mr. mccaul: sure. it's been said the national debt is one of the greatest threats to our national security. that's been mentioned as well. i think that kind of goes to the mission statement of the department. the department was formed after 9/11. horrific terrorist attack. that's a mission of the department, perhaps that would be more in line with the mission of the treasury department in terms of what you're talking about. not to minimize that as a threat as well. i just think the department was stood up by congress to address he threat of terrorists. questioner: my question is, you know, i know about terrorism and nuclear threats. are there more advanced technologies by some of our adversaries who are very sophisticated technologically that are threats to our country? i mean, as a nurse i know about lasers, i know about the dangers they can do. to human tissue. we saw "star wars," since i'm a mom. i was wondering, will are there any threats beyond the very snp s ones mr. mccaul: sure. from a technolo

mr. mccaul: the visa waiver process was in a unanimous bill. i view the syrian refugees as a threat but the idea that you have 5000 isis trained foreign fighters with western passports to me was a huge threat. a huge security gap that needed to be fixed. we fixed it in that legislation. i was disappointed to see the secretary because we put iran and there is a well. basically saying if you travel to iran, you have to apply for visas. he was trying to get around the law with a business exception. that was clearly not the intent of the bill. we didn't have that in the law. [inaudible question] mr. mccaul: it was in the omnibus bill. it was my hope and intention we were going to pass it. i was disappointed to see this thatne of the top issues the administration had taken out of the omnibus bill. they have threatened to veto on this bill. despite the fact that we got an overwhelming number of my colleagues to support it on both sides of the aisle. that is why we are calling on the senate today to take action. we can afford to waste. refugees are co

mr. mccaul: thank you, ken. and thank you for your great help on the book that i just wrote that as you mentioned the proceeds will go to the wounded warriors and their children and it's about failures of -- the 2016 presidential debate -- designed to do that so we can see the threats as they really are and how do we deal with those threats. i was hear to talk about the president's remarks last night's state of the union and i must say not surprisingly the lack of emphasis on what i think is probably the number one issue now facing the nation. that is national security, the safety of americans and it's a threat that we see from various points across the globe from isis to iran, to russia, china, cybersecurity as well, most of the chapters in the book are devoted to each of these specific threats that are out there. and i know it's been said already but there is more state of denial of what the real threat is almost going back to when he spoke about isis, the j.v. team and he said it was hot political rhetoric an

mr. mccaul: thank you, ken. i want to thank the hudson institute for hosting this. and thank you for your great help on the book that i just wrote that as you mentioned the proceeds will go to the wounded warriors and their children and it's about failures of imagination, which if you look back to pearl harbor and 9/11, the 9/11 commission talked about how that contributed to what happened that fateful day and it's a point of discussion, a point of discussion in the 2016 presidential debate -- designed to do that so we can see the threats as they really are and how do we deal with those threats. i was hear to talk about the president's remarks last night's state of the union and i must say not surprisingly the lack of emphasis on what i think is probably the number one issue now facing the nation and that is national security, the safety of americans and it's a threat that we see from various points across the globe from isis to iran, to russia, china, cybersecurity as well, most of the chapters in the book are devoted to each of these specific threats that are out

mr. mccaul over several years. over the last month congress enacted a cyber security law to promote information sharing, to strengthen coordination between the private and public sectors. as a committee and as congress we need to continue to confront these serious cyber threats. unfortunately we continue to see an increase in major cyber attacks in both the public and private sectors. in the hearing we held here in july we heard from the significant breach at the office of personnel management. in which the personal information of millions of current and former federal employees and job applicants was compromised, including some of us here. highly sensitive security clearance files were also compromised making it not just a problem for all those individuals, but national security issue as well. we have laws in place to address the security, the federal information systems. the federal information security management act or fisma in subsequent amendments established the necessary policies and procedures for the deve

mccaul: well, i think the next president will inherit a far more dangerous world then when mr. obama took office. i think there are so many hotspots right now that have to be dealt with, whether it is russian aggression, chinese cyber hacking, isis, the threat of radical islam throughout -- it is a global phenomenon now. it goes beyond containment, rather destroying the threat, and we are doing a good job. it's dealing with isis, which i think the president has disregarded. it was supposed to all the over, but the reality is isis reared its ugly head. you can't turn a blind eye to it, you can't pretend like it doesn't exist. you have to deal with it -- a lot of people have a simplistic notion that you push a button, you carpet bomb, and bomb the shit out of them, and there is a military piece to this that is critical, but there is also a political piece to this. there is a war in syria and assad has to be a part of it. the russians can play a constructive role with mr. assad. the russians will have a homeland security department of their own, and i think dealing with the politi

mccaul: well, i think the next president will inherit a far more dangerous world then when mr. obama took office. i think there are so many hotspots right now that have to be dealt with, whether it is russian aggression, chinese cyber hacking, isis, the threat of radical islam throughout -- it is a global phenomenon now. it goes beyond containment, rather destroying the threat, and we are doing a good job. it's dealing with isis, which i think the president has disregarded. it was supposed to all the over, but the reality is isis reared its ugly head. you can't turn a blind eye to it, you can't pretend like it doesn't exist. you have to deal with it -- a lot of people have a simplistic notion that you push a button, you carpet bomb, and bomb the shit out of them, and there is a military piece to this that is critical, but there is also a political piece to this. there is a war in syria and assad has to be a part of it. the russians can play a constructive role with mr. assad. the russians will have a homeland security department of their own, and i think dealing with the politi