>> guest: well, as i said at my testimony, we have no problem with the gao doing a report and, indeed, last week the house energy and commerce committee, certain members on the committee went ahead and asked the gao to go ahead and prepare the report just as i had suggested at the hearing back in april. we have no problem with the report being performed. the dot.com act, of course, is not yet law. it's only been passed as part of a house appropriations measure. the problem with it was that it would have held up transition and basically left it to the gao to basically become the judge and jury on a plan that's going to be put together by an entire multistakeholder community. our concern was that that indicated or could be interpreted by folks internationally as indicating that congress doesn't really trust the multistakeholder process. and yet congress, of course, has been unanimously in support of the multistakeholder model of internet governance, and we are worried that there was a little dissonance there between what congress has unanimously stated back in 2012 and then this measure

scire at the gao. finally, dr. doug elmendorf, director of nonpartisan budget office. we welcome you to the committee. without objection your written statement will be made part of the record after your oral remarks. hopefully all of you have testified before the committee before. you know the lighting system. i will not go into that. you are recognized for your testimony, chairman. pull the microphone. >> chairman, committee members, thank you for inviting me to testify before you as the committee considers our reauthorization and progress that xm bank has made in supporting u.s. jobs through exports. since our last reauthorization just two short years ago, x has supported nearly half a million american jobs while generating nearly $2 billion for the taxpayers. xm bank met all of the reporting requirements set for for reauthorization bill and implemented several of the reforms. at xm bank we're exited to continuous improvement and effective risk management. when i testified before this committee last june i committed to hiring a risk officer full year-round and we comp

brian on the republican line. gaoe anthe audit for the full cost to taxpayers that agencies and ,epairing for the shutdown and agency missions after the shutdown and the cost that went into preparing and coming back online after shutdown? >> the shutdown last year? caller: yes. guest: that was not part of the scope of the report that we get a number of requests each year to look at the variety of including potential implications of the sequester and run ups to those types of issues. if you go to our website you can search by topic. host: are you in the federal government? caller: yes, i am. int: what is your sense terms of money spent to survive the government shutdown? in the weeks prior we spent the last time identifying. we had to notify personnel in writing. we had to identify people that could take over. obviously those not completing the agency mission. then we had a time of transition that took us a while to get back into performing the task we identified as an agency. host: seems like there would be things har

we need to ensure a full accounting of usaid, dod, and state and the project. gao has made multiple suggestions including establishing the comprehensive shared database to account for these projects. although state and usaid have , we continue to report on the need for a database. this is due in part to the lack of dod action. regarding the need for contingency planning, in february 2013, we reported that merrill circumstances in iraq are somewhat different than those in afghanistan, potential lessons could be learned from that transition. as we have reported, program implementation, oversight, and accountability in afghanistan are likely to continue to be challenged by likely factors including the prevalence of corruption in the limited capacity of the afghan government. as we have highlighted, contingency planning is key to successful planning and ensuring it is conducive to carry out oversight. the challenging working environment and uncertainties of the bilateral security agreement underscore the need for contingency planning and continued oversight of u.s. eff

we took the gao and mr. caldwell's reports and recommendations quite seriously and are looking very close lee at what ports are doing with the funding. for the first time in the fy 14 application cycle, or requesting project level data going in. you probably are aware of the history of the program and the flexibility that had been given at the local level against area maritime security plans. there remains a lot of flexibility, but we are increasing the oversight to request that level up front so we can get that information to form even more effect if measures of outcomes. on the grants management side, senator, we start we have measures now in even over fy 12, measures of our monitoring. mr. caldwell mentioned the level of monitoring. 100 are sent of our port security grants now undergo some level of monitoring. we have a tiered monitoring this stem where our staff on a routine basis look at every award, look at the history of the grantee, the history of the outcomes achieved, their financial measures from d

