desantis, for his opening statement. mr. desantis: thank you, chairman meadows. i think it's important to say that -- we got a directive last night that this will be an implemented policy. i'm sure that's partly the result of your oversight so thank you for doing that and i look forward to hearing the witnesses' testimony. i yield back. mr. meadows: well, chairman desantis, thank you for your leadership on so many of these issues and look forward to continuing to work with you. i now recognize the ranking member on the subcommittee on national security, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. mr. lynch: thank you, mr. chairman, and i also like to thank chairman desantis and my friend, mr. connolly, for holding this hearing. it's important for a number of reasons which you both have touched on already. when an individual applies to receive an initial or renewed security clearance, the federal government conducts a background investigation to determine whether he or she is eligible to access classified national security information. every security clearance ca

desantis, for his opening statement. mr. desantis: thank you, chairman meadows. i think it's important to say hat -- we got a directive last night that this will be an implemented policy. i'm sure that's partly the result of your oversight so thank you for doing that and i look forward to hearing the witnesses' testimony. i yield back. mr. meadows: well, chairman desantis, thank you for your leadership on so many of these issues and look forward to continuing to work with you. i now recognize the ranking member on the subcommittee on national security, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. mr. lynch: thank you, mr. chairman, and i also like to thank chairman desantis and my friend, mr. connolly, for holding this hearing. it's important for a number of reasons which you both have touched on already. when an individual applies to receive an initial or renewed security clearance, the federal government conducts a background investigation to determine whether he or she is eligible to access classified national security information. every security clearance can

desantis for his opening statement. >> i thank you chairman. i just want to say, i think this is an important issue and it looks like we just got a directive late last night where this is now going to be an implemented policy. so i'm interested in hearing how that is going to be implemented so i'm sure that's a result of your oversight so thank you for doing that and i look forward to hearing to the witness testimony. >> chairman desantis, thank you for your leadership on so many of the issues and i look forward to working with you. i now recognize the ranking member on the sub-committee on national security, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. >> thank you, mr. chairman and also like to thank chairman desantis and my friend mr. connelly for holding this hearing. it is important for a number of reasons, which you both have touched on already. when an individual applies to receive an in ishl or renewed security clearance the federal government conducts a background investigation to determine whether he or she may be eligible to access c

desantis of florida. the chair rill reduce to two minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote of the series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. weber, on which further proceedings within postponed an on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. weber of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having risen a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] tatives.] the chair: on this vote

desantis: i thank the gentleman. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from illinois, ms. kelly, for five minutes. ms. kelly: thank you, mr. chair. many of us have become so accustomed to using technology in our day-to-day lives that it seems second nature to examine the social media accounts of individuals applying for security clearance. however, it's important to note that when incorporating social media into the background check process, a number of steps must be taken going far beyond reviewing friends, a facebook profile. ms. cobert, o.p.m. does background checks governmentwide. the data collection of these investigations are completed by federal contractors in part because we must comply with the various laws governing what information can be collected, used and stored by a federal government. is that accurate? ms. cobert: congresswoman, we work with federal contractors in the investigative process to enhance our capacity to conduct background investigations. they have to follow the same federal investigative standards that mr. evanina referenced. the individuals fr

desantis, do you have something to add to this? >> i just think it's a frustrating because if a taxpayer treated the irs the way the irs has created the congress, that just wouldn't fly. i think we all know that. you can talk to people about dealings with the irs in the private sector, and they laughed when you say, you just destroyed, let evidence to be destroyed in the subject of a somewhat. what if he made false statements? is not find what would've to ask you to do something and decided not to do with? i get to find somebody who thinks that would be acceptable. >> i think there's another point here i think it is the must've been a motive. if the irs comes to me at and says that they have my documents and i'm going to provide and because it's easy to do so that it is to face the wrath of the irs, as each of you testified. but when you're avoided to clean up the agency a diet that's as their commission you know there's a problem you have inherited. there's 24,000 missing e-mails in that. is it possible that those e-mails could tr

desantis a question. do you think president obama has committed an impeachable offense during his seven plus years -- >> i've never argued that. it's irrelevant. i think the irs is within the context of the irs and that's what we're focusing on. >> okay. now the chairman of the senate finance committee is orrin hatch, is that correct? >> yes. >> and he's got jurisdiction over the irs as chairman of the finance committee, is that right? >> yes. >> and he's a well-respected member of congress, correct? >> yes. >> man of integrity? >> yes. >> and he stated -- we can have our disagreements with him, meaning the irs commissioner, but that doesn't make it an impeachable offense, is that correct? >> i think what senator hatch and the senate finance committee may be looking at may be different than what we're looking at. many of these statements that i believe were false and misleading happened in the house of representatives. i would also note that the senate finance committee came to a conclusion that quote, bi

