mr. blumenthal: thank you, senator blackburn. i call on senator cantwell. senator cantwell: thank you, mr. chairman, and for you, senator blackburn, for this important work on this public policy area. i think it's very important to understand that our committee would like to move forward on stronger privacy legislation. and yesterday's hearing clearly crystallized that we need to update the children's online privacy protection act. and this hearing, i'm sure, will put even more focus to the fact that we need to do that. i want to thank senator markey for his questioning yesterday. this month, "the wall street journal" published a series of articles about facebook and instagram showing the management knew in great detail about the impacts of these products, the harm to children, the harm to teenagers, and in spite continued to bury that knowledge. so as our colleague just said, data collection of children is something that should have more aggressive attention. they should not have the products and services track and follow these young children and updating c

mr. blackburn. data that you are collecting on kids for your programmer you are tracking them and doing the digital experience survey, what do you do with that data how long do you keep that in do you have the parents permission to do r that research? >> it is the most stringent privacy protections and we certainly get parental consent. >> said that to us for the a record a screenshot of what you use as a parental consent form. >> what you do that? >> ie would be happy to take the request back to the teams that do the research. >> know we want to copy of the form. if you get parental consent there has to be some kind of form even if it is a dignity job on —- w digital signature will you submit that form for the record? >> i will go back to the team. >> the wall street journal article has a big impact to help bring some sunlight to your practices. i'm sure mr. zuckerberg was not pleased with this that there was a real lack of governance it is his way or the highway and facebook so how long have you w

mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. so appreciate the remarks of my colleague from missouri, and it sounds as if he is hearing from his constituents in missouri the same thing that i am hearing in tennessee. as a matter of fact, i held a telephone town hall last night. 30,000 of our citizens from upper east tennessee were on this call. and to say that they are unhappy would be to put it mildly. that really is an understatement. they are angry. they are frustrated. they are exhausted with what this administration is doing. they are angry with how the federal government is responding to a host of issues. they really took president biden at his word for his build back better. they expected that. but that's not what they have gotten. he has made a mess of it, and indeed what you have is a build back broke agenda. and my colleague from missouri really laid that out. it is build back broke. that is what they are bringing forward. and that has -- that agenda of president biden's and the democratic party is really -- has really

mr. chair, and ranking member blackburn. i've been arguing for some time that it is time for congress to act and i think the question is always what is the correct way to do it. the right way to do it, consistent with our first amendment right to free speech. this -- i'm not averse to looking at the monopolistic division of facebook. i think that's a real issue that needs to be examined and perhaps addressed. at least under this committee, there are a a couple of things think we can do. i have a piece of legislation and senators blackburn and blumenthal are both co-sponsors. called the filter bubble transparency act. essentially it would give users the options to engage with social media platforms without being manipulated by the secret formulas that essentially dictate the content that you see when you open up an app or logon to a website. we also, i think, need to hold big tech accountable by reforming section 230 and one of the best opportunities i think to do that, at least in a bipartisan way, is the platform accusedabl

blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for entering that letter in the record that we have from our states attorneys general. good morning to everyone. it is nice to see people in this hearing room and to be here for the hearing today ms. haugen we thank you for your appearance before us today and for giving the opportunity not only for congress but for the american people to hear from you in this setting. mr. chairman, i think also thanks to you and your staff that have worked with our team to make certain we had this hearing and this opportunity today so that we can get more insight into what facebook is actually doing as they invade the privacy not only of adults but of children. and look at the ways that they are in violation of the children's online privacy protection act, which is federal law. and looking at how they are evading that law and working around it. as the chairman said, privacy and online privacy passing a federal privacy standard has been long in the works. i filed my first privacy bill when i

