we have a wide range at gao.ecently i found that a science and technology -- we are looking at artificial intelligence, quantum computing, given all of the advances to support the congress in that way. gao's 100 year anniversary is one of celebrating a very dynamic organization that has changed over time to meet the needs of the congress and country. host: boy did congress pile a boatload of the work on your plate asking you to oversee the ongoing pandemic spending. the number of measures passed by congress in 2020 and 2021. i wanted to look at a couple figures in your latest report. in january 2021 the treasury began analyzing 9 million notices it had to non-filers who may be eligible for the first round of stimulus checks. the treasury does not plan on completing this analysis until fall 2021 after another round of payment -- more than six months after the third round of payments had been issued." guest: these are people who are among the most needy in terms of having the payment. these are people who do not re

victor gao in beijing, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for having me.00th anniversary of the chinese communist party. would you agree that perhaps that's more a recognition of the party's devotion to raw power than it is to ideological purity? well, i think china is celebrating the centenary of the founding of the communist party of china, the biggest, largest, most important political party ever in human history, with almost 100 million party members. and the party is, indeed, invasive. it's omnipotent and omnipresent. however, i would say if any political force anywhere in the world really has some justification to be very proud of its achievements, it is the communist party of china. it has very solid track records. and i think this celebration is not only celebrating the communist party of china, but also the great transformation that china has gone through over the past a245 years in particular, or ever since 1949. this is not a celebration of the power grip. this is truly a good occasion for everyone to celebrate why we are the chinese today, and

i think this is the subject of a 2015 report, gao report. they have just jumped all over those recommendations. we expanded our reach into the department of veterans affairs, interior with wildlife, tracking animal born illnesses that may transmit to humans. over covid-19, they put out one of the first or sports -- reports, december 2019, on a pneumonia-like virus emanating from wuhan. they are on the forefront of doing this stuff. honestly, their number of reports has gone up significantly over the last year. their leadership, the people that want to read, has gone up 30%. we are pushing this to clients asvaried as the northcom -- as varied as the northcom committed to various states and locals. we have picked up the game since 2015. the folks working in that shop are dedicated, they do the analysis, get the word out for people. i just want to update us from may that 2015 report. rep. demings: thank you so much. we are going to pause a minute and see if numbers have additional questions. any questions from the ranking member? from the gentl

we have a wide range at gao.d that a science and technology -- we are looking at artificial intelligence, quantum computing, given all of the advances to support the congress in that way. gao's 100 year anniversary is one of celebrating a very dynamic organization that has changed over time to meet the needs of the congress and country. host: boy did congress pile a boatload of the work on your plate asking you to oversee the ongoing pandemic spending. the number of measures passed by congress in 2020 and 2021. i wanted to look at a couple figures in your latest report. in january 2021 the treasury began analyzing 9 million notices it had to non-filers who may be eligible for the first round of stimulus checks. the treasury does not plan on completing this analysis until fall 2021 after another round of payment -- more than six months after the third round of payments had been issued." guest: these are people who are among the most needy in terms of having the payment. these are people who do not regularly filed

curry began his time with gao in 2002, mr. curry thank you so much for joining us as well. without objection, the witnesses whole statements will be inserted into the record in a now give each witness the opportunity to summarize their statements for five minutes beginning with acting assistant secretary. >> distinguished members, thank you for inviting me to speak here today and appreciate this opportunity to discuss thesc homeland security weapons of mass discretion office known as cw impey that our efforts to safeguard the nation from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and other health security threats. ... ... ... ... of 2018, cwmd is the hub of the departments health security activity, providing providing coordination strategy and policy guidance, intelligence analysis, operation support developing and deploying technology. the president's budget request for $27 million by 22 to support 309 federal staff and programs critical to this mission. i've had the privilege of leading this office twice. most recently since january 2021. my priority to establish a sale

