representative thornberry chairs the committee on intelligence, emerging threats and capabilities.this is about half an hour. >> hearing will come to order. today is the first of two events the subcommittee is hosting related to the fiscal year 2015 defense intelligence budget. today we'll hear from the undersecretary of defense for intelligence as well as the heads of dia, nsa and nga. next week we'll hold a second session with the senior intelligence officers of each of the military services as well as special operations command. armed services committee continues to be focused on making sure that our war fighters have the best possible intelligence support. dia, nsa and nga are each combat support agencies, and we have asked them to describe today their efforts to support current military operations as well as to help dod anticipate and prepare for future conflicts. each of these agencies is part of the intelligence community and has responsibilities to both the larger u.s. government and to department of defense. that is a delicate balance, and both missions are critical to our

thornberry is the vice chairman. they have many interest in congress and want to express appreciation to them. i want to start with congressman larson who was next to the district that suffered the washington mudslides and we want to send wishes to the people of washington state. and people to the good state of texas who together with the folks in washington sent us these two wonderful congressman. i would like to start with questions and pass the baton. and i will start with china and first ask congressman thornberry who is back from china for his impressions on how things have been. and then i will ask congressman larson who runs a working group on that and we will go from there to a couple other subjects and topics. so welcome to both of you and look forward to your impressions. >> i just came back from ten days with majority leader eric cantor and others. we visited japan, korea and china. i would say among my impressions from this visit are number one: the nationalism that exists in all three countries partly fo

i want to organize jim thornberry for organizing this important hearing. i hope the discussion will be productive and constructive as we continue to exercise oversight responsibility. first and foremost, i am concerned about the implications to the apartment from the leaks of the nsa contractor. information. assessmentssential and a very sobering one indeed. i want to get a better idea of what we know now and what we don't know and what we are going to do about it. as dni clapper testified, this has nothing to do with nsa surveillance or collection but instead has dire impact on dod. i am concerned about the damage of the leaks on our men and women in uniform who are at risk each day. just as important, we certainly don't need to scrap every operation plan. shiftingdue to look at the priorities and policies. i appreciates picking to the magnitude of what we will face in the coming years. i am also interested in the progress of the clandestine service and its ability to meet strategic defense priorities. clandestine service but it hasto the, enhanced capabi

mack thornberry and rick larson of texas state were there. they serve on the arms committee.[inaudible conversations] >> i am like him the drug to defer century to will clear to this conversation is joining me we will ask some questions with strategic god defense issues the enter into your four questions until about 130. mckenzie is that aei a in 2010 on the independent panel all oil and has worked off the hill a and thew pentagon very distinguished young scholar and experienced in the two gentlemen have the places in my mind it to be young ingh end experienced simultaneously.t.e e congress thorn berry elected in 1994 event there among the more senior matters amd also other interest to express the word ofxpr appreciation meeting witho congressman larsen who has bet next door and has suffered through the tragic the mudslide we want to send our best issues to washington state in those to is a good state of texas in to begin with some questions then they pass the baton and i will begin with china. so first to ask congressis theodore barry who is justro back for his impression an

thornberry. >> mr. morell, in addition to the reasons you were discussing with mr. lobiondo and mr. rooney on why this is important, there is another area i want to ask you about. we have heard for some time about the involvement of the national security council staff in day-to-day running of military operations, intelligence operations around the world. secretary gates talks about this very explicitly in his memoirs and his anger at the micromanagement coming from the same staffers at the white house and talks about secretary clinton's view of the same thing and others have written about that frustration. you served as deputy director of the cia, acting director of the cia. did you experience such frustrations as secretary gates and clinton and others? >> sir, as you know, the central intelligence agency conducts some extremely sensitive operations. and i routinely, routinely discussed those operations with mr. brennan and with mr. mcdonough. i would get asked a lot of questions just as i get asked a lot of questions here. i never felt i was being micromanaged there nor have i ever

congressman thornberry was congressman1994, larson and a 2000. they are among the senior members of the armed services committee. intelligenceked on and asia-pacific matters. we want to express a word of begin withn, i congressman larson, who has been right next-door to the district in washington state that suffered through the tragic mudslides. we want to send our best wishes to the people of washington state. also to the people of texas, who together with folks in washington, have sent us these wonderful congressman. with someke to begin questions and then i will pass the baton to mckenzie, who will do the same. i will be in with china and the broader issue of the asia-pacific region. i would like to first ask congress and thornberry, just back from china, for his impressions of how things have been. and i will ask congressman larson, who runs a working group on china in congress and has great interest being from washington state in that country. then we will go from there to a couple other subjects and topics. welcome back. welcome to both of

. >>> for more on the hearings, time to bring in congressman matt thornberry of texas, a republican, member of the house intelligence committee and he's my guest. good to see you, congressman. >> thank you. >> you were in there for this three to four-hour session with mike morell today. i saw you asking him the questions. what was the most significant thing you learned today. >> i think he was much more protective of the white house than i expected. i think it was helpful to go through the details of who did what and why. just as your previous report shows there's going to be holes poked in that. while there's no smoking gun that changes everything drastically, going through details having them answered publicly for the first time was important. >> do you think it was -- first let me ask you this. were you in the hearing with chief of station? >> i was not in that hearing. i've been in previous hearings with him. >> so apparently this was the person covert in the cia on the ground in benghazi. he was the one on september 14th and 15th told mike morell, in fact, there was no protest.

