agency's brownfields program. brown teelds are blighted properties that have been a drag on local economies because of contamination or the mereg perception of contamination. off these are abandoned industrial -- often these are abandoned industrial sites where participants don't want their -- parents don't want their kids to play and few businesses will take the chance to locate in one of these, with one of thesepl sites.and now, the epa started its brownfields program more than a decade ago to transfer, transform these communityram eyesores into community assets. and since then epa has cleared up more than 600 brownfields in commitments across our -- in communities across our country putting more than 20,000 acres back to productive use. and much of that is urban, but also in rural areas as well. and when you think about that kind of opportunity to havein property available for community use, it's a wonderful gain.a these clean-ups have created more than 72,000 jobs, attracted more than $17 billion in private in

that was the start of the brownfields program. at its core was the emphasis that local solutions work best under local stewardship. the new model that was born was different from super fund and several important ways. first, many of the sites were perceived to be contaminated rather than actually contaminated. seed money for local site assessments solves that mystery. eventually one-third of the sites to the super-fund inventory were proven not to be contaminated at all and were ready for reuse. there's still a need for a strong souper fund program, for sites with major technical issues and high levels of contamination. brownfields program complements those efforts. epa's job training program in the brownfields program from the very earliest beginning emphasized local employment. with the program -- when the program began i was shocked the communities needed to ship in workers because they lacked people with the from training. in response, the brownfields job training program was created in concert with local community colleges an

undersecretary of state william brownfield who is pretty much running the show down there said that the plan going forward again issue was supposed to be over last year it's clearly not the plan going forward is to try and empower local police and the state department has said that if the local and state police in mexico could be as efficient as the military and national police that all our problems would be solved i'm not sure that's true but that's because there are problems though with having because our police don't know what it's like to fight drug cartels right right right gangs but that's a different beast so are they necessarily the right people to be doing this training i think what the can probably do pretty adequately is go over protocols for gathering evidence making arrests searching a house putting together a case to go to court i mean if you look at. this for instance one of the wiki leaks cables that came out they had been circulated within the u.s. embassy in mexico was that juarez had a prosecution rate i think of four percent from murders so clearly the state police a

ambassador brownfield, nice toe see you again.es particularly interested -- i was particularly interested in your very brief history of our efforts in the last several decades in the region, and what struck me about it was that it seems like your view is that we put needed pressure on particular areas that are causing problems at a particular time. we solve those problems, at least up to a point, at least we make great roads, but then the problem moves elsewhere. it moves from one country or one region to another, and now you're most recent -- your most recent comment is you think it's worse in central america than in mexico, colombia, or elsewhere. it seems like it moved. it sounds like you think we're playing a big game of whack-a-mole. wherever we hit them, we tamp them down, but they pop up elsewhere. my question, so much of it, of course, has to do with illegal drugs, the whole drug trafficking problem. i guess my question -- one of my questions would be are we ever going to be able to truly solve this problem, the problem of

ambassador brownfield, nice to see you again.at a particular time. we solved those problems at least up to a point. at least we make great inroads but then the problem moves elsewhere. it moves from one country or one region to another. and now your most recent comment is you think it's worse in central america than it is in mexico or colombia or elsewhere. it seems like it moved. it sounds like you believe we're playing an enormous game whack-a-mo. so much of it, of course, has to do with illegal drugs, the whole drug trafficking problem. i guess my question -- one of my questions would be, are we ever going to be able to truly solve this problem, the problem of the supply of illicit drugs into this country? or do we as mexican president calderon is quick to suggest, do we need to solve the demand problem in this country? will we ever be able to do it without solving that problem? also, i would like any of y'all's thoughts, please, on the chinese efforts here in this hemisphere. they are, obviously, making significant investment

ambassador brownfield is the secretary of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs. prior to this appointment, he served as u.s. ambassador to colombia from august 2007 to august 2010 and before serving in colombia, he served as u.s. ambassador to venezuela and chile. thank you so much for being here today. benson is the administrator of the drug enforcement administration. he served as a special agent in charge of the atlanta field division directing and leading federal drug enforcement operations throughout the state of georgia, north carolina, south carolina, and tennessee. additionally mr. denson served as a special agent in charge of the seattle field division, and third is mr. marico -- did i say that right? >> [inaudible] >> silver, mr. silver is the acting assistant secretary for international policy at the u.s. department of homeland security. prior to her appointment, she served as policy adviser for innovation, higher education, and economic development to then governor janet napolitano. before that, she was special adviser to the president and director of