mr. chairman. >> thanked senator blackburn. i : : senator cantwell. >> thank you, mr. airman and thank youca ranking member blackburn for this hearing today and for your long-standing work on this very important policy area. i thinknk it is very important to understand that our committee would like to moveer forward on stronger privacy legislation. and yesterday hearing it crystallized we need to update the children's online privacy protection act. in this hearing will put even more focus to the fact that we need to do that. i want to thank the senator markey for his question yesterday. this month the wall street journal published in articles about facebook an instagram showing the management new in great detail about the impact of these products of harm to children, from two teenagers and continue to bury that knowledge. as her colleague just said, data collection of children is something that should have more aggressive attention. they should not have the products and services track and follow these young children and it will be essential. as we said yesterday, the co

blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman. miss clark, you're in charge of policing the civil rights division at the federal level. does it raise civil rights concerns when the government attempts to intimidate citizens whore exercising their first amendment freedom of speech? >> thank you, senator. we do not want intimidation in our society. >> so it would concern you if there was an exercise against an individual's free speech, correct? >> the first amendment is important, and we also do not want a society with intimidation. >> did president biden promise to keep the d.o.j. apolitical? >> he has. and attorney general garland made sure partisanship will not impact our enforcement work. >> okay. yes or no, did the teachers union write a letter to d.o.j. asking you to use the patriot act to target concerned parents for the opposition of indoctrination, yes or no? >> this is not a matter the civil rights division handles. the memorandum issued by the attorney general speaks to threats and intimidation some school officials exper

mr. chairman. chairman blumenthal, ranking member blackburn, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. my name is jennifer stout, and i am the vice president of global public policy at snap. i and in this role for nearly 5 years, after spending most two decades in public service, more than half in congress. i have tremendous respect for this institution and the work you are doing to ensure young people are having safe and healthy online experiences. to understand snap's approach to protecting young people on our platform, it is helpful to start at the beginning. snapchat's founders were part of the first generation to grow up with social media. like many of their peers, they saw social media was capable of making a positive impact, but it also had certain features that troubled them. these platforms encouraged people to broadcast their thoughts permanently. young people were constantly measuring themselves by likes and comments, trying to present a perfect version of themselves because of social pressure and judgment. -- social pressures and judgment. social media als

blackburn will preside. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr beckerman, i know there is sharing of data with the chinese communist party. given the own everyship or at least board influence. senator blackburn was just talking about that. i-know senator cruz raiseeds the issues. i want to raise a related sufficient. it's what i refer to as kowtow capitalism and i think that you guys are exhibits a of cow toy -- kowtow capitalism? what is that? it's american executives of american companies censorin americans' first amendment rights in america so as not to offend the chinese government and/or to gain access to the chinese government. we see it on wall street and in the nba. we see it in the movie industry. let me ask a couple of questions regarding that. a tiktok user could put up a video that criticizes the chairman of this committee and the ranking member or any senator. president biden or former president trump. couldn't they? not like some horrible violent suggestion but just a criticism of an elected official. is that common? mr. beckerma

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator blackburn.we will go too senator sullivan and finish the first round and then senators lummis.la i'm going to go in both. i should be back by the time she finishes in the meantime blackburn, thank you. >> thank you mr. chairman and mr. beckerman there are a lot of questions which i have concerns about sharing data with the chinese communist party even though the influence and senator blackburn was talking about that and senator cruz was talking about that but i wonder raise a related issue what i would refer to as kowtow capitalism. kowtow capitalism and i think you guys are exhibit a on kowtowed capitalism. what is kowtowed capitalism? its american executives of american companies venturing americans first amendment rights in america so as not to offend the chinese communist party and order to gain access to the chinese market so we see it on wall street and we see it in the movie studios and we see it with the nba. so let me ask a couple of questions. could a tik tok user, if the tape talkback