mack thornberry and rick larson of texas state were there. they serve on the arms committee. >> good afternoon, i am from the 21st century intelligence and i would like to welcome you to this conversation. we are going to ask questions of the congressman and try to elicit conversation on strategic and various defense issues then turn to you for questions. eagle was on the independent panel assessing rerue view and worked on the hill and pentagon and she is esteemed and very

thornberry. >> thank you mr. chairman and mr. morell thank you for being here in your years of service to the cia. i wanted to stand that are the deputies meeting on the 13th and your subsequent edits to the talking points. were you all having daily deputy meetings at this time? >> yes sir we were having twice daily deputy meetings. >> so twice a day on the 13th on the 14th of the 15th you would have these videoconference meetings in which you participated as a deputy for the cia? >> that's correct. >> i assume there would you deputy from state and defense as well as members of the white house national security staff. >> via the i, doj, nctc. >> so as we reviewed the e-mails e-mails -- let me backup back up for just a minute. as best you remember the deputies meetings the two deputies meetings on the 14th ipers m. benghazi had to be a major issue that you all discussed. >> it was not sir. we were not looking backwards at that point. we were looking forward so the focus of all of these deputy meetings particularly the ones on satu

thornberry? to the reasons you were discussing with mr.rooney on why this is important there's another area i want to ask you about we have heard for about the involvement of the national security council staff in day to day running of military operations, intelligence operations around the world. secretary gates talks about this very well and expresses his anger at the micromanagement coming from the same stafford's -- same staffers and talks about secretary clinton's view and others have written. you served as deputy director of the cia. did you express such frustrations as secretary gates, clinton and others? >> as you know, the central intelligence agency conducts extremely sensitive operations discussedi routinely those operations with mr. brennan and mr. met anna. i would get asked a lot of questions, just as i get asked a lot of questions here. i never felt i was being micromanaged their, nor have i felt i was being micromanaged there. did you have knowledge of national security council's duffers directly calling chief of station ar

especially chairman thornberry for orking and putting together this very important hearing. i hope today's discussion will be both productive and constructive as we continue to exercise this subcommittee's new oversight spoments relating to the intelligence portfolio for which the armed services committee has responsibilities for. first and unfortunately foremost, of course, i continue to be concerned about the implications and ramifications to the department from the leaks of the n.s.a. contractor. i have read the information review task force report. it was an essential assessment and very sobering one indeed. however, i would like to get a better idea of what we know now and what we don't know and what we're going to do about it. after all, as d.n.i. clapper testified before the intelligence committee, the vast majority of the information comprised has nothing to do with n.s.a. surveillance and collection but instead has dire impacts directly on dod. i'm very concerned about the damage assessment and practical effects of these leaks on our men and women in uniform who are

thornberry. >> mr. morell in addition to the reasons you were discussing with mr. lobiondo and mr. rooney on why this is important, this is another area i want to ask you about. we have heard for some time about the involvement of the national security council staff in day-to-day running of military operations, intelligence operations around the world. secretary gates talks about this very explicitly in his memoirs and his anger at the micromanagement coming from the same staffers at the white house and talks about secretary clintons feel the same thing and others have written about that frustration. you served as deputy director of the cia, acting trip to the cia. did you experience such frustrations as secretary gates and clinton and others? peace orr as you know the central intelligence agency conducts some extremely sensitive operations. and i routinely, routinely discuss those operations with mr. brennan and with mr. mcdonough. i would ask a lot of questions just as i get asked a lot of questions here. i never felt i was being micromanage their nor have i ever felt i have been

thornberry? morell, in addition to the reasons you were discussing with mr. lobiondo and mr.rooney on why this is important, there is another area i want to ask you about. we have heard for some time involvement of the national security council staff ofday to day running military operations, intelligence operations, around the world. about is gates talked very explicitly in his memoirs and his anger at the micromanagement coming from the same staffers at the white house, and talked about secretary clinton's view of the , and others have written about this frustration. you served as deputy director of the cia, at the director of the cia. you experience such frustrations of secretary gates and clinton and others? >> as you know, the central intelligence agency conducts some extremely sensitive operations. and i routinely discussed those operations with mr. brennan and with mr. mcdonough. and i would get out -- asked a lot of questions. i never felt i was being micromanaged there nor have i ever felt i've been micromanaged here. experience or have knowledge of national security

thornberry. >> thank you mr. chairman and mr. morell and for your years of service to the c.i.a. i want to understand better the deputy's meeting and your edits to the talking points. were you having daily meetings at this time? >> yes, sir. we were having twice daily deputy meetings. >> so twice a day on the 13, 14, 15 you would have these video conference meetings in which you participated as the deputy for the c.i.a. >> that's correct. >> and i presume there would be a deputy from state and defense as well as members of the white house national security council staff. >> f.b.i., doj, nctc. yes, sir. >> ok. so as we reviewed the e-mails of the night of the -- let me back up for just a second. on the -- as best you remember the deputys' meetings, the two on the 14bth i presume benghazi had to be a major issue you all discussed. >> it was not, sir. it was not. we were not looking backwards at that point. we were looking forward. so the focus of all of these depp tiss' meetings, particularly the ones on -- susan nd sunday, rice was on the sunday shows i was at a deputies meeting.

the speaker pro tempore: the following enrolled bill was signed by speaker pro tempore thornberry on thursday, april 10, 2014. the clerk: senate 2195, to deny mission to the -- admission to the united states to united nations who has found to be engaged in espionage activities or a terrorist activity against the united states and poses a threat to the united states national security interest. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the honorable -- the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on april 10, 2014, at 5:32 p.m., that the senate passed senate 994, signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the followin