That their home countries can at some point also be free. As a former immigration lawyer i have seen it at work firsthand. The time has come for reform of the program. A few problems have come to light include fraud, executive authority and the House Judiciary Committee has highlighted over the last few years. We all know this former fbi director made troubling statements about the inability to properly vet and form are Administration Officials knowledged in testimony that state and local consultation throughout the process has not been as robust as needed in all cases. In fact i have been approached by colleagues involving this issue. These issues i have mentioned as well as others lead me to introduce hr 2826 the Refugee Program the bill sets the ceiling at 50,000 taking this responsibility of the president and placing it where it should be with us in congress. The bill recognizes they should have a true say in whether or not they are able to resettle. It contains provisions aimed at helping to defraud and National Security concerns. I know this marked the end of the 120 day travel suspension 13780. I know that the relevant departments have instituted enhanced screening for refugee applicants to the interview and adjudication process and the system checks conducted on applicants. The Previous Administration always stated in response to any security related questions about the program that certain refugees to the United States. Even if true i never understood why the administration thought simply because they were the most vetted that the vetting was sufficient. It seems within months of taking over the new administration has identified several areas. I appreciate the attention to security concerns and the steps they have taken. I look forward to testimony of the witnesses here today and iyearold back the balance of our time. I recognize for an opening statement. Like all members of congress my highest priority is protecting our National Security. Todays hearing presents an opportunity to examine a threat to that security, President Trumps antirefugee agenda. Mr. Trump characterized as bad actors bent on harming americans. The conservative institute founded the odds of an american being killed in a terrorist attack by a refugee are one in 3. 64 billion. The odds of being struck by lightning are one in 700,000. The truth is this. Its not refugees that undermine the security. Its mr. Trumps radical those include multiple refugee bands, a refugee ceiling and a failure of the American Leadership in the world. Let me identify two of the many ways in which these policies undermine our safety first by substantially lowering missions these measures project anti muslim sentiment that further fuels isis recruitment. He served under republican and democratic administrations put it this way. Those who stand against refugee settlement say they are protecting the nation. They are not. They are putting the nation at greater risk by reenforcing the islamic state. Donald trumps actions galvanize individuals and on committing terrorist attacks. Second, those policies damage partnerships with key allies in the fight against terrorism. Michael, dhs secretary specifically warned of the implications for our iraqi allies. Some 60,000 of them in america, many of their lives are at risk because of their assistance to the American Military and state department yet the record low fiscal year 2018 refugee ceiling means only a small portion will be settled. President trump discourages them as well as other partners from around the world from helping future anti terror initiatives. It leaves all americans more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Some are so significant that Steven Miller appears to marginalized key u. S. Defense and National Security agencies in order to push through the record low refugee cap. Miller cut out the fbi, Defense Department and joint chiefs of staff, our Core National skurlt stake holders. The board even quotes a state Department Official that stated that mr. Miller suppressed evidence that was important to consider that would be to our National Security interests. This gives the troubling appearance that the Trump Administration prioritized the anti refugee agenda over the safety of the American People. I along with all of my democratic colleagues support rigorous vetting measures. I noted we have no higher duty than protecting the American People. They are core to our american identity and values. Past president s of both parties em brasd them and contrary to the suggestions numerous studies show they help our economy. It showed over a decade refugees made a contribution to the United States of some 63 billion. Another did found refugees are more likely to become entrepreneurs and create jobs for american workers. Im deeply troubled by the rhetoric and reality. I hope todays hearing will show greater regard for the truth. We joe it to how trumps refugee damage our economy and make all of us less safe and i would like to add when refugees enter our country they have Constitutional Rights that must be respected. Im sure we will explore that further in the course of this hearing. I yield back the balance of my time. I would like to welcome bob for his opening statement. Thank you. I very much appreciate your holding this hearing today on this important issue and this outstanding panel of witnesses. The United States has that generous Refugee Program. Millions of people fleeing with safe haven. We resettled 84,000 and 994 refugees. While we should continue that th it has become clear that our laws and policies have been abused and that they need reform. The act of 1980 needs the resettlement process in which they set the annual limit and resettles during the next fiscal year. How and when they could to unlawful status. The act put in place, a process for federal government to work through nongovernmental agencies. 