look into the area and i think with the gao's audits, which were somewhat painful on federal programs, but i think in the end raised the visibility of some of the vulnerabilities we have both domestically and internationally and he was a clear advocate of if it can be done in my state, i have medical facilities, i have usda eradiators, i have navy base, i have a lot of things in my backyard if it can be done in my state and increase the security posture that could serve as a model going forward with other states. so it was a push on our part. we didn't solely focus on hawaii. we focus on major metropolitan areas and other states across the country on a voluntary basis, but his foresight and his advocacy on this issue, clearly articulated the need for others to step up and step forward. >> all right. thank you. thank you very much. >> mr. trimble. >> i would just add that previously, gao has done some work in this area. we looked at the issue of orphaned sources and we looked at how they were handling this issue in france and had innovative ideas. we haven't looked at the cross-organiz

the gao said a low-cost airline expanded quite a bit. e number of discounters increased from 1.7 2.3 in 2012. low-cost carriers have provided more competition. >> any negatives they looked at? >> there were lots of negatives for consumers. not necessarily attributed to the mergers. have seen fares up by about four repor 4%. airlines are getting more revenue from fees. up tremendously in terms of revenue from 2000 and. neither of those things can be attributed directly to the mergers. one thing we are seeing that mergers may have played a role in his comedian when the number of competitors is constant, we are still seeing a decline in the number of flights and seats. that is true as you get to smaller and smaller markets. that can be attributed to the mergers and other factors. getting ready of redundancy, dealing with fuel costs and airlines trying to restrain capacity to keep those prices higher and keep the demand up. >> isn't surprising that the mergers have not made a bigger change when it comes to competition? left out ofr was this r

david trimble of the gao. nice to see you and thanks for joining us. >> my testimony discusses the challenges federal agencies face in securing radiological sources in the united states and the steps agencies are taking to improve security. a potential vulnerability of radiological sources was highlighted last december when a truck in mexico caring cobalt 60 source buy high-risk source was stolen. in a report being issued today we examine two types of industrial radiological sources may mobile and stationary. we found loath posted 30 challenges even following security controls. iaea officials have said the transportation of high-risk sources is the most honorable part of the nuclear and radiological supply chain. energy requirements to ensure security for these mobile sources provide a general framework that is to be implemented by the licensing. will intercede orders to security sources they do not explain how to do this by for example specifying the robustness that must be used or alarms installed and trucks.

the u.s. government accountability office, gao. assesses u.s. counterterrorism and security efforts focusing on afghanistan, pakistan, and other terrorist safe havens. prior to this position, mr. johnson was assistant director and a yearam detailed to the house of representatives homeland security committee. gentlemen for your patience, your expertise, for waiting around. we are pleased to yield to you now. >> thank you very much. chairman ross leighton -- ros-leighton, it's a pleasure to be here to discuss reconstruction efforts in afghanistan. today's hearing, as you have noted, is very timely. we are in the midst of a pivotal transition year and afghanistan. the ongoing transition will undoubtedly shape afghanistan's future for many years to come. for instance, this week's presidential runoff could result in the first he's for democratic transition of residential tower in afghanistan's history. likewise, just a few weeks ago, the president announced his land to reduce our military presence to approximately 10,000 troops by the end of 2014 and

angst to the work of cigar and oversight investigations conducted by gao -- thanks to the work of cigar and oversight investigations conducted by gao -- it is clear evidence of these challenges can be seen throughout our footprint in afghanistan. gao identified numerous weaknesses and an overlap of funding accounts. increase the potential for duplication of projects and programs. ,he recommended shared database but it appears little progress to advanced that recommendation has been made. in 2012, gao recommended that congress take legislative action to require that u.s. agencies report information on activities in a shared database. usaid agreed. dod did not. singer has raised serious concerns over the inability to terminate contracts with contractors are found to have insurgent our opposition forces. they lacked authority to terminate the contract. under existing law, the agency will likely have to pay the full cost of any contract and complete the termination. the implication of these proper forms and other recommendations will help maximize and achieve greater results. alsomicro leve