santos, each government gao offers high-risk list which helps resolve weaknesses in critical federal programs that are at particular risk for mismanagement or waste of taxpayer dollars. one of the critical programs highlighted this year is the census which we have all talked about, critical data for congressional representation and to inform the government on how best to allocate resources. despite the conclusion of the 2020 census months ago, gao already anticipates that the next census will face management challenges such as meeting goals and deadlines for testing new data collection technology, recruiting and dispatching thousands of census workers, and evaluating the accuracy of the data in a timely way. if confirmed, how we work to mitigate these challenges? -- how would you work to mitigate these challenges? >> i would work with the census staff who has been eagerly planning the 2030 census. i understand and i have not been briefed on the plans of further incorporating technology, leveraging the lessons learned from the 2020 which was an extraordinary census and almost any sens

which includes goals and correction and with the gao outcome with the key management functions?ase? >> senator as i thank you know, tackling the issues on the high risk list was my highest priority as deputy secretary. >> i do remember that clearly. >> i have the privilege of working with a terrific team at gao. in fact i met with him and his team and that was one of the first things i did with the department in her efforts continue to be led by the incredible jim who coordinates all efforts. look forward to speaking with you further about how this budget addresses the remaining issues on the high risk list. some of which can be tackled in short order and some of which are frankly enduring challenges that we continue to work on. >> thank you. mr. secretary. thank you forju your testimony today i have great affection for the people and convey our thanks to the people what they do day in and day out to secure the homeland have one minute 45 seconds so are there any issues you might want to take to address issues by my colleagues today you like to elaborate on her provide clarifica

crouse at the gao. since 2015, a call for a national aviation preparedness plan, following a recommendation from 2015, we learned some lessons over the last year and you mentioned it in your testimony and report. could you elaborate on the gao recommendation for such a plan and any new issues that ought to be addressed since your recommendation was released? >> thank you. we continue to advocate that this is something important that d.o.t. needs to follow through on. i think given how the pandemic rolled out at the beginning, i think it would have benefited by having a national aviation preparedness plan for clearly outlined roles and responsibilities, as well as airlines and airports have individual plans that can feed into a national plan, so we are better prepared. >> a note for mr. curry, the joint testimony states the department of transportation maintains that the hhs and homeland security effort to develop a preparedness plan. are those agencies in a position to work with d.o.t. in developing a p

in gao guidancest to include all cost regardless of funding source. that said we did observe some improvements of the cost estimates. last week be published a hehealthcare inspection of delivery of training content to users of the new post training staff efficiency and then to l benefit those lessons learned after dod encountered problems with its initial deployment of the server system. nevertheless we found they suffered many of the same problems.tr and with the delivery of care that content was inadequate and with the training domain and then to evaluate training asking oe hm to provide day-to-day initially told us " 89 percent of proficiency checks were passed with are score of 80 percent or higher and three times or less. ". beverly found an earlier version showing only 44 percent of proficiency checks were passed with a score 80 percent our higher three times or less. and then toer reform v.a. leaders to themes emerged from the reports. and with all components v.a. and the modernization program on a sustained basis. and with better transparency

that is what we've got to keep on track and try to speed up. >> usage are ready to go as soon as the gao, the government accountability office says so, but in may, they said quote the ambitious schedule decreases the likelihood of nasa achieving its goal. what gives? who is right here? 's but that report was actually written on materials and information that they had received earlier, that have since been changed. however, space is hard. space is risky and when you have human life and it it is important that you do it right. the entire space program all the way back from project mercury, look at all the delays there. after the apollo one fire that we lost three astronauts, they had to read decide the spacecraft. you have seen these delays as a result, because space is hard. >> how confident are you there will be a woman in 2024? >> don't hold to that, i have said space is hard. that is the goal, so whenever that is, it will be the first woman, and the next man, and in the course of all the landings, will also be the first person of color. >> so there is a chance it will be delayed from 2