37 years later members of congress and the American Public are voicing a growing number of concern about how many and the process through which refugee are admitted through the United States. The federal got has done little to respect those concerns. Under the Previous Administration when a state or locality expressed security concerns about resettlement the Administration Simply repeated the sound bite they undergo the most rigorous of any of the United States. That statement ignored the concerns of several Security Officials that if there is no information regarding the databases that are checked then no derogatory information will show up during the check. We know at least two of the ten successful terrorist attacks carried out on u. S. Soil since september 11, 2001 were perpetrated by individual that is entered the United States as refugees. The security concerns if a state or locality expressed concerns about the cost of resettlement or the lack of available Employment Opportunities the Prior Administration did little in response. It was simply their view that the federal government has the right to resettle refugees all across america. While it may be true it is not necessarily the best practice. I know many resettlement organizations do wonderful and necessary work but essentially ignores the pleas across the u. S. And leaving desises to the Administration Simply feeds opposition to refugee admissions on the wloechlthole. I was happy to see it prior to settle lment and asked to devise a plan to state and local involvement. And of course the same executive order required a review of refugee processing to determine what could be made and to implement those improvements. I look forward to hearing today how state and health and Human Services are working to improve the entire Refugee Admissions Program so that the program can remain a valuable part of u. S. Immigration poll sichlt thaicy. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. I would like to welcome mr. Conyers. Top of the morning witnessens and everyone else here. Over the course of todays hearing there are several factors i want our witnesses and our members to consider. To begin with it is incontrovertible that the United States since its founding has been a nation of immigrants. In recognition of that fact it has provided safe harbor for the persecuted. Past president s, republican and democratic alike have champions Refugee Resettlement. The annual admissions ceiling has averaged 94,000 since the refugee act of 1980 making america the worlds resettlement leader. And just one year ago the cap was increased to 110,000 in response to the global humanitarian crisis fuelled by wars and unstable political environmen environments. Unfortunately it abandoned americas bipartisan leadership in this arena. Coming at a time when worldwide refugee levels have soared to the highest in history this cap to me is uncon shenable. The administrations purported justifications are baseless. For instance the administration argues that the refugee problem poses a security threat. Needless to say democrats stand committed to rigorous refugee vetting. National Security Experts from both parties agree that it is the absence of robust resettlement that truly undermines americas safety. It strengthens isis recruitment. The administration dlclaims the have drained public resources. Again, however, the facts are otherwise. Awording to reports an internal study by the department of health and Human Services suppressed by the administration shows that refugees contributed a net positive 63 billion to the United States over the ten year period. In other words it is not refugees but the president s restriction of their admission that zaps the nations. In some they dont just leave tens of thousands of refugees in limbo and danger. They dont violate core American Values, they weaken our National Security, damage our economy and value our nations core values. All of it really fuel such policies. Tragically the answers to that question appears to be a combination of nativism, fake facts and perhaps even a little bigotry, drawing from arguments made by anti immigrant organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center with hate groups to White Nationalists. The administration has proposed a refugee assimilation test which evokes such measures as the movement fuelled 1924 immigration act. Like the act the refugee policies are equally inexcusable. In closing i urge our Witnesses Today to examine these policies unflinchingly to assess how they endanger you are our values, our econo economy and national skufrmt like forward to your testimony and thank the chairman and yield back. Mr. Chairman, may i be granted unanimous consent to place into the record statements from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society the International Assistance project Refugee Service truth World Services and a letter to acting secretary and director lloyd from over 100 organizations including the california womens law center catholics for choice, the american rabbis and many others. Without objection it will be made part of the record. Today we have a distinguished panel. Statements will be entered into the record in its entirety. I ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes or less. To help you stay within that there is timing on your table. When the light switches from green to yellow you will have one minute to conclude your testimony. When the light turns red it signals your five minutes have expired. I would like you to stand and be sworn in. Do you swear that the testimony youre about to give is the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth . Let the record reflect that the witnesses answered in the af firmtive. Thank you and please be seated. Mr. Henshaw acted at the u. S. Em ga bah si and several other capacities at the state department. He attended the National War College where he certained the masters of science and has a bachelor of arts in history from the university of massachusetts. Sit the director of u. S. Citizenship and immigration services. Previously he served as a director for immigration policy within the dhs and as the acting director of immigration and Border Security policy. Before serving at the dhs headquarters he worked in the office of chief council as associate council in the adjudications law division. He received from Georgetown University law center. He received a masters