we took the gao and mr. caldwell's reports and recommendations quite seriously and are looking very closely on what ports are doing with the funding. we for the first time in the fy-14 application cycle are requesting project level data going in. you probably are aware of the history of the program and the flexibility that had been given at the local level against area maritime security plans. there remains a lot of flexibility, but we are increasing the oversight to request project level data up front so that we can start to get that information to form even more effective measures of outcomes. on the grants management side, senator, we certainly have measures now and even over fy-12, measures of our monitoring. mr. caldwell mentioned the level of monitoring. 100% of our port security grants now undergo some level of monitoring. we have a tiered monitoring system where our program staff on a routine basis look at every award, look at the history of the grantee, the history of the outcomes achieved, their fin

scire at the gao. finally, dr. doug elmendorf, director of nonpartisan budget office. we welcome you to the committee. without objection your written statement will be made part of the record after your oral remarks. hopefully all of you have testified before the committee before. you know the lighting system. i will not go into that. you are recognized for your testimony, chairman. pull the microphone. >> chairman, committee members, thank you for inviting me to testify before you as the committee considers our reauthorization and progress that xm bank has made in supporting u.s. jobs through exports. since our last reauthorization just two short years ago, x has supported nearly half a million american jobs while generating nearly $2 billion for the taxpayers. xm bank met all of the reporting requirements set for for reauthorization bill and implemented several of the reforms. at xm bank we're exited to continuous improvement and effective risk management. when i testified before this committee last june i committed to hiring a risk officer full year-round and we comp

the average. and, again, as i just posited, gao criticized the bank for not considering the unseen counterfactual how many jobs would have existed without any intervention at all. are you familiar with gao's work regarding your jobs claim? >> yes. and we point out a number of weaknesses with the methodology and recommended that xm do more to disclose the weaknesses with the methodology and since they have done so. >> thank you. dr. elmendorf, fcra applies -- well, i've seen a record that there are roughly 10,000 federal agencies, programs, frankly i've been here for number of years. i still can't figure out how many there are. but how many are subject to fcra? how many programs or agencies? >> so i don't know what the count is, mr. chairman. as you know, there are several trillion dollars of outstanding federal loans and loan guarantees. >> but specific programs. >> exceptions on a fcra basis, exceptions to fcra to credit programs that i am aware of are the t.a.r.p. program because congress wrote into the law that we should do estimates of that program on adjusting for market risk. and for fannie

it's clear evidence of these challenges can be scene throughout the footprint in afghanistan. gao identified numerous coordination and overlap of funding accounts between d.o.d. and usaid, creating the potential for duplication of projects and programs. it appears that little progress to advance that recommendation that's been made. in 2012, gao went so far as to recommend that congress take legislative action to require u.s. agencies report information on their development related activities in a shared data base. while usaid agreed, d.o.d. did not. they have also raised serious concerns over state and usaid's ability to determine contractors when contractors are found to have ties to the insurgent or opposition forces. the agencies lack the authorities to swiftly terminate or restrict or avoid a contract awarded to a person or entity identified as supporting the enemy and under existing law the agencies will like have to pay up to the full cost of any contract to complete a termination. implementation of these broad reforms and other recommendations will help maximize our assist

i want to thank you all for the work you did on the ig and the a gao. we go way back on many of these things. when the system works right, yod were here with dr. roerds, a ranking member, and in miami o with the contaminated equipment. sy we brought in best practices.c we fixed that. we implemented it across the system. by all accounts, we made a correction based on that. there is a model to try and do this. with thatt being said, as you look around, there are many in o this room that have a long s institutional knowledge. many of them are sitting behind you. many have been coming to us and talking us their issues. the idea that this is anything i new is incredibly frustrating t. many of us.seen i think i've proven myself of in trying toce get this right when i'm seen more as an obstruction and nuisance to try to get them, instead of being a partner to this.hat that in itself is systemic cultural issues. i have an institution in my district that has offered to ps helpca and i've gotten no response. when the mayo clinic wants to help you with this, perhap

