, intelligence officials, military

personnel, etc. but at the same time there's also great deal of focus in the criminal world on this capability as well. and people trying to use the same capability to intimidate or to pursue some criminal end as well. what we try to do is di certain the motivation behind the act. if it ends up being something tied to a terrorist group or a terrorist organization we approach it in appear certain way. and then it becomes a law enforcement matter if it can be pursued as a criminal act. it's something we're devoting a lot of work to tons -- to understand. >> cyber security and -- >> we have votes at 12:20. we have several members left that would like to ask questions. i'm going to try to limit everybody for five minutes if the gentle lady has completed her questions.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. >> the chair now recognizes mr. walker. >> thank you, mr. chairman. in november, december of 2015, reports and afi yated groups made fake travel documents to gain access to west europe and beyond. is isis till using these forged travel documents? director johnson? >> it is a general concern. i'm not sure how much more we can get into that in a public setting. perhaps nick could have more to say in a public setting. i'm not sure how much more. >> it's something we certainly seen isil and other terrorism organizations looking to develop and use that capability. we are doing our best to understand that the way they're using it so we can either advise our partners than we do. but also to inform our own

ability to detect false documentation at the border. >> congressman, i should ask that we have a very sophisticated fraudulent identification and when it getting better all the time. the director called me late last year. isis was taking advantage of the refugee crisis by providing forged travel documents to desperate individuals fleeing war. in aaddition to the profit motive, has the evidence seen evidence that they provide these documents for their own project. . saw it the be the case in we know it's a part of isil's trade craff. i think it better captures the danger and the aspiration of savages.p of

i would just echo what my colleague sasmede >> late last year, we demanded action from five different european states and fletnded -- threatened if no action was taken. >> what steps have we taken to insure that they're vetting documents properly. >> i would have to know the five specifically. we have late last year insisted on e-passports. we've insisted on the use of federal air marshals in the u.s. we've insisted on better use of p.n.r. data, that's travel data. and we have in general soug what that red to hspd-6's, guarantee security both within these countries in terms of the travel and travel to the u.s. as

using the visa waiver program as the entree into -- asking for those things. >> ok. what actions, director comey has the f.b.i. taken to identify and forbid travelers from using their forged documents? >> we're working with cbp and most importantly our cloges outside of the united states. so they share with us any intel they get that they may want to use a particular channel or document. e can remain it ined closely knitted closely together. secretary johnson? >> we have a fraudulent detection capability. we are very concerned about fraudulent pass borts. as you noted. we have seen that in europe. i should note that to travel to

this country visa-free, you have to be a citizen of that country in europe, for example. but this is something we've been focused on. and it is something we are concerned about, sir. >> i'm wrapping up. let me pass along my compliments for director comey for a good testimony. i was improved that for four hours and 40 minutes you set there without really any breaks. secretary johnson, i haven't seen the latest report. >> i don't know where you're headed but whatever it is i wish you the best. so thank you. >> ms. torres is recognized. >> thank you for the three of -- is this thing working. for the out threach you're doing in my community, certainly the middle eastern community that resides within the path

congressional district truly appreciates the fact that you have made an effort to come out and help them through some very difficult times after the san bernardino incident. i want to talk about the cde grant i want to get a better idea of who qualifies and specifics of that grant, how is it going to be awarded? are you looking at community with populations of at risk youth, young communities, big of s, small cities, types population? what are those criteria that you are using for the front? >> congresswoman, there's a 32-page notice of funding opportunity that went out last week for the $10 million that

congress made available to us this year. we're hoping that congress continues to fund our c.b. efforts. the opportunities center around challenging the narrative, that's isil's narrative. managing buildings and capacity. those are the broad parameters which is in this 32-page document that we'll be happy to provide to you. . violent extremists people would those targets fall under that grant community that could have the potential -- >> in general, yes through counter messaging. counter messaging is not necessarily a government mission because it wouldn't be credible, , or the f.b.i. and to

encourage female move in a different direction. broadly speaking that's the intent of this. but it's more specifically spelled out in this circular r. other than law enforcement agencies who else is your department coordinating with. for example, department of education j >> are there other resources to acquire data to make sure that we are maximizing this grant with other potential grants that could be available to be utilized in these communitys? >> well, obviously the grantees, those who apply for this funding are in a position to help. we will vet them carefully and make our grant awards carefully. t's not just a department of homeland security. there are other organizations that want to help. on the issue of a loan wolf athack we have seen -- lone wolf

attack that we have seen recently, including law enforcement, there have been an increase in the numbers of threats against law enforcement personnel. in lieu of the two conventions coming up, how are you insuring that the law enforcement community is prepared to deal with not just threats against the potential attendant dees but threats against their own personnel that will be easy targets, easily identified. >> we intend to have within homeland security some 3,000 of our personnel deds kated to each convention. i'm quite sure that the security of our own personnel is a priority for our component heads. i'm quite sure that among state and local law enforcement, they too are concerned about threats directed against law enforcement. law think the average

enforcement officer would be the first one to say that their primary obligation is the protection of the people they serve. >> but they have to deal walls open carry in one of those cities and that includes long uns and automatic weapons. >> that's someone under state law and i suspect the second amendment has the right to do but it does present a challenging situation very plainly. >> thank you. i yield back. >> chair recognizes mr. carter. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank both -- all three of you for being here. we appreciate your attendance today. my first question, first of all, director comey, good to see you again. saw you last week. glad to have you back.