degree and bachelors degree in physics and Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of technology. Mr. Lloyd worked brk joining the nights he worked in private practice at the department of health and Human Services. He received his undergrad and at Columbus School of law. Miss rebecca gambler is Homeland Security and justice teem. She lets them work on elections issues. I now recognize mr. Henshaw for his statement. Thank you very much for holding this hearing on the u. S. Refugee program which i will refer to as. The security and welfare of the American People is this administration oes top priority. It so to strengthen our vetting system. We will continue to find ways to make our screening procedures in order to protect the American People. For those eligible it is committed to deterring and detecting fraud among those seeking to resettle in the United States. We will continue to protect against threats to our National Security. The United States expects to resettle more refugee than any other country. We will continue to offer protection to those who have been persecuted because of race, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. The United States welcomed more than 3. 4 million refugees. Through the general assistance programs the United States demonstrates its commitment to protecting the most vulnerable while keeping america safe from harm. According to the United NationsHigh Commission of refugees there are 65. 6 million forcibly displaced people in the world today. 22. 5 million of whom are refugees. They focus on three solution to address the refugee situation. In 2016 they were pay tri ated to their countrys origin. For those who were unvoluntarily return safely to their home countries we help become selfsufficient we Fund Programs to support Community Based social services. Our support has enabled numerous to integrate even while voluntary repatriation. For those unable to integrate locally resettlement provides durable protection. The vetting process is managed and includes participation of state and defense, fbi and Intelligence Community including the national countertism center. During this period the office of drelkt to of National Intelligence reviewed an enhanced the security skreebing the program is currently in the midst of review of certain countries with potential for higher risk. It is on the idea that upon resettlement in the United States refugees should become selfsufficient as quickly as possible. The department of state works domestically with Replacement Program to ensure they receive services during the first 90 days after arriving according with established standards. During and after the resettlement period the office of refugee provides funding to states, the District Of Columbia and nonprofit to help refugee to become integrated into u. S. Society. Thank you very much. I look forward to responding to your questions. Thank you very much. I recognize mr. For five minutes. Thank you. Good morning i look forward to sees how we can work together. Since this is my first opportunity to address congress i want to take a moment to quickly let you know some of my philosophy regarding the work that we do. Upon my arrival about two weeks ago i made it clear to the Leadership Team my vision is one that focuses on efficiency, fairness and lawfulness. Fairness, transparency in our operations to massive Data Requests the essential. U. S. Cis is commit today providing the complete information whether they are applicants. Doing so i believe will our promise to petitions fairly. Finally lawfulness. Everything we do must be done in accordance with the law. Noble intentions have resulted in creation of programs that circumvent or contradict our nations laws. I will ensure that everything that we do is always in agreement with the law. You can be sure these principals will be applied including the topic of todays hearing. U. S. Cis is prepared to work with the department and others to support program up to 45,000 arrivals in 2018. An march 6th protecting the nation into the United States. That document to the president stated this. It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks including those committed by foreign nationals. While the executive order and portions were enjoying far time they have worked to strengthen the integrity of the Program Consistent with legal obligations. Pursuant to that executive order they engaged in a 120 day review process that ended two days ago. I would like to share some of the results of that review. As a result of the review the federal government is implementing enhancements including enhancing the collection of information, better information sharing between state and dhs and new training procedures to detect fraud and deception. Recognizing that the suspension of the program in executive order has served its purpose the president issued a new executive order ending the suspension to resume processing. While dhs state and the director of National Intelligence determined are adequate to generally resume admissions they have concluded that additional review needed from 11 countries that were previously identified as posing a higher risk to the United States. As dhs state and complete reviews they may resume applicants from those countries. These new measures are part of the initiative to raise National Security standards. They will be determined for ensuring National Security. They will continue to work closely on these security enhancements and we will work with you to ensure that operational and legislative efforts are well coordinated. We are looking at 300,000 case. Well let you touch on that during question and answer. My name is scott lloyd and im office of refugee settlement. It provides refugees, and other populations with support and services to assist them to become integrated members of society. Will describe the role and the initiative the office plans to pursue. The mission so to link to help them become members of american society. In total over 212,000 individuals were eligible for Resettlement Services through programs. It is designed for asimulatisia. Funds for individuals who are not eligible. A portion