want to thank you on the work for the ig in the gao. we go way back on these things. when the system works right you are here as a ranking member with murfreesboro and miami with contaminated equipment. we brought in best practices to my implemented across the system. by all accounts we made a correction. they're is model to try and do this. that being said, as you look around, there are many that have long institutional knowledge. many of them have been coming and talking to us and telling us . incredibly frustrating. the breakdown comes when i have to be honest with you. i have proven myself and trying to get this right. i have seen this as an abstraction and nuisance. i have restitution in my district that was offered to help. perhaps i can get a call. this has gone on and on and on. i am a loss. they -- their people sitting back behind you. i think your sincerity in the work you have done, certainly i am not going to question it. i am reading, this is from dr. heaney and armstrong. they quoted peter drucker and said the greatest danger in times of turbulence is not

we took the gao and mr. caldwell's reports and recommendations quite seriously and are looking very closely on what ports are doing with the funding. we for the first time in the fy-14 application cycle are requesting project level data going in. you probably are aware of the history of the program and the flexibility that had been given at the local level against area maritime security plans. there remains a lot of flexibility, but we are increasing the oversight to request project level data up front so that we can start to get that information to form even more effective measures of outcomes. on the grants management side, senator, we certainly have measures now and even over fy-12, measures of our monitoring. mr. caldwell mentioned the level of monitoring. 100% of our port security grants now undergo some level of monitoring. we have a tiered monitoring system where our program staff on a routine basis look at every award, look at the history of the grantee, the history of the outcomes achieved, their fin

the comments were not provided to the gao. does the fmsca plan to take action on those recommendations? and could you provide us an update? and if not, explain why. >> certainly. the compliance safety accountability program otherwise known as csa is at its heart a program to improve our overall enforcement, and focus on the highest risk carriers with our limited resources. and the data structure which takes advantage of over 3 million inspections managed each year to get at the performance of individual carriers really does provide carriers as well an opportunity to look at their own performance and improve before we even need to get there. if in fact they're showing high risk behavior. that being said, it is an improvement over the prior system, but it's a program we can continue to work on. the gao report as well as the inspector general's report identifies strategies for us to improve both the adequacy of the data, the utilization to ensure we're looking at the highest risk carriers, as well as the access of the data to the

the gaos conducting the study you asked for. it will get into the concern. we've had back and forth with them to comfortable length. they're conducting it responsible but comprehensive inquiry. it's so critical that the bureau and the agencies have information to be able to oversee the markets and make sure that things are not happening that we don't comprehend. at the same time, recognize the issues of security and privacy you're raising. i want to be sensitive to those and recognize it as foundational for the agency as well. happy to spend as much time as you like. personally myself or our staff on these issues. >> thank you. senator menendez. >> in your mid year update on student loan complaints you high lie a particularly egregious practice where lenders put a loan into default if the loan's cosigner dies or declares bankruptcy even if the borrower never missed a payment. so -- i'm in the midst of drafting legislation to fix the problem. what are some steps that can be taken under existing law to protect students from the practice? students who might oth

thanks to the work of sigar as well as oversight investigation conducted by gao, they have identifieda number of key challenges such as the limited capacity of the afghan government, and the persistent, and many persistent sector to challenges. it's clear evidence of these challenges can be seen throughout our footprint in afghanistan. gao identified numerous weaknesses in energy seek ordination and overlap of funding accounts between dod, state and usaid creating the potential for duplication of projects and programs. while gao recommend the creation of a shared database and 2010 it appears the little progress to advance that recommendation has been made. in 2012, gao went so far as to recommend that obstacle it is an action to require that u.s. agencies report information on the development related activities in a shared database. while usaid agreed with his recommendation, dod did not. sigar has also raises concerns over state and usaid's ability to determine when contractors are found insurgent or an opposition force but agencies laclacked the authority to swify terminate, restric