but the fact is, once gao decides, we're ready to go, and we're going to push full steam ahead. >> the goal was to launch artemis in 2021, and then. ultimately, land astronaut on the moon by the end of 2024. so is that going to stay on schedule, or will that be delayed? >> we're going with crew in 2023, d then, depending on this competition for a lander in the commercial sector, then that's going to determine when we actually land on the moon with humans. anthat's what we've got to keep on track and we've got to try to speed up. >> you said you' ready to go as soon as the gao, the government accountability office, says so, but in may, they said, quote, "the ambitious schedule decreases the likelihood of nasa achieving its goal." so what gives? who's right here? >> well, that report was actually written on materials and information that they had received earlier that have since been changed. however, space is hard, space is risky. and when you have human life in it, it's important that you do it right. the entire space program all the way back from project mercury, look at all the delay

santos, each government accountability office or gao issues high risk list identify and help resolveweaknesses in critical federal programs at particular risk for mismanagement or waste of taxpayer dollars. one of the critical programs highlighted on this high risk list the sensors providing what we talked about, congressional representation to the federal government about how best to allocate resources. despite conclusion the 2020 census month ago, gao already anticipates the next census will face management challenges such as meeting goals and deadlines for testing new data collection technology including and dispatching thousands of census workers and evaluating actors and collected data in a timely way. if confirmed, i will you look to mitigate management challenges. >> thank you for the question. i will work with the census bureau staff who has been really honestly planning the 2030 census. i understand have not been briefed on the plans are further incorporating, acknowledging, leveraging lessons learned from the 2020 and extra nice census and almost any sizable word because of

the gao gave important concerns. those -- that's a brief summary of some of these things that i'm concerned with. i think we can work to find common ground. if we are talking about nationalizing police forces, i don't think we will get there but if we are finding some kind of meaningful regulation and oversight of the implementation of facial recognition technology which is what the chair is alluding to, then i think we can find a lot of common ground here. with that, i would like to submit for the record a letter to the committee dated july 12, 2021 from matthew feeney of the cato institute. >> you want to finish the explanation? >> i also wish to submit an article from american military news from july of 2021 regarding the capitol police adoption of the army surveillance gear to identify americans and recognize threats. i also wish to include several articles about the alaskan couple who through facial technology that was a rooney us -- was eroneously used. without objection, so ordered. i thank the ranking member

gao guidance regardless of funding source.t said we did observe some improvements have cost estimates the training program was structured to benefit after problems are encountered after the initial deployment of the system. we found v.a. suffered many of the same problems. on these new workflows educate the staff on how they fit into overall delivery of care we found training content an adequate and the assignment of user roles. looking at the evaluation data that they initially told us that 89 percent of proficiency checks were passed with 80 percent or higher and three attempts or less". showing only 40 percent of proficiency were passed with 80 percent or higher in three attempts or less. and then towi review the issue more thoroughly informing the v.a. leaders. with that government structured and in the modernization program there is better transparency including the v.a. components. has several additional projects ongoing working with the dag og you that the extent the new l system has enter operability and starting the n

the gao study that she cites, it says this, these findings show and association for disparities at a particular stage of the military justice process but are inconclusive regarding other stages. however, gao's findings of racial disparity, taken a loan, do not establish whether unlawful discrimination has occurred, as that is a legal determination that would involve other corroborating information and supporting statistics. so again, his theory challenging disparity right now? that senator gillibrand has been highlighting? i believe so. is it proof that the ucmj it's somehow systemically racist that needs this broadbased change? that is what she has been arguing on the senate floor. and unlike her other argument, that sexual assault and the crimes that we've seen over the years, where there's a decade or, i'm sorry, eight to ten years of data that we've all been looking at, again, a lot to her credit, this is something that needs much, much more data. before we make broad based claims that, for example, some of those who are supporting her bill sent out this supporting law blog post