i want to talk briefly about the orlando situation. and about the terrorist attack that happened there. and i want to talk to you about it in relation to secretary johnson. my concern is communication. i'm real big on communication. and my question is this. what communication did two of you have tchaurg time? during the time that it was happening and immediately after it happened? was there any communication? what kind of communication takes place behind all three agencies? >> the last part of that question is vital. people talk to each other constantly. and they do because they're setting together. the joint terrorism task force in orlando an all of the other cities is composed from folks from jeh's organization and mine. i think the two of us hosted a

call for all law enforcement in the wake of that. but certainly you communicated before that call? >> yo know, i can't remember. i talked to him quite frequently but i know for sure you hothe hosted -- you might have been on a significantic some place. we hosted a concerns call for all law ens forcement. he and i talk to each other all the time. that's great. but it's very, very much more important that our people work together seamlessly that's the progress we've made in the last 15 years. rarned you feel that it's worked well? you feel like there's been progress? secretary johnson? >> i do, i do, sir. jim and i are together a lot either in the situation room, at f.b.i. headquarters and the like. there have been instant tanses where i'll pick up a -- and i'll pick up my classified phone and call him to say, hey, i want to be sure that you saw what i saw.

>> so the level of communication is my secretary for intelligence and analysis right here. f.b.i. who works with the f.b.i. all the time literally on these types of threats. >> let's talk about more motting specifically. >> when -- it's my understanding that -- that there are 1,000 open investigation right now. when did you first learn about omar mateen? when was the first time you learned about that? >> the orlando killer first came to our attention in the spring of 2015. when co-workers report it to the f.b.i. that he was making concerning sfames and that's when we opened a preliminary investigation. >> secretary? >> i'm quite sure that wile the f.b.i. investigation was open, our personnel at the j.t.f. were

are -- of the open and we're of the individual. while the investigation was open, he was on a t.s.a. select t list. so our departments were clearly correlating and sharing that information. >> ok. director comey, well, first of all, all three of you, all three of you appear to be fine gentlemen who truly want to protect our country and we appreciate that. director comey, you've defended the investigations into the orlando killer and i believe you said there was no indication or clues that would have prevented this massacre? is that correct? >> that's correct. i couldn't see -- i still don't see anything that they didn't do that they should have doned. but i commissioned a lookback detail which we've done in all significant heart matters by

experiences her to say, we do this differently. i haven't got than report. and i'll be transparent when i get that >>. but so far i don't see anything. >> did you think that homeland could have helped with there? >> based on what i know congressman, i'm not in a position to second guess those involved in the investigation. i'm quite sure that jim's lookback will be thorough and he'll be open and honest about my lessons. >> and i appreciate you saying. that and we're going to hold you at that wee we need to learn this. >> i know you ra tough job. it's going to take communication, corporation. we're all in this together i know that you want to protect us. >> we have got to communicate. we've got to share information. you know, i'm just one of those who beliefs if somebody gettings

upset, they'll get over it. >> thank you for your ssms mr. chairman. , i yield r. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. >> thank you, mr. channing. i have specific questions. but this has ban pretty tough few weeks for our country. tougher for the familys that lost loved ones. >> i was in charge of enforcing civil rights laws in my jurisdiction. i tried preventive and i enforce the law enforcement and i enforced it against law enforcement when there are violations. i also from a police family, my dad, my brother, my niece. i understand that apprehension that families have as well.

you know, we spent today talk about terrorist threats. we talked about cyber. our response capabilities, our intelligence gathering. but i think our fundamental trength as a country is who we are as a country. we have the respect for the rule of law. and the poll shows that our country is more divided than it has in decades. that is concern. i think that all of us share. it's the only thing i'm going the ask is to reflect upon -- but how important si. >> for many reasons but tools combat threats from inside and from outside. how important is it that we come together as a country? i want to commend you for the statements that you've made during these trying times.