the gao and the inspector generals made it clear this is a much deeper problem.r veterans need to be first in line for the best care. they have been, unfortunately, last in line and far often mediocre care. there needs to be a change throughout the institution, not just at the top. >> can it be done? >> there is legislation pending in congress called the v.a. accountability act which would permit the new secretary to hire and fire people more readily, hold people accountable and that's a start. has to be deeper than that. we need to ensure that our veterans are getting best care. it's not a matter of funding in the sense that funding has increased, more than double since 9/11. average increases more than 7%. so it is a matter of changing the culture and ensuring that our veterans are getting the best care, not just care. >> up against the clock. >> okay, thank you. you told us your number one olive garden dishes. now they're part of our 2 for $25 guest favorites! featuring your all time favorite creamy chicken alfredo and seductive shrimp mezzaluna. it's our most

i don't know if the gao has any comments or not. >> if i might, we'll take a close look at that. i think the threat has identification risk assessment process. and the area of maritime security working groups at the local, at the port level, i think, they're getting at a lot of that. but i agree with you. we can make even more progress. >> on two of your points. the first, how do you account for previous grant money in determining the risk ranking for the next. we actually do that as part of the coast guard's security risk assessment model that grk ao mentioned. if it mitigates the consequences of an attack on a facility it gets reflected in our model. that data is part of the risk formula dhs determines to use the tier for the next year. it is in there. the other piece you ask about, you know, have we defined what a secure port is. when will we know when we get there? it's an interesting question. what i can tell you about the port. i have watched the initial focus being on secure individual facilities. make sure we have fences, cameras, and guards and get facilities. and then i

want to thank you on the work for the ig in the gao. we go way back on these things. when the system works right you are here as a ranking member with murfreesboro and miami with contaminated equipment. we brought in best practices to my implemented across the system. by all accounts we made a correction. they're is model to try and do this. that being said, as you look around, there are many that have long institutional knowledge. many of them have been coming and talking to us and telling us . incredibly frustrating. the breakdown comes when i have to be honest with you. i have proven myself and trying to get this right. i have seen this as an abstraction and nuisance. i have restitution in my district that was offered to help. perhaps i can get a call. this has gone on and on and on. i am a loss. they -- their people sitting back behind you. i think your sincerity in the work you have done, certainly i am not going to question it. i am reading, this is from dr. heaney and armstrong. they quoted peter drucker and said the greatest danger in times of turbulence is not

david trimble of the gao. nice to see you and thanks for joining us.

i share those concerns and the gao is having a study on the report that you asked for and it will get into all of these concerns that you had back and forth with him at considerable length. they have a very responsible but comprehensive inquiry, making sure that things are not happening that we don't comprehend. at the same time recognize the issues of security and privacy that you are raising, i want to be sensitive to those for this agency as well. i'm happy to spend as much time as you like -- personally, myself and our staff on these issues. >> thank you. >> senator menendez? >> director, in your midyear update on student loan complaints you highlight a particularly egregious practice where lenders automatically put a loan into default if the cosigner dies or becomes disabled or declares bankruptcy, even if the borrower has never missed a payment. that practice, to me is extremely unfair to the borrowers who have been making their payments on time and are in good standing. i am in the midst of drafting legislation to fix that problem. my question is what are some steps that can be

so to accelerate it two more years really does fly in the face of the gao position. the department of defense is clear they don't believe the gao's vision of this is reality but it really stresses that. but there's also a question of you're the cooperative arrangement with japan in developing the missile, we're not just doing it ourselves, we have a partner that has to be taken into account. and finally, there's the whole thought that ags is not the solution but literally taking the infrastructure off of an aegis ship and setting it up offshore. you want the configuration to be aligned with the fleet structure that you expect to have when aegis ashore goes to poland in 2015 to. pull it out, change that configuration so it's not in conformity with the baseline you expect to have with your sea-based assets is going to cost money -- as i understand the administration's s.a.p. letter that's going to impinge adversely on other navy programs that have to do with missile defense. so for all those three reasons, there doesn't seem to me to be a prudent step. >> go ahead, kurt