i think it's also important to note that a 2020 gao study found that servicemembers who are black or latino are 2.5 times to 1.5 times more likely to be charged in a court-martial then their white brothers and sisters for the same crime. i appreciate the importance of making sure that diversity is one that we embrace in its entirety. i appreciate your assurances that my efforts to remove all felony crimes from the chain of command are complementary to the irc's recommendations, and we will continue to fight for this key reform to deliver accountability and justice for all victims of these horrible crimes. thank you again for your efforts in making our military safe. safe for everyone who serves there. i will now turn it over to ranking member gallagher for his opening remarks. >> thank you, chairwoman. i look forward to hearing from our panels today on how the department of defense will approach sexual assault and sexual harassment in the future. i think we all agree these are crimes that have no place in the united states military. i quickly learned that sexual assault and related c

i also believe gao represents one of a number of stakeholders that can and should be consulted in ordero get their ideas and innovations they offer in order to consider the upcoming 2030 senses. i understand, and i would feel, elif confirmed that i was director, there is the obligation to carefully consider and respond to gao suggestions on innovation and other types of activities this. i know that the census bureau as i've said before, incredibly talented staff career staff they have been working on innovations, i expect to, if confirmed, work with them to understand the direction they are currently taking in regard to innovations that gao response will be part of that. ... thank you, senator. i'm very proud of my background. i'm a hard worker and have aon strong work ethic. my heart is in the right place. i'm a proven leader that has been able to lead and manage large work forces and able to bldismantle drugs and crime networks. i've worked complex investigations where i've had to go and tell him other their son or daughter will was killed as a result of gun violence. i've led and ove

but as you vsos, members of the press, oig, gao and others have now rightly noted, v.a.'s first implementation of the cerner millennium which occurred in october 2020 in spokane, washington, did not live up to that promise. either for our veterans or for our providers. this has been exemplified for me by a story on from one of our great pharmacy staff in spokane. a few months into a limitation to begin hearing disquieting reports from mail in pharmacy -- e-mail pharmacy team they were receiving duplicate prescriptions. the issue internet was the veterans full prescriptions were not automatically been canceled we knew whence came in. recognizing the threat to patient safety 15 in me to jump into action collaborating across the a to create a workaround that limited these duplications and make sure our veterans didn't receive more medication than was necessary or safe. those efforts were largely successful also demonstrate the length to which our staff in spokane had to go simply do their jobs and to care for our vets. on top of that heard from another clinician that help wi

but as you, members of the press, oig, gao and others have now rightly noted, v.a.'s first and limitation of the program, which occurred in 2020 at a medical center in spokane, did not live up to that promise, either for our veterans or for our providers. this has been exemplified by a story i heard from one of our great pharmacy staff. a a few months into it and limitation, it began hearing reports from mail in pharmacy teams, from the team, that they were receiving duplicate prescriptions. the issue was that the veteran'' old prescriptions were not automatically being canceled when new ones came in. recognizing the threat to patient safety, the team immediately collaborated across the v.a. to create a workaround to eliminate the duplications and nature that our veterans did not receive more medication than necessary or safe. those efforts were largely successful, but also demonstrate the length to which are staff in spokane had to go to simply do their jobs. on top of that, i heard from another clinician that help with the new platform was not always easy to find,

can you share what i would be provided to gao? >> we understand, i believe this committee asked for the report and gao requested it. pending any concerns or gao we are happy to provide that information to the committee. >> okay, thank you. can you talk about the percentage increase in the president's budget for homeland security funding for fy 22? >> yes. the overall budget is relatively flat. we seek to move border wall funding. we seek cancellation. and would rather fund technology. and migrant services and other items in d.o.j. and hhs we believe would improve the asylum system, how people got there faster. have a more efficient process. >> in fact, despite these different items you are mentioning, border security is not mentioned in the budget plan is that correct? >> i heard of congressman speak about the budgets larger than 72 pages. maybe look at the budget summary we have to mention border security. we talk about every government program in our budget document. >> you are speaking of support border security for other count