. >> chairman meadows chairman desantis ranking members, leanne lynch and members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on the use of social media in the federal bat around investigational process. opm plays important role in conducting background investigations for the vast majority of the federal government. currently opm's federal investigation of services annually conducts approximately 1 million investigations for 1 million federal agencies, approximately 95% of the total background investigations governmentwide. these background investigations include more than 600,000 national security investigations and 400,000 investigations related to suitability, fitness or ridden shilling each year. as we discussed in february we are in the process of transitioning to the new national background investigations for a witch ... or of its mission to become the governmentwide service provider for background investigations. the department of defense with his unique national security perspective will design, build, secure and operate the nba be investigate

congressman jason chivas of utah, ron desantis of florida presented the case against koskinen. democrats on the panel site the findings of an inspector general in the treasury department that there is no evidence that anyone in irs sought to hide evidence from congress. the justice department or the inspector general's office and more fundamentally, the panelsplit along party lines this morning on what kind of proceeding they were conducting this morning . >> this is not an impeachment inquiry . i think you usethat phrase . >> it's aninquiry into the recommendation for impeachment . >> know, the title of the hearing is examining the allegations of misconduct against irs commissioner john koskinen. part one. >> and i appreciate that but he is in fact the subject of a referral from another committee with this if the city and was called as a witness to have an opportunity under oath to clear that up. reporter: if the house and pages, the irs commissioner would mark only the 19th time congress has ever moved in that way against a federal official. the first time since 1876 where th

guest: again, i think john desantis and i are on the conservative side. the longer i stay in congress, the more conservative i get with people's money. last night we worked on public buildings and i feel i am working for the people. rdey are out there working ha and struggling to pay bills, to educate their kids, pay their mortgage, and for me to come up. and waste money or not go after people who are wasting money, it is a shame. i try to save $1 billion a year for the taxpayer. i would be glad to enumerate them. i don't think we vote against the people. we are actually voting for the people. host: one hearing happening today on capitol hill is about the d.c. metro. nment: another big gover program. i am going to complement the manager today. he fired 20 people today, it has been incompetence management. big government programs spiral out of control. i never finish the answer with why we ended up with the tsa the way it is but it was because of an airline crash in november of 2001. a plane went down in long island. we were set to restructure the tsa is o

desantis as well. i don't want to see any single group conservative or otherwise be discriminated against. as we review these materials i believe even though this is not an impeachment proceeding i would also say the irs commissioner there is no definitive proof about him being connected to the underlying premise and to the best of his ability all the materials that we have including even though the doj at that point directed to subpoena suggests he answered it as effectively and cheerfully as he can? >> with the gentlelady yields back i would be happy to yield to. >> in the time that the gentlelady has it she would yield to the german from california. >> in the case of the scooter libby conviction my understanding was he was alleged to give a truthful statement about what was ultimately determined not to be a crime. he had no part in revealing the valerie plame identity and yet he still was disbarred and criminally indicted. so my understanding is all testimony or dereliction of duty is still impeacha

desantis: that was all false. this started before rouhani was lengthed, he's not a moderate -- elected, he's not a moderate, this was a deal made in conjunction with iran's hard liners, and as we're seeing now, with how they're behaving, it is benefiting iran's hard liners. obamacare we can fix, it will be tough. may not be able to recover if iran gets a nuclear weapon. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire seek recognition? mr. guinta: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. guinta: mr. speaker, i rise to recognize national nurses week, a time to celebrate the contribution of over three million registered nurses around our country. they are our friends and neighbors who care for our loved ones and treat us with when -- treat us when we're sick. a nurse is usually the fi

guest: again, i think john desantis and i are on the conservative side.ger i stay in congress, the more conservative i get with people's money. last night we worked on public buildings and i feel i am working for the people. rdey are out there working ha and struggling to pay bills, to educate their kids, pay their mortgage, and for me to come up. and waste money or not go after people who are wasting money, it is a shame. i try to save $1 billion a year for the taxpayer. i would be glad to enumerate them. i don't think we vote against the people. we are actually voting for the people. host: one hearing happening today on capitol hill is about the d.c. metro. nment: another big gover program. i am going to complement the manager today. he fired 20 people today, it has been incompetence management. big government programs spiral out of control. i never finish the answer with why we ended up with the tsa the way it is but it was because of an airline crash in november of 2001. a plane went down in long island. we were set to restructure the tsa is out as mu

desantis of florida. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you know, we in this country, the government at all levels, has a responsibility to protect the safety of the american people. for the federal government, most of the crimes committed, particularly violent crimes are handled at the state level. i wish we could prevent every crime from happening. i wish we could. but the fact of the matter is we rely on deterrence, penalties to prevent people from committing crimes. but in this case, this is an example of where government could have prevented all of these crimes. you have somebody, and the story that came out, i thought, was shocking where between fiscal year 2010 and february of 2015, there were 124 individuals who were in the country illegally, had been previously detained by i.c.e., and were released that were charged with homicide. you look at the number of convictions that we have seen for people who have been released by i.c.e., even after being convicted of rape, of homicide, of domestic violence, violence against women, other s