coburn's waste book, the gao report. some have had things done with them. a lot of them have not. these are the things that when congress being a freshman, i went to oversight hearings and we would hear about and gao report and i'll go straight to one not -- uniform spending in the military. each branch designing their own bdus and acus i'm in the air force and millions that are taken to design a spechk uniform most of which if you end up in the end look very similar. why are we spending hundreds and millions, that's something to be consolidated? it is not. when people call in and say this is something that mean republicans are wanting to cut -- we need to look at it as a whole. i want to be honest with the american people and say we have a conversation that says we know we're in control and the budget needs to be reigned in. when you get your house in order, they can have confidence again. >> democrats line. >> yes, what i want to know is the republican party had control of this congress, the senate and white house when their tax policies, they changed the tax laws where we outsou

eighteen months and that have heard the ig report after gao report. i know that there is problem. you said you are the business side, the engineering side, to those reports never make it to you? >> i agree with the report. april of 2013. in response to that report we went back and looked at how we computed the wait times for veterans. if you're not a star systems. podiatry. >> we change the performance measure from using the desired date. we switzer the creativity. give us a much more valid measure. we started measuring veterans who were waiting longer routes of time that's ever tried to change that. >> can you say that today? that is a failure? you guys did it at the intermediary level? >> we did not know at that point in time. >> the two things that i came away with the mother has to be criminal investigation. one breaking news to the american public. i agree. back nine hoosiers will have the same questions. well, what do i do? i guess i will take that on the record. we will get information when we get it. i have a question. i am sensing that where we are going to end up in one o

audit for fiscal year 2013-2014 and some of the key dates as well as when we plan to report back to the gao -- >> which in particular? >> of the audit service plan it's -- >> of the documents we've been provided with? >> right, it should be in your packet. >> got it. >> so, we are starting our audit for the 2013-14 fiscal year now. we are doing our planning procedures. we'll come out and do [speaker not understood] testing [speaker not understood] at the year-end kloza round september, october and we target [speaker not understood] all the different components by october-november and the city single audit, the audit of the city's federal awards will complete -- they will be completed by next february, march time frame. so, we are targeting to report back on the fiscal year 13-14 audit result in april of 2015 back to the board or the committee. >> thank you. i just have one general comment. in particular, one of the challenges with audits, in particular with the departments, you have the departments which have or typically fully staffed. they have resources and the ability to dedicate those

recommendations remain open, sf the official fmcsa comments were not provided to the gao. does the fmcsa plan to take action on those recommendations, and could you provide us an update? if not, explain why. >> certainly. the compliance safety accountability program, otherwise known as csa, is at its heart a program to improve our overall enforcement and focus on the highest risk carriers with our limited resources. it really sdl provide carriers as well, an opportunity to look at their own performance and improve before we even need to get there. in fact, they're showing high risk behavior. that being said. >> i'm sorry you don't have a copy of that. they received our response last month, and there are certainly aspects of the gao analysis that we are making full use of. the core component that we disagreed with really relates to a methodology they propose that isolates the csa analysis to a very small group of carriers, only the largest ones. while a large carrier has a significant impact on crash activity across our country, smaller carriers impact about half of those fa

i don't know if the gao has any comments on that. >> if i might, we'll take a close look at that. i think the threat hazard identification risk assessment process and the maritime security working groups at the local -- at the port level are getting at a lot of that. but i agree we can make even more progress. >> if i can just on two of your points, first had to do with, how do you account for risk bought down with previous grant money in determining the risk ranking for next -- we actually do that as part of the coast guard's maritime model that gao mentioned. if we've invested in a system that reduces the vulnerability or mitigates the consequences of an attack on a facility, it gets reflected in our model. that data is part of the risk formula dhs uses to determine the tiers for next year. so it is in there. the other piece that you ask about, have we defined what a secure port is? when will we know when we get there? that's an interesting question. what i can tell you, i've watched the initial focus be on securing individual facilities, let's make sure we have fences and camera