first, the honorable william brownfield.e is the assistant secretary for the bureau of international narcotics and law affairs. he served as u.s. ambassador to colombia from august 2007 until august 2010. before serving in columbia, he served as u.s. ambassador to venezuela and chile. welcome and thank you for being here today. second, mr. rodney benson. the is the administrator of intelligence for the drug administration. he served as special agent in charge of the atlantic steel division where he directed and led federal drug enforcement operations throughout the state of georgia, north carolina, south carolina, and tennessee. additionally he served as special agent in charge of the seattle field division. third is missed mariko silver. she is the assistant secretary for international affairs at the department of homeland security. she served as -- she served with governor janet napolitano in the state of arizona. before joining the governor's office, she served as special adviser to the president and director for strategi

ambassador brownfield is the secretary of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs. prior to this appointment, he served as u.s. ambassador to colombia from august 2007 to august 2010 and before serving in colombia, he served as u.s. ambassador to venezuela and chile. thank you so much for being here today. benson is the administrator of the drug enforcement administration. he served as a special agent in charge of the atlanta field division directing and leading federal drug enforcement operations throughout the state of georgia, north carolina south carolina and tennessee. additionally mr. denson served as a special agent in charge of the seattle field division, and third is mr. marico -- did i say that right? >> [inaudible] >> silver, mr. silver is the acting assistant secretary for international policy at the u.s. department of homeland security. prior to her appointment, she served as policy adviser for innovation, higher education, and economic development to then governor janet napolitano. before that, she was special adviser to the president and director of s

brownfield, ambassador, you in answering some questions earlier you post three questions to the committee that he would suggest asking and the first one was what more c we get by using the label or terminology or designation i would say this the criminal insurgency will allow us to develop a counterinsurgency strategy that pulls all u.. esources to other for a comprehensive and effective response to the reality on the ground and increase awareness in the u.s. of the threat we face. the second question what are the domestic legal implications of this and the answer to that is and what impact with the designation have on progress on the ground. my suggestion is that this would simply be the utilization of the good u.s. mexican relations to a simultaneously addressed threat on all levels so i think for me and for a lot of people this isn't as much as saying it has failed there has been some successes in merida that cannot deny that are good things but as we look forward could kind of make the determination not to label what's happening in mexico is also hamstrings our ability to confront the

we got 61 acres downtown in the heart of the city which was a brownfield and any great city needs todical care, great medical research, great culture and art. and of course, sports. and that's the formula and we knew that 12 years ago when my husband was mayor and we started to develop and right now we are the only place that's having construction. we're opening the city hall right after the first of the year. a symphony park, a performing arts center. we have the cleveland clinic. a brain institute for degeneraltive disease research and clinical work. >> now, you've got a lot of good stuff going on there. >> i have so much to go and tell you. >> so much. but a lot of people think, but still, how key is it to get visitors coming back here? economy improving so they can come here? they certainly can't afford to take one and and on top of that blow money at an any. >> i think the strip is very, very healthy. we just had a bike ride of -- you saw that 1,500 going by. this is a 24-hour day place where you can get a carton of milk, go out in the middle of the night and get a breakfast if

i want to remind ambassador brownfield we talked about this last week talking about the triborder region, the southern border, named a number of country, and you said let's not forget venezuela, one of your past posts, and i wanted to make that point as well. the question i have for the panel addressed to ambassador goldberg, how do links increase u.s. vulnerability to attack? >> the point, congressman, i was making earlier was that what's new here, and what we have found in the last few days is a renewed interest by elements within the iranian government to carry out an attack on u.s. soil, but in the hemisphere because we had seen it in earlier times. >> but it was also a back up plan possibly in beunos aires from knowledge i heard. the last attack and the largest attack prior to 9/11 happened in buenos aires with an attack on an israeli embassy. >> no, that is true. in terms of what happened, there's a case before a federal court at the moment, and we need to allow that to play out. what i think this case shows more is iran's interest in working in mexico or doing something in mexico

activities, typically from government witnesses, we hear, i would not really say that -- although it to brownfield's credit, he would agree in he has agreed. most serbs would not -- are saying, we would not go that far. we do not seem to go after our interests. so turning everything over to the un and then sitting here and saying we need more social networking as the answer leads me to believe that -- i do you do not understand the seriousness of what is happening, or you are unable to articulate to this committee what it is that you really need. because it may not fit in what the administration has decided it wants to do. that is the frustration. >> i understand that frustration, senator. senator -- congressman. we did that yesterday. how was suggesting tools that would be useful to us. i quite agree that the fundamental policy must be to increase the pressure on iran and get them to eliminate their nuclear weapons program. as i said earlier, we have the most extensive, most robust set of sanctions, and we welcome the ongoing discussion with congress around cbi and other sectors that we can attack.