i think you've set great examples. but how important sit when we talk about these threats that we're together as a country and can you give a few minutes and reflect on the roves my time on some of the things that we could do. >> let me begin by saying there are some awful loud voices on both ends of this debate. and i believe that the great majority of the american people first of all respect the role of law firm, recognize that the police officer is there to protect and to serve the community. i also believe that most people recognize that the shooter in dallas, not representative of the broader move development see change in certain law firm practices. i think that the key in the environment we're in is effective community policing. see it work in my own

community. extraordinarily well. so my hope is that in this period, we redouble our efforts to -- for law enforcement, to engage the community. and i consider myself part of the law enforcement. that's all see the temperature go down a bit. >> we need each other whether it's to effectively stop terrorists or stop thugs or make neighbors safe, we need each other. i've long beliefed it's hard to get up close. 've got let people honor law enforcement. we care deeply about the same things about the people we serve and protect. it's hard to hate up close. it's easy to characterize troops. president bush said at the

memorial where i sat right behind he said we tend to judge others by our worst moments and ours by the best intention. we've got to stop that. and we have to see the trow heart of people across the divide. but there shouldn't have b a divide because our values are the same. >> i'll just add sflg a terrorism perspective. the people who work in all of our organizations who no -- focus on counterterrorism, spend every waking hour to prevent terrorism. we have a zero tolerance. nobody thinks anything is acceptable if that regard. but if we fail, will we strive to create and foster a sense of resilience so that the terrorist objective is not met, even if we do suffer from terrorism. and it's a lot easier toe be resilient if we are -- to be resilient if we are united. it is much easer to fly off than

if we were underminded and not resilient. >> thank you it is harder to hate up close. it is easier to be strong up close. thank you. i yield back. >> gentlemen yields back. chairman.ou, mr. dr. comey i served into the -- i served in the air force for 26 years. as you know, we take handling of classified information very fci andy, especially special access program information. doing her press conference, you stated that under similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no circumstances -- no consequences. if an airman in the air force

behavior similar to secretary clinton, i am sure they would lose their clearance, they would be takeout and never be up to work for a government agency in addition to fines. if someone was kicked out of the military for behavior similar to secretary clinton and apply for the fbi, would they be hired echo -- would they be hired? >> it would be a significant feature of a review, though. i cannot answer that is a hypothetical. it would be a significant feature. i cannot say whether they would get an interview or not. if someone was dismissed from the state department, would you give me the same answer? >> there is a process. i can speak inside the fbi to assess suitability and then adjudicate. >> within the fbi, let's say

your chief of staff miss handles classified information in the same way you know about, what would be the consequences that you would put upon them? >> go through the regular regroup -- regular review program. i cannot answer a hypothetical because we have to do this all the time. it would be looked at. they could be fired, a sliding scale although we have two reprimanded or lose pay. there would be a series of options for the board. >> you know more details about this case than anything. now you're looking at the administrators, what would you do? >> i am not prepared to say. that gets me into an area of answering hypotheticals. it would be a significant feature of a review. >> losing their clearance, job, what is on the menu? >> the most severe would be losing a job. it is probably the most serious.

the least serious would be a reprimand and then a sliding scale in between. people can get suspended, they can lose clearances. there is a range of options. -- ok. i want to move on i want to move on to physically how the classified information got onto an unclassified system. you cannot cross those over in any way unless you either type in new information on the unclassified, because you cannot send an e-mail from classified to unclassified. i'm sure it is the same in the state department. either you type an e-mail with the markings on it, or you need to print or scan -- or the most disturbing would be using a transferable media device to get onto a secure system and move things over. that could breach our entire security system which is why they are banned. how did this classified information get moved over?

>> almost none of it involves information that was moved. instead it involves e-mail conversations about topics that are classified. >> if there are markings, you're either making a marking on unclassified system of a classified nature, which is disturbing. or you are physically moving it. >> there were three e-mails that bore markings on a paragraph. not header markings or footer markings that proceed to indicate confidential. that was put on well down the chain at a deeper level in the state department. i think we concluded that somebody had typed a talking point for the secretary way down the chain and marked that portion with a c so it wasn't an uplift or transfer. it was a typing in the first instance -- and then putting it portion -- portion marking on

it. let's still on unclassified system, they are allowed to be transmitting confidential information? is classifiede it information. >> datatype "confidential -- "confidential"e, . >> some type a talking point on unclassified system. the reason it doesn't make sense, market with ac. marked --rket with "c." it with a >> how that happened and what is going to happen to the individuals that did that? if you're typing classified information and markings on unclassified e-mail, that is a security violation.

thank you. i yield back. >> chair recognizes mrs. watson coleman. >> i want to thank the three of you for the information you shared. we come -- you come every time we ask. it has been very illuminating the discussion we've had. it is raise questions. number one, i wanted to talk to you secretary johnson, you mentioned the grant center is available. i live in a district that is not a part of the target area, things of that nature. i live in an area that has a tremendous diversity of religious worshipers. some of them have been asking us for assistance in grants that would help to put things that would make them safer, cameras or whatever good with the grants that are being offered now

available, would any of them qualify, even though they are not in the targeted areas? >> yes, there are grants that for a large number of religious institutions can take advantage of from homeland security. i cannot recall the name but there is a grand ram which i think is about $50 million a year. it is a competitive grant program for houses of worship, religious institutions for their own security. >> anywhere? >> anywhere. >> thank you. i will have someone check -- >> my recollection is it is anywhere. >> in defining this, the individual that is radicalized developed,n, home racist oriented groups and then goes out and commits a crime

