mr. bartlett? >> thank you, mr. chairman. if i could start, and i will defer to my colleagues at the department of homeland security, but i think i would like to start by saying that obviously the administration's commitment to resettling iraq refugees is steadfast. conducting this program in a way that is responsible, and responsible in a humanitarian way, as well as in a security effort, are really our two main issues and our two main responsibilities. the refugee program and the refugee screening for iraqis is no different than it is for any other nationality we conduct a full battery of tests, and we have since the beginning of the iraqi resettlement program. those tests have evolved over the time as vulnerabilities have been discovered and as new intelligence has been put into databases. we continue to look at that population, but frankly, as with any population, we want to make sure that this is a population that is safe to resettle. >> when you say it is no different than any other, wouldn't there be a higher level of

mr. bartlett is more of an expert on. congress legislated a program to say that those who have worked for the united states government -- there are three sub categories within the program -- initially it was small if you were a translator with the military and then expanded beyond that. it is the fact of their service with the united states that makes them eligible. when they come to the united states, both our agencies handle this and they don't come as a refugee. they, as a lawful, permanent resident so they get a green card. based on their service. there are some individuals who may be eligible to apply for both programs. we work on the refugee side of the program the individuals may choose which of those two avenues is better for them, which operates more quickly dependent they are in iraq or -- >> today operate on a parallel track or is there a preference given to someone who has served as an interpreter for our troops out in the midst of the mountains in afghanistan? do they get a preference? >> they do operate on a

mr. bartlett. >> thank you, mr. chairman.if i could start, i will defer to my colleagues at the department of homeland security, but i think i'd like to start by saying that the administration's commitment to resettling iraqi refugees is steadfast, and conducting this program and the way that is responsible, responsible and humanitarian way as well as any security effort really are two main issues and our two main responsibilities. the refugee program and the refugee screening for iraqis is no different than it is for any other nationality. we conduct a full battery of tests, and we have since the beginning of the iraqi resettlement program, those tests have evolved over time, and vulnerabilities i think have been discovered as has new intelligence been put into databases. and so we continue to look at that population, but, frankly, as with any population we want to make sure that this is a population that is safe to resettle. if i -- >> but when you say it's no different than any other, wouldn't there be a higher level cr

mr. bartlett? when i was appointed united states attorney, the fbi sent people -- they talk to a degree classmates and they talk to people i went to high school with, neighbors have lived on my block when i was 10. now, of course, that's for a secure position of responsibility here in the united states to cover. i don't expect to the same degree. i'm just sort of curious, so there's sort of a vetting so to speak and they would be the kind of inquiry that would go back to try to understand who this person was in their previous community and what we know about them? >> if i could, if i could say one additional point and then i think i will defer to my dhs colleague. i mean, the beginning of this process is a collection of information on each refugee or their refugee family in trying to develop both the individual information about the family but also we look at family tree information, who are they related to, collection obviously fingerprints some point down the road. so at the individual level it's

mr. bartlett and mr. steele's book's beginning in 1979, empire, the life, legend and madness of howard hughes. in 1985, nuclear waste in america came out. and in '92," america: what went wrong?" america:who really pays the taxes? america:who stole the dream in 1996, "the great american tax dodge" house spiraling fraud and avoidance are killing fairness, destroying the income tax and costing you, that came out in 2000. critical conditions:how health care in america became big business and bad medicine, 2004, and finally "the betrayal of the american dream" came out in 2012. james steele, the use of the word american and america throughout your books. when did that become a trend for you guys? >> guest: it became a trend in the "america: what went wrong?" book which was a series prior to that inquiry that we expanded into book form. the idea was these books are about average americans for the most part, what they're going through, national in scope, the problems are not endemic to one area of the country an