i also think it is important to remember that a 2020 gao study found that service members who are black or latino are two and a half times to one-and-a-half times more likely to be charged in a court marshall than their white brothers and sisters for the same crime. i appreciate the importance of making sure that diversity is one that we embrace in its entirety. i appreciate your assurances that my efforts to remove all felony crimes from the chain of command are complimentary to the ioc's recommendations, and we will continue to fight for this key reform to deliver accountability and justice for all victims of these horrible crimes. thank you again for your efforts in making our military safe, safe for everyone who serves there. i now will turn it over to ranking member gallagher for his opening remarks. >> thank you, chairwoman spear. i look forward to hearing from our panel as to how the department will approach sexual assault and harassment in the future. i think we all agree these are crimes that have absolutely no place in the united states military. as a marine corps officer, i q

can you share what omb provided to gao? >> yeah. we understand the -- i believe this committee asked for the report, and gao requested it, but we can pending on concerns from gao we're happy to provide that information to the committee. >> okay. thank you. >> can you talk about the percentage increase in the president's budget for homeland security funding for fy-'22. >> the overhaul budget is relatively flat, but we seek to move border wall funding. we seek a cancellation and would rather fund technology and migrant services and other items in doj and hhs that we believe would improve the asylum system, have people go through faster, have a more efficient process. >> in fact, despite all of these different items you're mentioning, border security is not mentioned in the budget plan, is that correct? >> i heard congresswoman boebetter speak of that. the budget is larger than 72 pages. maybe we looked at the budget summary but we have to mention border security. we talk about every government program in our budget documents. >> you a

as omb omb responded to the gao with the cost of? information >> we have an ugly gao his community to the committee that on the as a dhs provided timely responses. that is something i am proud we will continue as a trend. >> appreciate that. can you share what was shared with jail? >> we understand, i believe this committee asked for the report and gao requested. it but we can -- pending any concerns from gao, we're happy to provide that information to the committee. >> okay, thank you. can you talk about the percentage increase in the presidents budget for homeland security funding for 2022. >> yes, the overall budget is relatively flat. we seek to move border wall funding. we seek a cancellation, and would rather fund technology and migrant services and other items in doj and hhs that we believe would improve the asylum system. have people go through faster, have a more efficient process. >> in fact, despite all of these different items you are mentioning, border security is not mentioned in the budget plan, is that correct? >> i h

2020 i believe represented 70 ores of the ousdnis work force plays in the shortcomings noted in the gao study. >> representative sherrill, i haven't had an opportunity yet to really delve into that. i am aware of it. i think that's a challenge. one of the things that we have already highlighted this morning is it really is in the talent of our people the continuity of their expertise that enables us to get things done f. we are having to rely on temporary talent or talent that may be somewhat transitory that impacts us. what we wanted to do is look at the cadre that we have, how we are augustmenting the cadre today. how we are capturing information, there are tools that can help us capture knowledge and information. and how do we have that knowledge repeatable so that regardless of who is here we need a core, but we can also continue to do those valuable things that we continue doing. so this is a problem. it has been a problem for quite some time. i think it is a growing problem around the community as we have people go in and out. we will look at that and we will come back to you on t

i wanted to really quickly ask about the gao setting on accountability. what role does the extensive reliance on temporary personnel, which represented 70% of the workforce, as well as contractors representing 51% of the office's workforce, plays in the shortcomings noted in the gao study? >> representative, i haven't had an opportunity yet to really delve into that. i'm aware of that, and i think it's a challenge. one of the things that we've already highlighted this morning is it really is in the talent of our people and the continuity of their expertise that really enables us to get things done. so if we're having to rely on temporary talent or talent that may be somewhat transitory, that impacts us. what we want to do is look at the cause rate we have, how we're all bringing that cause rate today. how we capture information. there are tools that can help us capture knowledge and information. then how do we have that knowledge repeatable so that regardless of who is here, we need a core but we can also continue to do those valuable things that we conti

