ms. edwards: i really appreciate that call out. malicious actors will target that tax service.will try to take advantage of that. there is a need for investment and training and education and capacity building so we can use these systems, but also protect them. there is another policy component that is a little bit less tapped into then we should be and a lot of opportunity for us to increase that through information sharing. but also with peer-to-peer and also other countries in the region there is an opportunity for us to engage on these issues and really double down on those efforts to support international cooperation. i would love to call out the oas, because that comes to mind immediately. we are training cyber professionals through our university training programs. we are trying to get them familiar with those frameworks that exist so they can go into the workforce and try to leverage those. really trying to see what small actions can have outsized impacts when it comes to the stability of cyberspace. taking it more predictable place. -- making it a more predictable plac

ms. gabbard: yes i was. edward snowden broke the law. he should not have released all of that information that caused that harm. there is no question. sen. king: how may documents did he release? ms. gabbard: i know he took over one million documents. i don't know how many million he released. sen. king: you stated unequivocally today that snowden broke the law, but you introduced a bill in congress along with congressman matt gaetz to pardon him. he broke the law but it was not that serious? is that what you thought? ms. gabbard: i take very seriously upholding our constitution have sworn an oath to support and defend the constitution over eight times in my life. my statements have been reflective of the egregious and illegal programs exposed in that leak. sen. king: but you ignore the vast majority the committee found, bipartisan, the conclusion was that the vast majority of these things he released had nothing to do with constitutional rights or the fourth amendment but indeed were enormous compromises of our national security. ms. gab

ms. gabbard, a simple yes or no question, do you still think edward snowden is brave? ms. gabbard: mr. ce chairman, edward snowden broke the law. i don't agree with all the intelligence he released nor the way in which he did it. there would have been opportunities for him to come to you in this committee or seek out the i.g. to release that information. the fact is he also, even as he broke the law, released information that exposed egregious illegal and unconstitutional programs happening within our government that led to serious reforms that congress undertook. sen. warner: chairman, we have five minutes. while i'll take your answer, and these are your quotes, brave, please join my bipartisan legislation calling for charges to be dropped against him. do you disagree that legislation was not appropriate? do you believe he is brave or not? back those words? ms. gabbard: once again, senator, edward snowden broke the law, he also released information that exposed the united states government illegal programs. sen. warner: your legislation and your words are still your beliefs, yes or no,

edward snowden. there's only one other member who co-sponsored this resolution and that was former congressman matt gaetz. now in 2025, ms. gabbard still refuses to call snowden what he is, a traitor to the united states. when she was asked about that at her hearing, she was given several opportunities to indicate that she understood that edward snowden is a traitor who put at risk the lives of the thousands of americans in the intelligence community. she refused to acknowledge that he's a traitor. with such a track record, how can-- how are we supposed to expect that she will properly classify our enemies? how are we to expect that she would label xi jinping or kim jong-un, who knows what ms. gabbard would do, i think there's a stark difference between our adversaries who want to undermine the united states and those who are our allies. and it doesn't appear that tulsi gabbard understands the difference. so, how can the men and women of the intelligence community trust that ms. gabbard will protect their secrets? that she'll protect our secrets, the secrets of the united states? how many russians are going to risk their

ms. gabbard has been publicly outspoken in praise and defense of edward snowden. someone who betrayed the trust and jeopardized the security of our nation. the vast majority of the information he stole and leaked before, mind you, he ran off to hide tail in china and russia. most of this information had nothing to do with america's privacy, but did compromise our nation's most collected sources and methodsment in a way we're still paying a price for snowden betrayal and beyond dispute that his actions put our men and women in uniform in places like iraq and afghanistan at risk, yet, ms. gabbard has excited snowden as a whistleblower and, senator cotton called a traitor and he should rot in jail for the rest of his life. a week ago at the hearing, member after member, particularly my republican friends, gave her chance and again to just be willing to call out snowden as a traitor. she repeatedly declined. instead she said, and i quote, the dni has no role in determining whether or not edward snowden is a lawful whistleblower. now, not only does she seem to believe