you can go to the waste book and look at the gao report. a lot of these programs have been highlights. some have had some things done a to them. a lot have not. these are the kinds of things dw when i first came to congress, i went to oversight hearings and we would hear about -- the unif duplicative. i'll go straight to one that is gning not -- uniform spending in the military. each branch designing their own bdus or the cdus. the millions of dollars that ar designed -- most of which, if you -- especially some, if you o end up in the end, they look very similar, why are we spending hundreds of millions of dollars to do that? and that's something that can be i consolidated? it's justat t not.to so when people call in and simply say, this is something that me and the republicans are wanting to cut social programs, we need to look at it as a whole. that's when we begin to be say honest with the american peopleo and havew a conversation that says wehat know we're out of ed control, we know the budget enci needs to be reignedn in, and whn you ge

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the gao raised questions about federal debt collectors pricking the rules and federal regulators have cited sallie mae for violating federal laws by overcharging service members honest in loans. when loan servicers break the rules, they push borrowers to do things that are good for the bottom line of the servicer, but not good for the borrower. ultimately, its dunes are not able to repay, is the taxpayers will pick up the bill here. the of the problem is, rules are complex and it makes it hard for bar words to know what they should expect from their servicers. orrower thinks they have not been told the truth or that somebody has broken the law , where do they turn? where do they go now? ms. hoover? the time, the students now are going back to their financial aid office. they are so confused about where else to go. that, sometimes comest in stone do anything. sometimes, students don't do anything. we continue corresponding with our students who are delinquent so they do come back to us. again, i'm a small school and that is not real distinct for large schools. basically, what you uphol

the reduction of force will play a significant event on the afghan national security forces it as the gao supported between the school year 2002-2013 of 65% agency funding went toward supporting afghanistan security every such as developing the security forces and counter-narcotics effort. questions are with the looming u.s. troop drawdown more of the owners will be place on the afghan national security forces to maintain the stability of the country. a large portion of one of 3 billion we've invested gone to them into security. are they now prepared to take the lead and can help sustain an environment in which develop an infrastructure projects which we put in place will succeed? this is important because for 13 years we have thought to great and of him if they can take over. i want to make sure at the end of the day we are not in a hurry to just totally campaign promise that 13 years of efforts by the american people and by the afghan people doesn't go to waste because i think in 20 years history books will judge us harshly if that's the case. so mr. sopko, i'll go you -- outdoor the fi

despite these repeated warnings that have come from congress, from the gao and even from v.a.'s own investigative body, issues with patient wait times and scheduling remain a pervasive problem today. last year, this committee requested that gao conduct a separate investigation to confirm the extent of problems throughout the vha regarding ongoing issues with patient wait times and consult delays. gao will testify as to its findings here tonight. recently the committee received whistle employer complaints regarding the phoenix v.a. health care system that explained how the falth was keeping numerous wait lists to give the impression that its wait times were much shorter than they actually were. one of the secret wait lists at the facility sources found that as many as 40 patients may have died while they were awaiting care. after the committee was able to confirm these allegations we made the issue public during our april 9th, 2014 hearing. at that hearing i asked that the v.a./oig look into those allegations that prompted its investigation. the interim results of that investiga

from theeard witnesses ftc and the gao say as much. the wall street journal did an article that you mentioned with 101 apps being tested and 47 of them disclosed users location to a third-party. we very much need this bill because self-regulation is not protecting consumers. >> there is the point that the ranking member made. has there been any evidence of harm? i think most americans believe that they have some right to privacy. do you think there is harm that individuals can feel if their privacy is not being protected? >> the notion that there is no real harm from tracking and using location data for consumers really strikes in the heart of our notions of consumer protection and the idea that privacy is a bedrock american principal. justices of the supreme court, mayor, haved soto mayo articulated that it is a right. the vast majority do care about their location data not being shared without the consent and do want to know where that location data, to whom that location data is being shared and for what purpose. i think that flies i