of new entrance rather than cash assistance program. Through the matching Grant Program u. S. Resettlement agencies to help become employed and selfsufficient within the first four months by providing case management, job placement and follow up and housing and cash assistance. Refugees may not if they choose to participate in the matching Grant Program. It has proven to be effective in helping achieve economic selfsufficient. It served almost 35,000 refugees and visa holders. A reported selfsufficient rate of approximately 84 for refugees after 180 days of arrival. It provides to private nonprofit to support social Services IncludingEmployment Services and social ajustment services. It allocates tied to the prior year of arrival that accounts for intmovements. It provides targeted assistance grants to states with qualifying counties that have high number of refugee arrivals. They are generally designed to help refugees they have engaged to improve data and research on how refugees are integrated. They have awarded two research contracted. The first will oversee the survey of refugees. It is to ensure they have nationally represented data ton first five years in the United States. The Second Research contracten contract is an indicator of challenges. It is particularly interested in enhancing Data Collection to better assess refugee success post arrival. They are working on a number of related Data Collection initiatives to strengthen Program Reporting in outcomes. Thank youchlt. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to testify at todays hearing to discuss the work on the process by which refugees. The United States admitted nearly 85,000 in fiscal year 2016 and over 50,000 in 2017. We examined u. S. Government efforts to implement the Admissions Program as well as efforts to identify and address potential fraud in the program. My oral remarks key findings in three areas. One, policies and procedures if Case Processing and three, efforts to assess and address fraud risks. First, state through its nine support centers overseas has policies and support and applications to the United States. It is to obtain among other things. State also has various mechanisms to oversee the activities of refugee support centers. The state does not have Performance Indicators such as ensuring the policies prescreening activities. We recommend they state concurred. Second, within the department of Homeland Security has policies and procedures. For those adjudications we were able to observe we found that u. S. Cis generally implemented procedures. They provided a training to all officers. However u. S. Cis could improve its trang. Specifically we found that officers did not receive the same amount or type of training as full time refugee officers. We recommend they provide training for temporary officers and u. S. Dpcis has done so. They have not assessed the quality of refugee adjudication and that they are legally sufficient. Thus we recommended that they conduct regular Quality Assurance assessments. Finally, state and uscis to fraud risks but could improve their records. Instances of staff fraud have occ occurred regarding applicant fraud in the past state has suspended resettlement programs because of fraud. They have implemented mechanisms however they have not jointly assessed applicant fraud risks. State and uscis do not have information that may effect the integrity of the process. We recommend the state review fraud risk assessments and use them to examine existing fraud controls. We also recommended that state and uscis conduct regular of the program. They concurred with these recommendations. In closing given the potential con kwenss that the outcomes of decisions can have on the safety and decisions of refugee pop populations and United States it is important that the u. S. Government have an effective Refugee Program while preventing those with malicious intent from gaining entry into the country. This concludes my. Thank you. I will begin by recognizing myself for five minutes. Mr. Henshaw, as you know last year the u. S. Entered into an agreement with australia to accept over a thousand refugee. Many of whom are from countries of National Security concern. When this committee inkwierd we were told it was classified. They indicated the deal was a little more going to resettle a small number. Dont you agree that the American People have a right to know the details of that agreement . Sir, it is our intention to make public as much of the agreement as we can. The report remains classified. We have been unable to declassify it. Why is that . Sir, the original report was classified with the australians. If they classify a report it is classified under our system. So will you commit to supporting the agreement . We are talking about an agreement that effects the lives of american peechlt its not the australian people. How do we let our people know whats in that agreement and what we are doing . I will continue to work towards that. I believe that most of the information in the report is already in the public domain. Yeah, but we need to know from the government, not whats been leaked to the press, but i want testimony on what exactly we agreed to with the australian. Will you kplit to doing that . I will continue to work to declassify the information, sir. Can you please explain the program . Yes, sir. We use rscs to enter the original data on refugees who we are considering for resettlement in the United States. We do early interviewing but to collect data and information from them so it can be later used by dhs so that we can enter that into our Security System so that security reviews can be carried out. What types of fraud have occurred . Im not prepared to give full details. I just dont have it on fraud. Didnt you know you were coming to testify with this committee about this program . Yes. Why are you not prepared . I can give you some examples. Okay. If you would like, sir. We have had a couple of cases where where people have have weve had a couple cases, sir, where people have missed have attempted to to portray their information incorrectly to rsd members. But in all cases that i am