ms. gabbard has also repeatedly praised edward snowden, a former national security agency contractor hot fled to -- who fled to china, then to russia after he was charged in 2013 with illegally exposing government surveillance methods and classified information. ms. gabbard has called him a brave whistleblower and even went so far as to introduce legislation in the house of representatives to pardon edward snowden. in 2016 the house intelligence committee issued a declassified scathing report that found snowden leaked secrets that caused tremendous damage to u.s. national security, including damage to american troops and american personnel overseas. as that report made clear, snowden was not a whistleblower. he was and is a traitor to this na nation. ms. gabbard and anyone who is interested in understanding the impact of the leaked secrets has access to the declassified house intelligence committee report and many other public sources of information explaining the damage that snowden caused for our national security. yet she continues to believe her own sources of information instead, and

ms. gabbard has also been publicly outspoken in her praise and defense of edward snowden, someone who betrayed the trust and jeopardized the security of our nation. the have as majority of -- the vast majority of the information he stole and leaked, before i would mind you, he ran off to high tail in both china and russia, most of this information, i can assure you, had nothing to do with america's privacy, but did compromise our nation's most sensitive collection sources and methods. in many ways, we're still paying a price for snowden's betrayal and it is beyond dispute that his actions put our men and women in uniform in places like iraq and afghanistan at risk. yet, ms. gabbard has celebrated snowden as a, quote, brave whistleblower, and advocated his pardon. someone that my friend, tom cotton, called a traitor who should, quote, rot in jail for the rest of his life. a week ago at the hearing, member after member, particularly my republican friends, gave her chance and again to just be willing to call out snowden as a traitor. she repeatedly declined. instead she said, and i quote, the dni

ms. gabbard has made, refusing to acknowledge what we all know. edward snowden broke his oath to protect classified information. edward snowden betrayed the trust given to him and every other american who holds a security clearance. and, by the way, mr. snowden had a whistleblower protocol he could have followed by chose not to. people's lives were put in jeopardy. mr. snowden, as you know, intentionally gathered and deliberately walked out the door with more than 1.5 million classified files and withent to china -- and went to china and eventually found safe harbor in russia. also, i have some concern about where ms. gab gab is getting her -- where ms. gabbard is getting her news. getting access to the nation's most tightly held secrets to a person who has amplified russian talking points -- the spread of misinformation -- and who watches russia state-owned tv, i have concerns about that as well as the trip to syria to see bashar al a sad, who was in the process of murdering his own people. and of course ms. gabbard said she was skeptical that his gover

ms. escobar: i rise in honor of remarkable life of major general edward greer, who broke barriers and one of the services black general. his military career began when he enlisted in the segregated army reserve during world war ii and he was attached to the 107th field battalion, an all-black unit. upon commissioning as second lieutenant, he pursued a second enlistment during the korean and vietnam wars. he concluded 33 years of service retiring at the rank of major general and deputy commanding general at the u.s. military personnel center. i visited him at his home in el paso to celebrate his life for his 100th birthday. on january 29 of this year, this extraordinary man died peacefully in his home. i extend my deepest condolences to his family and friends and we honor the life of this hero, husband, father and patriot and we celebrate his immeasurable contributions to our nation. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? mr. wilson: i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and rev

ms. gabbard has also been publicly outspoken in her praise and defense of edward snowden, someone who betrayed the trust and jeopardized the security of our nation. the have as majority of -- the vast majority of the information he stole and leaked, before i would mind you, he ran off to high tail in both china and russia, most of this information, i can assure you, had nothing to do with america's privacy, but did compromise our nation's most sensitive collection sources and methods. in many ways, we're still paying a price for snowden's betrayal and it is beyond dispute that his actions put our men and women in uniform in places like iraq and afghanistan at risk. yet, ms. gabbard has celebrated snowden as a, quote, brave whistleblower, and advocated his pardon. someone that my friend, tom cotton, called a traitor who should, quote, rot in jail for the rest of his life. a week ago at the hearing, member after member, particularly my republican friends, gave her chance and again to just be willing to call out snowden as a traitor. she repeatedly declined. instead she said, and i quote, the dni