that results in the loss of life for more than one person. for instance, the mother emanuel situation, we understand that this gentleman had been radicalized or influenced by some groups -- i don't know how you characterize them, i characterize them as racist -- and his intention was to start a race war. director, i believe you characterized what happened as a hate crime and this individual as a violator of a hate crime. as you look at it now, is he also a terrorist? does he fall into that category? >> i want to be very careful about what he says about -- about what i say about the trust and killer because he has to definitely -- he has two death

multi-trials coming up -- death penalty trials coming up. what we are chewing to untangle is was there domestic terrorism element to that. the definition being asked of violence directed at other humans with the intention of coursing a government or civilian population. look at both. giving this pending trial i can't say what we concluded. >> one of the concerns i have is that there are people who are influenced by these groups that hate african-americans or hate membersor gay community , and have a political agenda to eliminate as many of them as they can. to me, it is very important to have resources in both director in your hands, as well as the secretary's hands to identify

the category -- to identify, correct -- to adjust that kind of terrorism. i am not certain that we do, because we keep talking about isil. we don't necessarily drill down to these areas, so both you mr. secretary and youth director, i would like to hear your thoughts. >> i would be happy to arrange for you a briefing on the domestic terrorism section of the fbi's character is him desk characters asian division -- and weeristic division have resources directed to understanding the threat from those kind of groups motivated by all kind of hatred to try and kill people or damage institutions. we have people wake up everyday worrying about those groups and working with the southern poverty law center. working with other groups to get information on them so we can disrupt them. >> will he be sharing that information back and forth with

homeland security? >> we work through our joint terrorism task forces. it is a part of the work we do together. >> the only thing i will add to that is the manner in which we approach and deal with communities in which -- basically, honest peaceful communities in which an international terrorist organization is trying to recruit, that is different from trying to approach an organization that, by its mission, doesn't want to deal with the u.s. government and may have a violent purpose. those require event approaches good one is more a matter of law enforcement. another is more a matter of our community engagement efforts. they are fundamentally different. >> in closing, there is also that third element that is not just antigovernment, but biased,

racist and what have you. that represents a threat and a terrorist threat to communities that are nonviolent communities. that is related to a political agenda. impact -- disrupt and it does disrupt and impact the government as well as individuals. >> mr. back cliff. >> -- mr. radcliffe. >> i appreciate all of the german here to talk about national security. i want to start with you director comey. you and i had the privilege to serve together at the department of justice, an organization whose reputation for integrity is something that i know we both care deeply about. after attorney general lynch and

her hope that -- and her husband met privately with no clinton on a tarmac in cook -- tarmac in phoenix, she acknowledged that she may have cast a shadow over the department. then she did not recuse yourself. i can't imagine the situation either in your prior service as the deputy attorney general or your current role at the fbi, where you would find yourself having a private 30 minute conversation with a spouse of a target or subject of a pending federal investigation a week before you made the decision or recommendation about whether or not to prosecute the person. but if you had been, is there any doubt about whether or not refusal would have been appropriate? >> that is a question i cannot answer. i never discussed with the attorney general house he thought about that issue it each recusal situation is a difficult

in fact specific one. >> we surprised with her meeting with the former president? >> i think she herself said it was a mistake and something she wished had not happened. that makes good sense. >> did attorney general lynch is lynch's failure to recuse yourself factor into the timing of the press conference that you held about the fbi's recognition in the case? >> it had no impact whatsoever. that was driven by the case. it did impact my sense that it was important that the american people here from the fbi on this get as much transparency as possible, because i did not want to leave a lingering sense that it was not done in a political -- and a professional and a political honest way. >> you talk about residents and a lack of residence -- lack of precedents in this case.

she will accept the recommendation of the fbi without any prior briefings about the evidence or a briefing on their conclusions about the evidence? >> i don't know of another circumstance like this that resembles this. i mean that in a variety of census >> here is what i do not get, if attorney general lynch was going to accept the recommendation of the fbi, the recommendation that you made on july 5, then why was there a need for a meeting with her on july 6 when she announced her decision? looks i think what she said was she would accept the recommendation of the fbi and the career prosecutors. the meeting was among the fbi team and the career prosecution team to layout for her what we have found and for them to offer their legal analysis and that was the embodiment of the recommendation.

>> then she would make the decision? >> i think that is what she said . >> how long was that meeting? minutes.st 90 my meetings also into a long. at least 90 minutes. looks the person who would not recuse yourself so that she could make the final decision about the prosecution a week after she met privately with the spouse of the subject of the investigation took 90 minutes to weigh the evidence, collected by more than 100 fbi agents over a year-long investigation involving dozens of man-hours? that accurate? >> the lawyer in me is objecting to the form of the question. she got a brief -- a pretty thorough brief, on the fact and law. as i said to many folks, this was not a cliffhanger from a

positive discretion position at my firm belief after doing this 30 years, no reasonable prosecutor would've brought a case here. she decided 90 minutes was long enough. >> in the 90 minutes, ditzy review the 110 e-mails that you outlined as being top secret, secret or confidential? >> i don't think it is appropriate for me to talk about the specifics. >> i don't want to know about the content, i just want to know she reviewed the e-mails? >> i think it would be about the content of the meeting. i am trying to be maximally transparent. i don't think i should get that specific. >> i do thank you. i'm grateful for your service in the past, present and future. to our nation and with that i will yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey.