aware of i would like to see a report of what kinds of frauds. I thought that was the purpose of this hearing, and i am a little bit dumbfounded that we dont have that information. So i would like to know. Thats what were trying to figure out, whats happening with this program, and i would like that information. Mr. Cissna. Can you explain why the decision was made to concentrate on asylum cases as opposed to refugee cases this fiscal year. As i started to say earlier, but then ran out of time yes. Uscis is facing a backlog of about 300,000 asylum cases. The asylum work is complementary to the refugee work. These are all vulnerable populations, people seeking relief under the same standard. The backlog is untenable. We cant have that backlog persist. People are going years potentially waiting for a court date to have their benefits adjudicated. We want to divert resources from refugee processing to the asylum backlog to reduce the backlog. Youre just trying to help the backlog with asylum. Yes. Its not anything nefarious that youre trying to hurt them. Your testimony notes that several ways to enhance the process for screening and vetting refugees have now been identified. Apparently thats news to the Previous Administration. Can you explain what some of the holes in the process were and what changes have been made. Quickly. I wouldnt call them holes necessarily. I would say the processes we have had in place could have been improved and will be improved. Some of the things we are doing, enhancing and increasing the types of information were collecting. Were improving the interview processes and guidance to people in the field to conduct interviews to root out fraud and determine credibility. And finally the types of checks we are doing on people are also being expanded and enhanced to ensure that we get the most possible value from those types of investigations. Thank you very much. I now recognize the gentle lady from california, Ranking Member of the subcommittee. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I would i cant help but note that yesterday we marked up a bill that would allow, you know, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of workers paid sub minimum wage come into the u. S. With no vetting whatsoever. So if i were a potential terrorist, i think i might look at that route instead of the extensive route that you are describing. But moving right how to do it. Moving right along, i would like to ask you, mr. Lloyd, about policies relative to the rights of asylees in your stu. Custody. Were all aware that socalled jane doe, a 17yearold immigrant woman in orr custody was blocked from accessing an abortion and forced to continue a pregnancy against her will. Now, she is a minor. But a court had decided that she had the maturity to make the decision on her own, and yet she continued to be blocked from this constitutionally protected health care. She wasnt asking the government to pay for her care or to transport her to a doctor, just to get out of the facility so that she could access a constitutional right that she had to terminate her pregnancy. Obviously, as a 17yearold, she could not legally consent to the i dont know this whether she was violently raped or it was a product of statutory rape. She was finally released because a court did intervene. So i would like to ask you about your general belief about the rights of women and girls who were in orrs custody. Do you believe that women and girls in your custody have Constitutional Rights like other people who are in america, or do you think that Constitutional Rights, for example, to due process and privacy, depend on immigration status . I think anybody youre referring to the unaccompanied Children Program where we provide shelters in a number of locations throughout the country. I think anybody who comes into the United States comes with the potential to become a full u. S. Citizen with full rights to all the freedoms we enjoy, including the freedom to move freely. The right to bear arms and to vote and others. But thats always subject to a process, whether its if they come through as a uac or through some other means. Its a process where, you know, as the person moves through the process, then they gain additional rights. Let me interrupt, because the due process clause applies to everybody who is here. I believe. Thats what i learned in law school. Thats what the case law seems to say. Do you agree with that or not . Due process clause does, yeah. Okay. Let me ask you in terms of moving forward prospectively. The Washington Post reports and, you know, we dont know if this is true or not which is why i am asking you suggested that you have personally intervened to try and persuade minors not to have abortions. I would like to know, did you have direct contact with the young woman in this case that was in the paper . Do you have direct contact with other pregnant girls in the care of orr . And do you have any medical training . Well, forgive me but, you know, some of the answers to the questions that youre asking are my ability to answer them fully are really limited by a number of factors, including the court orders and also our duty to protect the individual im not asking for a name. Have you ever contacted any anonymous girl in your care trying to talk her out of having an abortion . As director, i run the uac program. Repatriation program and Refugee Resettlement program, and i am out in the field in many of our locations, and i meet with, you know, dozens and even perhaps hundreds of the people who we serve, the populations whom we serve. Among them, i am certain that some of them were pregnant at the time. I am disturbed that you wont answer the question. My time has expired. The chair will now recognize the gentleman from iowa for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thanes t thanks the witnesses for your testimony. Listening to the gentle ladys dialogue. I would say whats been created by the decision of unelected judge is an unconditional right to an abortion to a minor who can sneak into the United States and is still subject to the adjudication of deportation. She had a full right full ability