blackburn: mr. chairman, do we have ankle order so that we will know where we are in the queue? n. leahy: i just wanted to know -- i know who you are. sen. blackburn: ok. sen. leahy: what? let me start my time over again. assistant attorney general clarke, i'm glad you are here. i think it is important that we all be here. as the lead sponsor of the john lewis voting rights act, i am alarmed by the toxic and partisan rhetoric around restoring the votaries -- the voting rights act. i remember going with my parents when they would go to vote and they told me this was a sacred right. everybody should have appeared for decades -- everybody should have it. for decades, republicans and democrats have come together to strengthen this law, so i cannot understand the partisan rancor around it now. so why is it so important for americans of all parties and backgrounds to believe this issue should unite us, not divide us? gen. clarke: thank you for that question. the right to vote is one of the most central in american democracy. we know that the voting rights act has enjoyed tremendous bip

blackburn: thank you, mr. chairman. i have a text just put across by a facebook -- facebook spokesperson. just putting out the fact that francis --frances haugen did not work on these issues and has no information on the topic on facebook. if facebook wants to discuss their targeting of children, if they want to discuss their practices, their privacy invasion or violation of the children online privacy act, i'm extending to you an invitation to step forward, be sworn in and testify before this committee. we would be pleased to hear from you and welcome your testimony. one quick question for you. what is the biggest threat to facebook's existence? is it greed? is it regulators? is it becoming extinct or obsolete or teenage users? what's the biggest ms. haugen: i think the fact that facebook is driven by metrics. every individual decision may seem like it helps the growth but people don't enjoy it like when they pass meaningful social interaction back in 2018, research said users that it made it less meaningful. i think t

blackburn? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have a text that was just put up by facebook spokes person. it says, just pointing out the fact that francis haugen did not work on child safety or instagram and has no direct knowledge of the topic from her work at facebook. so i will simply say this to mr. stone, if facebook wants to discuss their targeting of children, if they want to discuss their practices of privacy invasion or violations of the children online privacy act, i'm extending to you an invitation to step forward, be sworn in, and testify before this committee. we would be pleased to hear from you and welcome your testimony. what is the biggest threat to facebook's existence, is it greed? is it regulators? is it becoming extinct or obsolete for a teenage user? what is the biggest threat to their existence? >> i think the fact that facebook is driven so much bhi metrics and these lead to a very heavy emphasis on short-termism. that every little decision may seem like it helps with growth, but if it makes it a more toxic platform that people don't enjoy -- when they passed meani

senator blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you all for your opening statements.iss gross graves. i want to come to you. 2019, you were before the house and you stated and i'm quoting you, the legislators passing restrictions on abortion, want to control the lives and futures of women, denying them equality. so let me ask you this, do you believe that having children negatively impacts the lives and futures of women, that having children somehow makes them unequal? marsha blackburn: you know, i believe, senator, that the ability to determine when or whether you have children or how you parent those children is fundamentally tied not only to your personal liberty and privacy, but your ability to be truly equal in this country. your ability to participate in our economy, your ability to participate in society, your ability to participate in our politics, to be seen as equal citizens. that's one of the things that has -- >> so what you are sating -- saying is women cannot be considered equal unless they have access to abortion. >> for sure. we are in day 29 where peo

. >> thank you, senator blumenthal, senator blackburn, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman.ersecretary kahl, you're going to recognize my questions because i asked them in the hearing in september and you didn't want to answer them then. so let's take another round, another go at it. so as the under secretary of defense for policy or in the time between president biden's inauguration and your confirmation, did you ever have a conversation with general scott miller about the future of afghanistan? >> no. >> you did not. okay. during your september testimony on the topic, you told senator ernst that you basically didn't have an opportunity to participate in the decision process on afghanistan because you were at home sitting on your couch. we're all aware that you were pending confirmation prior to late april, but were you actually at home sitting on the couch or were you involved in the president's decision calculus on when and how to withdraw from afghanistan? >> i had no interactions with the administration because i was trying not to presume confirmation. >> okay. were you