>> thank you, mr. chairman. i would like to get a couple of things out of the way. that benghazi, benghazi, e-mails and a tarmac meeting. to the serious business. mr. comey, mr. johnson, mr. rasmussen, let me just say everyone thank you for your service to this nation, but i think in the face of the odds that you have been up against, you have done an incredible job in your service to this nation. i thank you. i think all of you. -- i thank all of you. that iseveral questions would like to ask.

today is probably the last day before the house goes out for the summer. so many things that we have not for the imagine people -- for the american people -- to adjust availability of the military style firearms to dangerous people. that has been our contention all along. whate always worried about transpired in dallas happening departments all across the nation. it was my biggest fear in the nightmare -- biggest fear and nightmare pit when i talked to the leased departments -- nightmare. when i talked to the police departments, this was my biggest fear that the weapons would

potentially end up being used against them. secretary johnson come he said them control is part and parcel of homeland security. can you speak on how we can put in place central gun legislation in the way that will make this nation secure? >> in general, i think we should make it more difficult for the terrorists to possess a gun in this country. i think there are ways on a bipartisan basis we can agree upon legislation to do that. statutorilyesently prescribed bases for denying a gun purchase which the fbi will knows about. what we lack right now is the discretion to deny a gun to someone who meets certain specific criteria that matches

one of our different lists. that coupledo do with a prescribed adjudication process so that if the purchaser takes issue with the denial, they have the ability to challenge that is a good idea. there is a legislation pending in this congress now to try to accomplish those things. i hope that congress continues to work at that. what i meant was we have to face the fact that sensible gun control consistent with the second amendment is not just a matter of pulling safety, it is securityof homeland good when you look at san bernardino, orlando and the weapons that were used in those attacks. >> thank you. thector comey, by law

organization serves as the primary organization in the united states for integrating and analyzing all intelligence pertaining to counterterrorism except for the information investigations and the homeland, the fbi serves the parallel role for the domestic terrorist threat. the development of any collection regime and analysis of domestic terrorism information might start with the bureaus capacity in this regard. what resources have the fbi allocated and expended in the relatedon terrorism intelligence as well as for rights asng the civil

well? >> as a said earlier, it is a huge feature of the work of our counterterrorism division could we have hundreds of people who -- in every field office there are agents and analysts who focus just on the domestic terrorism mission. we have extensive resources all over the country. >> thank you. this is potentially the last time you'll be before .s are we safer now than we were when you started? question. i think that the environment has changed fundamentally from where it was, three, four years ago. my first four years in this administration in the department of defense, i was given a lot of legal signoff at terrorist

organizations, overseas to prevent them from exporting terrorism to our homeland. jobink we did a pretty good of degrading a lot of the threats that we saw at the time. we continue to do that in places .ike iraq, syria now, we've got to deal with terrorist inspired attacks. here's enabled attacks. people -- terrorist enabled attacks. people who were born here who were inspired by terrorist organizations through social media. that is a challenging environment. that can happen with little or no notice to our intelligence community, to our law enforcement community which requires a very different kind of approach, not just militarily, not just with law enforcement, but through our cde efforts, through public

vigilance. i said to my opening remarks, that the prospect of another attack by a self radicalized actor, someone inspired by terrorist organizations is the thing that most keeps me up at night. in that respect, that is a new threat that we were not dealing with on a regular basis as recently as four or five, seven years ago. it is something that i hope in the executive branch and congress we will continue to dedicate ourselves to combating. >> thank you very much. and you will be missed. chair recognizes taliban from new york. recognizes gentleman from new york. >> my congratulations and gratitude for your commitment and dedication in the safety of our nation, because you come before us so many times. we have become familiar with

you. they have been friends for a very long time back in new york. one of you will appear before this committee again. i am upou, that's since for reelection i hope it is not my last appearance for this committee. the chairman is very proud when he tells our nation summit at times that this committee has passed more legislation in this congress than any other committee in congress outside of energy and commerce. -- i have read all of your written testimony. particularly in director comey's testimony, he stresses that in combating terrorism through

social media, we are doing every thing we can within the laws. respecting peoples privacy. is there something that you see as a tool that would be helpful to each of you that either your legal teams are looking at? that we can help you. what can we give you that will make your job more effective? as you respect the laws of our nation, respect the supreme court's decision of our laws, what can we get out of this hearing today that if we are able to pass legislation will allow you to do your job more efficiently? i ask you that to the three of you. >> congas meant two things come to mind. one of which has already been passed. specifically authorizing joint task forces within my department, the border security.