and a little bit later, a congressional hearing looking at the cleanup of brownfield. be sure to join us later tonight for more from the road to the white house. we'll feature texas congressman ron paul. he is scheduled to speak in iowa city, iowa, and we'll have that live for you starting at 9 p.m. eastern right here on c-span2. >>> this weekend six republican presidential candidates traveled to des moines for the iowa faith and freedom coalition candidates' forum. watch our live coverage of herman cain, newt gingrich and rick season tore rum as well as governor rick perry and representatives ron paul and michele bachmann starting at 7 p.m. eastern saturday on c-span's road to the white house. >>> well, the u.s. senate finished their work for the week early this morning, finally gaveling out just before 2:30 a.m. eastern. it rolls three appropriations bills into one and they were able to dispose of about two dozen amendments. also last night the senate rejected parts of president obama's jobs bill to the floor. a vote failed to win the required 60 votes. also rejected

brownfield, ambassador, you in answering some questions earlier you post three questions to the committee that he would suggest asking and the first one was what more can we get by using the label or terminology or designation i would say this the criminal insurgency will allow us to develop a counterinsurgency strategy that pulls all u.s. resources to other for a comprehensive and effective response to the reality on the ground and increase awareness in the u.s. of the threat we face. the second question what are the domestic legal implications of this and the answer to that is and what impact with the designation have on progress on the ground. my suggestion is that this would simply be the utilization of the good u.s. mexican relations to a simultaneously addressed threat on all levels so i think for me and for a lot of people this isn't as much as saying it has failed there has been some successes in merida that cannot deny that are good things but as we look forward could kind of make the determination not to label what's happening in mexico is also hamstrings our ability to confront

the epa estimates there are more than 400,000 of the sites across the united states, called brownfield sites. we will look at the effectiveness of the program. live at 10:00 eastern. later, a senate panel will look at concussions in sports. and those for marketing confession -- concussion- producing sports equipment. that from the senate commerce committee on c-span. >> because i am a businessman, of which, incidentally, i am very proud. i was connected with a large company. i have attempted to picture me as an opponent of liberalism. i was a liberal before many of those men heard the word. i fought for the reforms of the elderly and theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson before another roosevelt adopted and distorted the word liberal. >> he was a member of the democratic party for over 20 years, switching in 1940, when he saw and won the republican nomination for president. although the loss, he made his mark in history. becoming the ambassador for his former opponent, franklin roosevelt. he will be featured on "the contenders," friday at 8:00 eastern. >> treasury secretary tim geithne

second, do you agree with ambassador brownfield that there is an insurgency in mexico that are using terrorist tactics in mexico? >> congressman, i have expressed my concern about that in the past. we are sensitive to the characteristics that some of these drug traffickers have adopted that certainly resemble terrorist activity. we are also aware of the concern by the mexican government that we not mix apples and oranges, so to speak. let's focus on criminality. let's not focus on something else. this is an ongoing discussion. >> she is quick to gavel me down. you, in the past, have identified it as an insurgency. >> i have said that it has characteristics of an insurgency, but i am very sensitive to the legitimate questions that the mexican government raises about whether those characteristics are such that it should be defined as that. >> thank you so much, mr. secretary. madam secretary, preparations for this oversight hearing were done by our afghan war veterans. thank you so much. it is a pleasure having you here. the committee is now adjourned. >> thank you for allowing me to s

um, second, i wanted to -- do you agree with, um, ambassador brownfield that there is an insurgency in mexico that are using terrorist tactics in mexico? >> well, congressman, um, i have expressed my concern about that in the past. um, we are sensitive to the characteristics that some of these drug traffickers have adopted that certainly resemble terrorist activities. um, and we are also aware of the concern by the mexican government that we, in their view, not mix apples and oranges so to speak, you know? if let's focus on criminality, let's not mix it with something else, so this is an ongoing discussion that we have with our friends in mexico. >> she's going to gavel me down, so -- [laughter] >> she's very tough on this, you know, congressman. >> but you in the past have identified it as an insurgency. >> i have said it has characteristics of an insurgency, but i am very sensitive to the legitimate questions that the mexican government raises about really whether those characteristics are such that it should be defined as that. >> thank you so much, madam secretary, mr. mack. and, m

brownfields area wide planning looks at individual brownfields sites or collections of sites and helps the community decide what is needed to get those properties cleaned and back into reuse. they might be a neighborhood, a commercial corridor, a downtown district or a greenway but they help them develop clean-up and reuse strategiesment we had 23 recipients including several small rural communities that received this funding. some examples, would include a project, a large project ongoing in tulsa, oklahoma which we'll focus on 59 sites but will benefit -- >> let me, without losing his time ask him to repeat what he said. i was distracted. >> i was describing a program that we put in place last year using our existing authority, called brownfields areawide planning. what we're doing is funding -- we'll be moving forward, we're funding, we selected 23 communities of many sizes, rural and urban, to help them plan around either a group of brownfield sites or one large brownfield site and look not at just cleaning up that site but looking at the connectivity to what infrastructure is need