no, but, mr gao, you're not really addressing my central point about freedom and democracy, cos whatis the chinese communist party has found ways, ideological contortions to enable the people of china to get rich, to make money, to enjoy many of the fruits of a capitalist system. what they have not allowed the chinese people at all is any degree of political freedom, any real ability to freely express themselves, to express dissent against the ruling party. are you telling me that that total disconnect between economic freedom and political, intellectual freedom is sustainable for the long term? first of all, stephen, allow me to disagree with your analysis. first of all, i think the system in china works for china today under the chinese circumstances. secondly... but, mr gao, it only works if you're prepared to see all of those who dissent locked up, repressed, surveilled, robbed of what we in the west call basic human rights. allow me to disagree with you again — why? because i would say any society everywhere in the world today has some taboo list. it may differ from one country

mr. moultrie. 2020 gao report showed certain demographic groups experienced challenges withinn the intel community. i want today know if a you coul be specific about what your plans are for recruiting routine first and second generation americans, especially womenth a people of color, in the intel community. >>>> representative m larsen, t you very much. this is -- i mentioned in my opening remarks. it's a mission imperative for us. as you know, the demographics of our country are changing. we have to recruit our best, our brightest. pe recruit those individuals who bring different perspectives, and we have to be inclusive in all that we do. we also have to be able to work globally and tod be able to wo globally,ta we have to look in many instances like individuals around the globe. so our goal is to really emphasize, as the secretary has made this one of his priorities, and he talks about it in the same terms that the president hast talked about. we want to insure that we have that workforce that not only mirrors what america looks like, but can help us do the things that we need do. p

in this report gao recommended 14 action directly to fema on how to improve this program. so mr. secretary, my question to you today is can you provide a status update on the department work to publication dash to -- t those recognition of jailed? >> thank you very much. i'm familiar with the program. familiar with the gao report and i will circle back with your office to provide you with the status of our actions in response to the 14 recommendations. i know one of the primary reasons why the assistance rate is what it is is because one of the thresholds that must be met is the inadequacy or the lack of insurance coverage. and, in fact, people who do have insurance and to recovers insurance proceeds in response to disaster may not be eligible for thehe individual assistance under the fema grant program. i'm also very well aware of the concerns with respect to clarity and transparency in terms of the eligibility criteria and making sure the publicki understands wt the assistance program is for and when its resources can be triggered. it's something we are very focused upon becaus

mr. sec., my question today is can you provide the status update on the departments work to implement those recommendations from the gao? >> thank you very much. i am familiar with thero program and i would circle back with your office to provide you with the status of our actions and in response to the 14 recommendations. i know that one of the primary reasons why the assistance is what it is is because one of the thresholds that is meant as the inadequacy or the lack of insurance coverage and in response to the disaster may not be eligible for the individual assistance under the grant program. i also very well aware of the concerns with respect to clarity and transparency in terms of the eligibility criteria. it's something we have been focused upon. so i would welcome the opportunity to circle back with you personally and of course with our respective teams so that i i can deliver the specificity with response to your question. if there's one thing we've heard it's that there are some challenges going through the process and when you think about the constituents during their greatest time of need it is whea they don

mr. secretary, my question to you today is, can you provide a status update on lamenting those recommendations? >> congresswoman, thank you very much. i'm familiar with the program. i am familiar with the gao report. i will circle back with your office to provide you with the status of our actions and response to the 14 recommendations. i know one of the primary reasons why the assistance rate is what it is is because one of the thresholds that must be met is the inadequacy or the lack of insurance coverage. and in fact, people who do have insurance, and to recover insurance proceeds in response to a disaster, may not be eligible for the individual assistance under the fema grant program. i am also very well aware of the concerns with respect to clarity and transparency, in terms of the eligibility criteria and making sure the public understands what the assistance program is for and when it's resources can be triggered. it is something we are focused upon. because this impacts real people in real ways. i would welcome the opportunity to circle back with you personally and of course with our respective teams so that i can deliver the response to your question that you deserve. >> i appreci