mr. chairman. i really appreciate the hearing today and i'll be submitting more questions for the record. >> thank you, senator rosen. senator blackburn please? >> thank you, mr. chairman. general milley, i want to come back to you. we discussed that you have had conversations with woodward, costa, rutger, and bender on their books, correct? >> not costa. >> you did not on costa. >> woodward, yes, and others. >> we'll leave that as a point of discussion. okay. in any of these conversations, did you discuss private meetings with the president or white house officials? >> white house officials perhaps. the president i don't think so. >> so you never discussed any of your conversations with president trump? >> with president trump -- >> with any of these authors. >> not a private conversation with president trump. >> did you portray the commander-in-chief in a negative light or make comments that were critical of the commander-in-chief to any of these authors with which you had conversations? >> not my comments or my observations, no. others that were relayed to me from others perhaps. >> i'm looking forward to your book report. >> great

mr. chair. and ranking member blackburn i've been arguing for some time that it is time for congress to act.lways what is the correct way to do it, the right way to do it consistent with our first amendment right to free speech. >> totally. >> this committee doesn't have jurisdiction over the anti-trust issue. that's the judiciary committee and i'm not averse to looking at the monopolistic nature of facebook honestly. i think that's a real issue that needs to be examined, perhaps addressed as well. but at least under this committee's jurisdiction, there are a couple of things i think we can do. and i have a piece of legislation and senators blackburn and blumenthal are both co-sponsors called the filter bubble transparency act essentially what it would do is give users the options to engage with social media platforms without being manipulated by the secret formulas that essentially dictate the content that you see when you open up an app or log on to a website. we also, i think, need to hold big tech accountable by reforming section 230 and one of the best opportunities i think to do that,

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator blackburn. i don't know whether the ranking member. >> if you don't mind. thank you chairman blumenthal and i will just take a moment or two and i do appreciate being able to speak as ranking member of the full committee. ms. haugen this is aom subcommittee hearing and this is pretty good attendance for a subcommittee. there are a lot of things going on but i'm willing to predict that this will have almost 100% attendance by members of the subcommittee because of the importance of the subject matter so thanks for coming forward to share concerns aboutor facebooks is this practice is particularly with respect to children and teens and of course that is the main topic of the title of our hearing today protecting kids on line. the recent revelations about facebook's effects on children are indeed disturbing and you are going to see a lot of why partisan concern about this today and in future hearings. they show how urgent it is for congress to act against powerful tech companies on behalf of children and the broader public. i say powerful tech companies who ar

so senator blackburn and then a five-minute break. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and general garland, thank you for being with us today. i have to tell you that it is with much disappointment that i have watched the doj be so politicized. and the way things have been carried out when you look at the memo to parents, you heard a lot about that today, and it's because we're hearing a lot about that. and i just have to ask you, knowing that you really helped bring to justice those that caused the oklahoma city bombings, would you really, honestly put parents in the same category as a terry nichols or a timothy mcveigh? >> my god, absolutely not. >> then why -- why would you ever release a memo? i mean, did you write that memo? did staff write that memo? what would have led you to do this? it is so over the top. >> there's nothing in the memo that in any way draws any comparison to anything like that. this memo is about violence and threats of violence. >> sir, i have to tell you that that may be your opinion, and you know, many times perception is reality. and readin

mr. markey and bloomenthol has introduced legislation to protect our children. marsha blackburn has important legislation to address these issues. what i have seen with these hearings is how a ranking member republican and richard bloomenthol leading that effort and bringing us together and drawing attention here. and it's my goal to be able to have some hearings here in the coming weeks to look at these legislative ideas and as i've shared in hearings and also with the press, it's going to be incumbent upon congress to mark these bills up and to move these bills out of the united states senate to the house by the end of the calendar year. i'm hoping by early december. we have to make a commitment for floor time to pass these pieces of legislation because of the kids that we've now seen that are vulnerable. young girls that facebook clearly was preying upon. and also the national security threats that began to reveal themselves more and more every day. this is comprehensive and it's the social media companies like facebook that are profiting off of these dangerous algorithms tha