that is something i know this committee supports. it has been passed by the full house. i am hoping for one vehicle or another, it passes before senate is well. joint task forces help combat illegal immigration as well as narcotics. there are certain legal limitations i am finding to fully implementing the joint task force concept for my department. second thing which i have spoken to several of you about is specific congressional authorization to reorganize our national protection and programs directorate into a cyber and infrastructure protection agency . we need an agency for our cyber security admissions, more closely aligned with the protection of our critical if a structure. that is something i think will go a long way to streamlining

our cyber security and critical infrastructure protection mission. those are two things to come to mind immediately. i want to agree with what you said on the outset about how impressed i am with the productivity of this committee. just in the time that i've been secretary, this committee has pushed out legislation on cyber security, aviation security that i think has helped to strengthen the homeland. thank you. >> i will give you two quick ones, one is an enormous issue that this committee is thinking about in a good way. we have to deal with the challenge of encryption and the impact on our national security work. the needles we're looking for are becoming invisible in case after case. that is a big problem. it seems like a small thing but we have made it accidentally harder in our national security investigations for our agents to use the process we used to get telephone information, similar

information on the internet, the senate has focused on this and i don't believe it was intended by the legislation to make it that hard for us or is it justified. we have to fix that. >> thank you very much. withwould associate myself dr. cohen's remarks about encryption. i highlighted that. beyond the productivity of the committee that secretary johnson referred to, i would like to say we in the executive branch take note of some of the staff driven reports that have been produced like foreign fighter flows and whatnot i know we work closely with the committee staff to support that work. it does assist us as well. >> i think you all. chairman, i yield the remainder of my time. >> these three major items, the commission to deal with

encryption, we are hopeful the senate will take that in mark that bill of. it is critically important. director comey, you and i understand the gravity of this issue. the mpv, the secretaries requested. it is been held up by members of congress. that is a problem with the jurisdiction. force,border joint task i sure hope we can add that into aa nda bell -- indie eight -- nda a bill. >> thank you mr. chairman. gentlemen, thank you for your service to the country. i am thinking about the ranking members remarks about hearings in the late 1950's regarding the infiltration of communism into our government. i just want to reflect on that a little bit, although the methods by most americans were objectionable in retrospect, the information was all complete

accurate although mccarthy's reputation was destroyed. -- i want to proceed shoe -- beseech you that we are counting on your diligence in keeping our country safe. with that, director comey, i don't know how you characterized it but you said recently the fbi is ineligible for contact -- what is the terminology? you don't have contact based on the homeland investigation and their ties to terroristic -- >> our policy is that we do not do work with care. -- we don't work with so many other groups, nonprofit groups, to sponsor activities with a group.

these reports are conjecture that there was some involvement with the bureau in the selection and care of fbi witnesses to interview at the fort pierce mosque in regard to the orlando massacre. is there any truth? what's i have never heard that. -- >> i have never heard that. >> you have never heard that. i think you would refute that generally speaking. >> anything is possible, but i have not heard that peter have no reason to believe that is true. >> thank you. if i can find a source for that, i will write you and ask for that particularly so we can get to the bottom of that. mr. johnson, in a recent senate hearing, there was a cpb officer that made a claim regarding the departments ending or stopping the collection of data and the destruction of databases regarding islamist supremacists

that he believes would of been a were to prevent the san bernardino attack. the last time i checked you had not looked into those charges. have you looked into them? do you plan to? >> the question two weeks ago from senator cruz was regarding the testimony of mr. haney that across the executive branch, we had somehow purged certain words in our dialogue. that is what senator cruz asked me about. i had not heard about that he for. .- that before friendly, given every thing that is happening with dallas, airport, i have not had the opportunity to sit down and look into mr. haney's allegations. i hope you can understand good >> i do understand.

i think it was regarding databases in connecting the dots which would lead to another question. it is not just about terminology, if you could please, take a look into that. either you got a limited amount of time left. >> 190 days. [laughter] >> who is counting, right? i know you have significant issues in front of you did like to know the outcome just front of you. we would like to know the outcome. --is time you said you start you thought your personal was smart enough to connect the dots between terrorism and things like sharia adherence. i would agree with you. it is not a question of if they are smart enough, the question offense a career ending like mr. haney asserts that it has been.

if there is a policy of constraint. >> what i was referring to two weeks ago was the work of those who worked with the people at the -- who are here with me today. in my observation, in ctc, my people, the fbi do and i slid job of-- do an excellent tracking terrorist threats, plotting against the homeland, whatever it is labeled. then, which i will repeat is i don't think i'd -- think our personal become too bogged down in the particular label we put on a terrorist act. they are more interested in the substance of what that person is doing. >> i am not here to discuss the label. we have had that discussion before. what i am discussing what i want

to ask you is is there a prohibition or policy toward the work that mr. haney was doing, such that current individuals in your department would see that as a somehow bad for their career? or they are prohibited from doing that? >> my honest answer is i have not had an opportunity to look into exactly what mr. haney alleges, though i gather he has written a book. >> i have not read the book. >> it is something i am interested in learning more about. >> regarding the database and the previous question, could you give us a written response to that when you have time, assuming you have time before you leave? >> yes. what's i yield back. -- >> i yield back. >> i echoed the sentiments of many of my colleagues and think

many of you for your fine service to the country. mr. comey, i wasn't the hotshot that you were the time but i served many years as a federal organized crime prosecutor. i admire your skill and grace. i don't always agree with you on things. i do admire your service. johnson, as my subcommittee, transportation as you know, one of the last point of departure airports that was looking to be opened is in cuba. during our investigation and looking into this matter, many concerns developed. number one, do the airports have the capacity to handle 110 flight today? equipment.out the