they say, wow, that's pretty good >> reporter: gao founded her winery silver heights in 2007 in china'spanding >> in ten years when people think ningxia. >> fresh off a visit last year from president jinping they launched a plan to turn it into wine country and rivaling in scale france's bordeaux. the mountains which lie at a similar latitude boast around 30 varieties of grapes similar to bordeaux and napa valley one of the challenges for the wine growers is the extreme dry and cold weather so the vines need to be buried every winter into the spring hand that adds to the production costs. the government hopes they can appeal to chinese wine drinkers, a market dominated by imported labelsy >> the younger generation, they appreciate the taste of wine older generation drink wines mostly >> reporter: but the ultimate goal is to boost the wine exports which jumped 46% to countries like the u.s. >> >> 50 years ago people were laughing at starting to make wine. nowadays they are warming up >> reporter: investors hope to attract new financial investors with the goal of producing 600 million bot

ese derecho al voto ganpara que vuelva a pasar lo que pasÓ las hÉlices pasadas en que joe biden le gaÓes el centro de esta c controversia nicol >> tormentas que causaron c ristins gracialas altas temperaturas y la humedad impulsaron fuertes tormentas que causaron inundaciones ayer en filadelfia, pensilvania, dejando a pernas aisladas de agua y que tuvieron que ser rescatadas, el mal tiempo llevÓ al cierre de carreteras y la calles llenas de agua y tambiÉn a interrupciones en el servicio ferroviario regional, el vecino estado de new jersey declarÓ igual mente la emergencia por inundaciones en los cdos cond prÁcticamente a diario les hablamos de las consecuencias de la emergencia climÁtica que estamos viviendo de clima extremo que estamos sintiendo de costa a costa en estados unidos, en california uno de los Últimos episodios vividos es un tornado de fuego increÍble pero hay mucho mÁs francisco fajardo por las tardes escuchamo incendio no >> quÉ tal nicole buenas tardes lo que es un hecho es que la temporada de incendios ya vine fecha de inicio ni conclusiÓn ahora por lo menos en seis es

the head of the government accountability office will be on to talk about gao's coronavirus pending oversighthe agency's 100th anniversary. what c-span's washington journal , live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. ♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> this is just the community? >> it is more than that. comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create wi-fi enabled up for low income families to get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast support c-span as a public service along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. ♪ >> dr. rochelle walensky, the head of the centers for disease control, said the delta variant is responsible for 83% of all new covid-19 cases. she testified alongside dr. anthony fauci from the national institutes of health before the senate health committee.

now the city recently filed a lawsuit asking a judge to close down gao. they sports bar on force. jonathan mccall has the details that. >> after years of complaints calls and concerns the city of san jose is looking to turn off the lights for good on got the bar and grill the city has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the bar claiming it's a public nuisance. san jose city councilwoman for davis says the move has been years in the making. >> then working with the city is trying week that work for a couple of here. we've been working with >> in its lawsuit. the city claims the business encourages prostitution allows customers to drive away while intoxicated and violated health orders aimed at limiting the spread of covid-19 davis who represents the district. the bar is located in also says there's issues with drugs and noise. >> we've had a lot >> the move comes more than a month after a deadly crash at the bar killed one woman and injured 2 others. investigators say 32 year-old alex moreno was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time when he crashed his truck into a

annual reports and addressing many of the issues that have been propped up four years, and ig reports, gao studies, and other different forms of communication with congress. the democrats chose not to advance our legislation to help our officers. it's with great discipline it today that i don't get to question my friend harry dunn added okay to talk to them about what he and he rose like david bailey and other officers who saved the lives of stephen all of us on a baseball field a few years ago, we don't get to ask the questions that will lead to why there was not a better security posture here on the capitol complex. harry is a friend. harry and i hugged each other when we saw each other in the capital after what happened on january 6th. harry has been to my office to talk about these issues. he knows that all of us here want to address the institutional problems with the structure that is setup to fail, the structure in the united states capital is that the chief of police cannot make a final security decision without going to political appointees that make up the capitol police board, h