mr. fortuno: that shows how -- why they get elected so easily. they so personable. i want to formally introduced them. to my left i have senator marsha blackburn, really thank you for being here. appreciate it. senator tim scott from south carolina. senator marco rubio from florida. we have congresswoman ashley hinson from iowa. and last but not least, from california, great state of california, congresswoman young kim. i want to start by asking you, senator, if i may, oftentimes we see that it's very -- especially difficult for women to decide to run senator blackburn: every one of you thinking about running as a republican, i want you to do this. i want you to write down g.o.p. and i want you to remember it is not grand old party. i am from nashville. and there is nothing grand and old that is cool except the grand ole opry. i want you to talk about our party as the great opportunity party. because that is what we are all about. and that's the type thing. you keep that focus of the fact that this is not about you. it is about your children. and grandchildren. it is about a better america for all citizens. and opportunity for all. everyone be

mr. fortuno: that shows how -- why they get elected so easily. they so personable. i want to formally introduced them. to my left i have senator marsha blackburn, really thank you for being here. appreciate it. senator tim scott from south carolina. senator marco rubio from florida. we have congresswoman ashley hinson from iowa. and last but not least, from california, great state of california, congresswoman young kim. i want to start by asking you, senator, if i may, oftentimes we see that it's very -- especially difficult for women to decide to run senator blackburn: every one of you thinking about running as a republican, i want you to do this. i want you to write down g.o.p. and i want you to remember it is not grand old party. i am from nashville. and there is nothing grand and old that is cool except the grand ole opry. i want you to talk about our party as the great opportunity party. because that is what we are all about. and that's the type thing. you keep that focus of the fact that this is not about you. it is about your children. and grandchildren. it is about a better america for all citizens. and opportunity for all. everyone be

now to answer senator blackburn's question -- actually, senator, i am told senator lee will be recognizing. sen. lee: thank you, mr. chairman. general clarke, let's talk for a moment about what states can do. does california have the authority, and should it have the authority to adopt more stringent air quality standards than the federal standards in place without receiving preclearance from the united states government? general clarke: senator, this is not an area that i work in. i suppose, this is not an area that i work in. sen. lee: what about areas that are protected by the bill of rights? suppose a state wants to pass laws dealing with covid-19 that might have the impact of restricting religious freedom? like for example restricting the number of people who may congregate in a church or otherwise? should that have to first receive preclearance before they can be enacted by state? general clarke: senator, i am here to talk about the right to vote, which falls to the 14th and 15th amendments, and congress has broad powers to enforce -- sen. lee: i assume you would also agree that through the 14th amendment, c

blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman. gentleman, we thank you all for being here with us today. as you've heard from all of us, the american people, tennesseens are wanting answers. they deserve to hear your testimony and i think it is unacceptable that this is the first time i'm hearing from you in any forum, despite attempts at outreach by both me and my staff, save a few short all-senator phone calls that we have had. and i want to emphasize all of us here, everyone of us answered to the american people. and they deserve transparency, and information regarding this administration's botched and disgraceful withdrawal. tennesseen strks are really angry, and as you know, general, it's home to the airborne, one of the most deployed divisions in the u.s. military. we're also homed to the specialized 160th, who were among the last on the ground, extracting u.s. citizens from danger in kabul. tennessee national guard units have deployed to afghanistan at a high operational tempo, as well as providing vital logistical services, such as refuelling. we are home to more than 400,000 vet

mr. chairman. i really appreciate the hearing today and i will be submitting more questions for the record. >> thank you senator rosin. senator blackburn>> thank you mr. chairman. general milley or want to come back to you. wer discussed with you having conversations with woodward costa rucker -- on their book, correct? >> not costa. we will leave that as a pointed discussions. in any of these conversations did you discuss private meetings with the president or white house officials? >> white house officials perhaps in the president i don't think so. neverls discussed any of your conversation with president trump? or with any of these officers? >> not a prior conversation. >> thank you portray the commander-in-chief in aa negatie lightt and were there, that were critical of the commander-in-chief to any of these authors for which you had conversations? >> not my comments, no. others that were relayed to me, guess. >> i look forward to your bookok report. would you see'm these conversatn of an abuse of executive privilege? >> i would not, t no. >> you would not, okay. let me ask you this one is your standard for determining a leak of pr