.hether they have body scanners whether they are going to have document verification issues. whether there would have the tools of the trade we have here. those are all concerns we have. the training and vetting of employees is another area of concern. canines is another area of concern. another area concern is whether the tsa is going to have access to these airports, given the embargo against cuba and given the current state of the dramatic relations. year cubaary, last was just taken off the list of terror countries. one of their best buddies is still north korea. another thing that is a major concern is cuban visas are showing up in the middle east. washington post article from , evidencef this year

that these visas are suspected of being produced in other countries. we have that. we have the fact that airlines are being targeted by isis. cuban remains this cuba remains friends with both -- cuba remains friends with north korea. oversight.g the we want to go to cuba. the cuban government instead of opening their arms, denied mr. mccall's access to cuba, as well as mine and congressional delegation. does that give you any concern? disappointed that the congressional delegation was not issued visas. the chairman asked me if i could assist and we tried. we were unable to make that happen. i'm disappointed that the cuban government --

>> i thought you were all mighty and all-powerful. >> let me comment more generally on this issue of last point of departure from cuba. what i told our people in tsa is i want insurance that any last what of departure airport from cuba satisfies our u.s. screenings standards, not just international screening standards. themo told tsa that i want to get with the cuban government and put in place agreements, mo air marshals and hopefully make that happen before commercial flights. i want to see a senior-level official from tsa headquarters go down to cuba to take a look at the security at point of departure airports. we are very focused on last point of departure airports as i'm sure you know, particularly in the

middle east region right now. i think we have some challenges. i have asked our people to focus on airports in that region. we are not going to take our eye off the rest of the world, however. so conga's men, this is something i am personally focused on. congressmen, this is something i am personally focused on. >> if the cuban government will disallow federal marshals on their flights to the united states, will that be a deal killer for homeland security? >> i don't -- we don't have mo use with every point of departure countries. >> one quick question. would you -- i have a bill that i submitted to congress yesterday about oversight with the cuban airports.

i saw the concerns and the goals that you have. the gb iowa do a follow-up review before the flights began. would you agree with that? >> yes. >> thank you. >> the general in from texas. >> before i begin my questions -- and i went to start with you, mr. rasmussen. i would like to make a fyi to the secretary and director. you probably know there has been a task force that is been created being chaired by the chairman and judiciary, police accountability and aggression -- we are trying to do this in a bipartisan way and try not retreat to the same tired corners and talking points on this issue, because the reality is whether the color of your skin is black, brown or uniform is blue, you should not be afraid of being targeted when

you walk the streets of the united states. my good friend and fellow texan, sheila jackson lee is on the committee as well, as well as my friend from louisiana. we would welcome your perspective and number of years experience. it is hard to have a bunch of people together, be in a bipartisan manner but i think we can do it, because guess what? those folks who are trying to so terror in our hearts, they will not win. they will not win because this body is committed. we have folks like you on the front line. mr. rasmussen, when i was qaeda -- when i was in the cia, i would've loved for al qaeda to be using social media the way that isis is. it increases the surface area of attack where we can alternately penetrate and understand the plans intentions of groups like

this. if you are an american walking around in the federal administrative travel areas of pakistan in said i want to join al qaeda, you would get your head cut off. now we are able to talk to people from the comfort of our homes. i'm not asking to give classified information, but have our intelligence on the plans and intentions of groups like isis increased due to their use of social media? >> there is -- i like your term, the greater surface area of the group occupies, because of its presence in all of these ways. that provides opportunity in all kind of ways for analysis for operational work. it is in my responsibility but it belongs in the hands of other intelligence committee partners. on that, i would describe our effort to gain an understanding il intentions.s

harder target right now than what we face with al qaeda. it attests to a number of issues, the encryption issue. iso---st the fact that is a savvy experienced adversary. >> you bring up encryption. this question is to secondary johnson. i'm with you. i'm led you able to the cyber protection agency. tool.eve it is a if we don't do it now, it is going to be used now. i would like to add that the efforts on the department of homeland security nppd has done across the federal government and helping protect the digital epicenter of our fellow agencies has been impressive. how important is the use of

encryption to make sure that these other agencies are protecting the information that they do have on america and people? through binding operational directives which was authority given to me by congress and other things working with other federal agencies to secure their own systems, this is a work in progress. i want to see not just the cios of each agency, but the cabinet heads. >> should they be using stronger encryption to protect information that will work weaker encryption? >> it is hard to answer in general. i think we need to improve the security of our systems. off,rector call me, first your level of transparency on what the fbi knew or did not know around the orlando killers was impressive and was important

for the mac and people to know and understand. i commend you for that. -- i recognizees , at the orlando killer case number of locations. many of those locations there were private security. is there a vehicle by which private security is able to -- if they see a suspicious activity report, does that go somewhere? do they have training? is there a way to integrate the kind of information into local police? your thoughts? >> it is -- they are integrated. there are ways to probably improve it, through their relationship with local uniformed police. if they pass it informally, it is good to get to the gts right away. it is pretty good through the local police. >> i would be remiss not to mention and have a comment on encryption.