desantis the entire time i was you. but that's fine. you didn't say republicans though but that's fine. you did say i think a little bantering was the term you used. i wanted to try to dissect these numbers. i can, from my perspective following the law is not politics. it's the rule of law. is what america supposed to do and what america is supposed to be about. let's look at some of these. it seems to me there are four categories of individuals that i is probably interacts with the you have people who are here on a visa and to overstate what they violate their visas. .. yeah you commit a crime in u.s. custody. my understanding is he really 86,000 of the subset over the last few years. and over half of that 86,000, were released at your discretion. less commonly called prosecutorial discretion. is that accurate, direct or? >> that is correct. the >> that is all correct. when you break it down, people came here illegally convicted of crime, or in your custody. the lessons they are supposed to be deported and that your discretion, not bec

desantis. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thanks to the witnesses. i have my sympathies. this is just a terrible thing. the thing is what really gets me is it was preventable. had our government simply done its job, its core duties, you guys would have your loved ones here today. i appreciated ms. hartling pointing out that this is happening across our country. i -- i was in law enforcement a time as a prosecutor. if it's just some random american commits a crime, we want to prevent it, but when you have somebody in custody and you release them, whether early release as a criminal in the norm at justice system, or in this case people didn't have a right to be here and have committed crimes, you are putting the public at risk. so it's just very, very frustrating. i was disappointed in director saldana trying to say this is just political banter, it's not. these are lives at stake and this is a government that's not fulfilling its duty. what was your view, ms. hartling, when you hearty it being dismissed as political banter, how did that make you feel? >> i couldn't believe

desantis of florida. alters.lte those are republicans on capitol hill.ikipedia with some context and background. in 2013, the irs revealed its elected political groups applying for tax-exempt status for intensive scrutiny based on their names are political themes . this led to why condemnation -- wide condemnation of the agency. liberal groups like the occupy movement also trigger scrutiny, but at lower rates. in january of 2014, the fbi told foxnews its investigation found no evidence so far warranting the filing of criminal charges in connection with the scandal as it had not found any evidence of any enemy hunting. thoughts?our , republicanser would want to impeach mr. koskinen. on the house oversight committee, no evidence the house hid or destroyed info. dems -- house judiciary sayingse oversight dems --s as well what do all of you think? and in louisiana. independent. good morning to you. -- ed in louisiana. 501(c) three status is given to these charity so they can launder money for these charities. it is a cronyism issue. it's not about who deserv

from the chairman of the house oversight and government perform committee and representative ron desantis. have 10 minutes to discuss the evidence there committee investigation has uncovered. present aan will also video regarding this matter. it is worth noting that the commissioners also invited to has declined the invitation. following the witness's testimony, each committee member will be allowed to ask the witnesses questions for five minutes. >> thank you, chairman. , iore i begin my statement ask consent to enter into the record the statement of irs commissioner john andrew kosten n and elijah cummings. >> i reserve the right to object. the gentleman wishes to be recognized. >> i wish to be recognized. >> the objection is noted. >> at the gentleman would yield. a point of inquiry related to my objection -- the witness was invited to come and has delivered us instead a self-serving written statement while telling us he respects the committee, he is refusing to be here for his own impeachment inquiry, on what basis would we allow unsworn testimony for what should have been a sworn wit

. -- tickets has served our next witness is the honorable ron desantis.is being elected to the u.s. house in 2012. he has served on the judiciary, foreign affairs and oversight and government reform committee. he is currently the chairman of ittee.ersight comm both,. to you you stay within that time, there is a timing life on your table -- timing light on your table. when the light turns red, it signaled that your time has expired. this, we importance of have a lot it additional time to each of you and for the video that the chairman has brought with him as well. mr. chaffetz: i enjoy a good working relationship with you. i enjoy your friendship and i expect that to continue in the future. i appreciate the discussion today. i want to note and think the chairman -- thank the chairman. through his good work, and tenacious approach to this, it was an important step, and we would not be here today without the good work and leadership of darrell issa. this is a simple case in my mind. when congress asks you a question, you are expected to give a truthful answe

desantis, has been disposed of and the bill had been read through page 80, line 15. for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move that the committee do now rise and report the bill back to the house with sunry amendments and with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill as amended do pass. the chair: the gentleman from idaho moves that the committee rise and report the bill back to the house with the recommendation that the bill as amended do pass. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the committee risings. the chair: the committee of the whole house on the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 5055 directs me to report the same back to the house with sundry amendments with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to and that the bill as amended do pass. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h.r. 5055 and reports the bi