mrs. sanders who said two senators are holding up his bill, it's actually two plus 50 which is 52 because i know today's washington is aromatic lead challenge. last night senator marsha blackburnd there could be others. a vote today on the reconciliation bill could be 54 - 46. this afternoon president biden has apparently gone up to capitol hill it will try to persuade house democratic conference to vote for trillion dollar infrastructure bill and maybe save some face for his domestic program. that program along with the catastrophe of the southern border in the catastrophe in afghanistan is already dooming his presidency. nancy pelosi is 022 for the infrastructure bills and tennis that would be a double fault but were working towards a baseball player so will say districts in your out. kevin mccarthy and the house republicans are completely opposed to any combine infrastructure and budget reconciliation package and of course they are right. i just say let the therapy continue or let it begin there's a new reality in washington and i rather like it save america, kill the bill, kill all the bills. now the fun starts on set my great pal brian kilmeade "fox & friends" cohost bria

mrs. kim: the republican party has a great message. we are all for smaller government by giving the individual the opportunity and the freedom to exercise their mind. as senator marsha blackburn, you stole my line. i called g.o.p. not the grand ole party but grand opportunity party. i'm with you on this. this is how an immigrant like me from south korea when i was a young girl, not even a teenager, 12 years old coming over here. who would have thought many decades later that i would be doing this? but in the district that i represent is one of the most diverse district. so having a great message the party i belong to, but if you don't have the right messenger to get the message to the people, average jane dough -- doe, and john kim. you got to get the message. you have to be able to look like the district, talk like the district so they can relate to you. look, i ran in a district just like in 2020, joe biden won by 10 percentage points over trump administration. but i still won. and my district is d plus five. i attribute that to our consistence being grounded. telling the diverse community i'm one of you. i look like you. and by golly i talk like you. i talk about women's i

senator blackburn has asked for three minutes and i will conclude with my own three minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. attorney general garland, you just told me you don't think you met susan hennesey. did you hire susan hennesey? >> i have sign off authority for everybody in the justice department. that is best i can very with respect to that. the question you are worried about senator had to do with durham. as i explained, she has nothing to do with the durham investigation. >> were you unaware of her comments before you hired her? >> you don't know? >> i hire 115,000 people in the justice department. >> i'm fully aware of that. it is ark mazing to us those 115,000 people can't investigate things like crime on the border, can't investigate crime on the streets and i'm going to return to the memo of october 4, the memorandum cites harassment, intimidation and threats of violence. and what i'd like to know is who chose that language? harassment, intimidation and threats of violence? you said this reflected your views, but it has become apparent that you did not write this memo yourself. so

blackburn and then we will take a break. i know there is some interest in another round of questions. maybe we will turn to senator wuhan -- senator lujan. >> mr. chairman, i have to go to sit in the chair starting at noon. >> i have one question. this relates to what mr. markey was asking. does facebook ever employ child psychologists or mental health professionals to deal with these children online issues that we are discussing? ms. haugen: facebook has many researchers with phd's. i assume some of them are -- i know some of them have psychology degrees. i am not sure if they are child specialist. facebook works with external agencies to protect children's rights online. chrm. blumenthal: senator lujan, after those questions we will take a break, come back at noon. sen. lee: -- sen. lujan: during the hearing the company contested their own internal research that does not exist. yes or no, does facebook have internal research indicating that instagram harms teens? particularly harming perception of the body image that disproportionately affects young women? ms. haugen: facebook has extensive research. sen. lujan: thank you for confirming thes