i think it was one of your own employees, director comey, that mentioned civil liberties are the things that make our country great. they are not our burdens. i agree wholeheartedly with that. should beat we focusing on how we strengthen encryption and not weakening it and make sure law enforcement and the private sector are talking -- are not talking past each other but working together. we also have to ensure that we continue to create a culture within the federal government that protects information and protects those secrets that some many people i worked hard to collect. the chairman recognizes ranking member of a closing statement. gentleladyto the

from texas. member.nk the ranking i think my questions may warrant the one-word answer. -- mr. comey, thank you for your presence at the dallas memorial. in light of the existence of weapons of war on the streets, would you and your agents enforcement are less safe because -- because others are still about in this nation? in civilian hands who may be doing wrong things. >> the more weapons in the hands of that people the less safe our people are. >> with the career investigators and prosecutors who investigated former secretary lyndon does secretary clinton, is it my understanding that you have completed the investigation as well as the department? >> yes.

>> to your satisfaction. >> it was done in an apolitical professional way. couldd appreciate if you refer me to one of your individuals at headquarters to have that matter of just as quickly as possible. >> i think you so much for your service. i know that america -- and a unified manner. i yield back. >> i want to thank all three of you for your expertise. it is the very instructive to this community. i want to thank you for your service on all three levels. the fbi, the amount of service -- the job your agents do interesting over 80 isis followers. ctc for doing the intelligence fusion. it serves this congress and the executive branch so well.

to secretary johnson, i think this will be a last testimony before this congress. willpersonal level, i enjoy it working with you. i want to thank you for your service, both in the department of defense doing very important work targeting the threat where it exists. secretary of homeland security, you have served with honor and distinction. we thank you for that. with that, this hearing stand adjourned. >> thanks. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> before next week's republican national convention, this weekend, c-span's tour along with our cable partners will export the history and literary life of cleveland, ohio. on book tv, we'll talk with john lebowski as he explores house transportation should the city's identification -- the city's identity. we will visit the cleveland public library and explore its langston hughes library relating social activist while he lived in cleveland. >> he developed his love of writing and he was introduced to the work of carl sandburg and walt whitman to through his teacher, ms. weimer.

poem whileposed a there that is kind of famous with susanna jones. >> on american history tv, we will visit the cleveland history center and take a tour of how the best take a tour of the exhibit. -- take a tour of the exhibit. crawfordill toward the aviation museum with curator of transportation derek more. here why cleveland was named motor city for detroit. >> thickly -- the key location of cleveland. we are on great. -- we are on lake erie. we have the railroad in the area so there were a lot of railroads and shipping routes that could be taken. we also had the steel industry which is very important in the automobile industry. there was a lot of lumber in this area. all can together. >> this weekend, watch c-span to

city tour to cleveland. afternoon at 2:00 on american history tv, on c-span3. the c-span cities tour, working with our cable affiliates and visiting cities across the country. the republican national convention from cleveland starts monday. watch live, every minute on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app. it is easy to download from the apple store or google play. watch live or on-demand anytime at c-span.org, on your desktop, phone or tablet where you will find all of our convention coverage and the full convention schedule could follow us at c-span on twitter. like us on facebook to see video of newsworthy moments. 2016 miss a moment of the republican national convention on c-span, the c-span radio app and c-span.org.

carolinaeek, south senator tim scott spoke about his personal experience with law enforcement. his remark is next. hillary clinton campaigns with senator tim kaine in virginia. later, remarks from house speaker paul ryan. >> the senator from south carolina. scott: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to give my second speech this week discussing the issues we are facing as a nation following last week's tragedies -- i'm a kid who grew up in a single parent household. disillusioned at times. nearly fund out of high school whose life was changed by a powerful african american mom and an optimistic visionary

chick-fil-a operator who happened to be white. why do i say this? it is incredibly important while our problems appear in black and white, our solutions are black and white. rise is a testament to god's love, and the love of my mentor. i don't deny that our nation have toughhis must conversations, family conversations. i have experience as possible when the family talks. it is really a cool thing. my life story is a story of second chances. a love story of sorts. it is a dark hour in race relations for america. i bring new hope. we'll hope in the deep south with a provocative racial history, the voters of the first

congressional district of south carolina, a heavily white district, the home of the birthplace of the civil war, unelected the grandson of a man who picked cotton. in the heart of the south, the home of the civil war, a majority quite district, these voters elected the grandson of a man who picked cotton over the children of the former united states senator and presidential candidate, strom thurmond, and a very popular governor. havehopeful because i experienced the power of a state that has been transformed. the great state of south carolina. pleasemerican family, remain optimistic.