rather than a right, to go back to her home country willingly and subject herself to the laws of her home country. So i think this is a terrible precedent thats been set by this judge. And i hope the full Judiciary Committee one day soon addresses the rogue judges that we have in this country. This includes judge watson in hawaii. And the judge in washington that seemed to be the venueshopping people that decide that theyre going to challenge the statutes of the United States duly passed by the United States congress and signed into law by the president of the United States, and for them to turn that completely upside down. So i would like to turn first to mr. Cissna with regard to that. There has been discussion about the executive orders. I expand it to the challenges to the executive orders that have taken place in the courts. I read the statute. I dont have them in front of me. Its clear. Congress has granted the president the authority to determine who comes and who goes from the United States of america with the security interests of america in mind, and it doesnt say that a judge anywhere can look over his shoulder and determine that his judgment is flawed and their judgment is superior. So i would ask if you have any opinions upon that statute after i have expressed mine, mr. Cissna. Well, with respect to the refugee statute, section 207 of the immigration act, its pretty clear that the authority to let refugees in is totally discretionary. So the authorities that we are now using to restart the program after the suspension was lifted comply with that. And the types of checks we are doing, all the things were doing that we talked about earlier, are in full compliance with that, i believe. You discussed enhanced biometric collection. Could you expand on that a little bit first, please. I think in answer to that question, as with many other questions along those lines, i probably wouldnt be able to get into big detail because of Law Enforcement sensitivities. I can say that the the types of the classes of people from whom biometrics will be taken, it is intend, shall be expanded in certain cases. So more people well get biometrics from more people and the types of databases against which they had checks would also be expanded. Are we talking fingerprints . Primarily, yes. Are we doing digital photographs, facial recognition . Weve always done photographs. That would be the sum total of biometrics . In general for now. That doesnt include others. Dna, i hope one day. Its cheap to get and cheap to keep. Thats my recommendation. I would turn to ms. Gambler. In your report, some questions came to mind to me, and the un High Commission on refugees and in cooperation with them referenced in your report. Can you tell me, does the u. N. High commission on refugees, do they do background checks on any of the lists they maintain and pass over to us for potential refugees . We can follow up and see what specific information we have on that, congressman king, and get back to you. I do know there are under the framework of cooperation that exists between the department of state and unhcr, there are feedback loops back and forth on that. Wed be happy to follow up. I appreciate it could could do that. At this point youre not aware of what background checks might be done, if any . Well follow up with you on that. The other thing i would say, though, is that the u. S. Refugee Admissions Program is designed to be a multistep process, and so once referrals are made from unhcr to the department of state, thats when the federal government adjudication and Security Check process begins. As far as we know. I want to say, as far as i know, the information thats referred to us from uncor doesnt really have a background check. Its simply a file that gets passed on to us and takes them time to move through the file. As long as two years. In the background checks that we do have that were relying upon for the uber vetting process that the president has described, if there is no legal existence of that individual in the home country or none that can be recovered by the record. If it comes up empty were stampin stamping them u. S. Approved and moving them into the country . Government officials have stated that Security Checks are reliant on the information that the u. S. Government has. If there is none available. I ask unanimous consent for one more short question. Without objection. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I think i forgot the question. But it was it was that with vetting process that we have, and the lack of biometrics that we have, i am just going to suspend that. Because i dont think its well enough thought out. I would yield back. I thank you for your attention. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yielded time to the Ranking Member of the subcommittee. Of the committee. Entire committee. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and appreciate the discussion thats been generated. Let me start off by observing that since the Trump Administration has come into being, briefing requests submitted by democratic member staff have been repeatedly denied, ignored or delayed. Do each of you promise to respect satisfy the briefing and other requests staffs make from both the republican and democratic members alike. Mr. Cissna . You okay with that . I am okay with providing any Technical Assistance or briefings you want from my agency. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Lloyd. You okay with that . Yes, certainly. Thank you. Mr. Henshaw . Yes, sir. Okay. Fine. I wanted to observe that my district has benefited greatly from the economic contributions of the refugee community. Refugees from around the world live and reside in and own businesses in the detroit area that i represent. And i welcome these hardworking refugees and think that my community is better as a result. And economists have also found that refugees have higher entrepreneurship, make significant contributions to the economy, and on average pay more than 21,000 in taxes than they receive in benefits. I have got a couple of studies that back it up. I would like consent to include them in the record, mr. Chairman, the new American Economy struggle for to resilience, as well as the economic and social outcome of refugees in the United States. And i ask unanimous consent to enter them into the record. Without objection theyll be entered into the record. Thank you very much. Is there general agreement among all of our witnesses that there have been great benefits of these refugees that make communities like mine better as a result . Is there general agreement with that from all of you here this morning . I dont disagree that many refugees do make enormous contributions to our country, yes. Sure. Yes, sir. Absolutely. Mmhmm. I concur. Yes. All right. Now, let me get to the question or observation raised by mr. Lloyd. How do you think refugees are doing on the question of assimilating . Do you believe refugees are currently assimilating or not assimilating . In any question like that, i think its a casebycase basis. Thats one of the goals of our program. Once theyve arrived in the u. S. , we administer especially job placement, english language courses. Thats whats going to i know its going to be on a casebycase basis, but i mean, in general. Are do you think that currently assimilation is coming along okay or not . Generally, from what i have been able to see, i think so, yes. Any other views that anyone wants to recommend on this question that i have asked . Is assimilation a problem, or is it working okay . Can i get the response . You can respond. At uscis we look at assimilation issues with respect to the grants programs. With regard to refugee i think its something we want to look at more carefully in this fiscal year. We want to look at it as well. Anybody else want to chime in on in . My time has expired, but we can answer the question. I would just add, sir, that we concentrate on selfsufficiency and we have good results in many refugees becoming selfsufficient and contributing to society in america. Good. Thank you. The gentlemans time has expired. May i ask for unanimous consent to put in the record a letter from 24 national and state based religious groups oy posing the orr obstructive policy on abortion . Without objection. I now recognize the gentleman from louisiana for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being here. Director cissna, prior to now, what information was not being shared between state and dhs thats now going to be shared to enhance the safety of the Refugee Program . I think that would squarely fall within the universe of kind of Law Enforcement sensitivities that i dont feel comfortable discussing in an open forum. Fair enough. Can you explain to the committee how the department of Homeland Security has modified its training of dhs refugee officers to account for serious and potential threats of bad actors who try to abuse the Refugee Program . So, historically the training of refugee officers has always been very robust, they have weeks and weeks and weeks of training that all adjudicators have, and they have an additional five or six weeks on top of that and they have countryspecific training that focuses on the types of fraud and other country conditions. But in the wake of the working group that implemented the executive order, were going to further increase and improve training so that the officers are able to even better assess credibility, which is the key element in interviewing the people, and determining whether the person is inadmissible under the law. Sometimes they have criminal offenses and other things that make them inadmissible. Speaking of the credibility determination. Would now be a good time for us to review our asylum standards . Would it be wise for congress to tighten the standards for credible fear determinations to ensure the system is not abused especially in light of the backlog of 300,000 cases . I do. This is actually one of the immigration priorities that the administration advanced a week or two weeks ago or so. One of the many things that we proffered was that the congress examined that exact issue. I think the question would be whether the credible fear standard is actually is clear enough to be implemented properly, and i dont think it is. I think it could be clarified so that those assessments are made better and the people who dont actually meet that standard get weeded out. I am glad to hear you say that. We have been working on legislation to help with that. Miss gambler, can you speak to the fraud that has occurred at the Resettlement Support Centers . I think mr. Henshaw didnt answer it completely. Whats your thought on that . Yes. As part of our audit work we did identify that, while infrequent, there were some cases of fraud that occurred at rs at the rscs. We give some examples in our report. In one case rsc staff were soliciting bribes on the promise of being able to help expedite applications. There was another case in which interpreters were seeking bribes as well. To i think States Credit and the rscs credit in response to the instances of fraud they did take action to respond and strengthening their processes going forward. But there have been some cases of fraud identified as it relates to rscs. Thank you for that. Mr. Henshaw, the u. S. Consistently admits per year vastly more unhcr referred country resettled refugees than any other country in the world. You mentioned that. What diplomatic pressure or other incentivizing measures are being used to urge other countries to admit for refugees. We participate in worldwide meetings of resettlement countries and push other countries to take additional refugees. We use that in diplomatic meetings and humanitarian meetings and other meetings around the world to urge other countries. We have also pushed countries that havent been in the resettlement business before to get into that business. And one of the alternatives that weve pushed for countries that arent regular resettlement countries is to look for alternative methods for people to enter their countries on different kinds of working visas or such. Well, as you also know, refugees are provided loans to cover the cost of travel to the u. S. And funding for the loans is provided by your agency. I am curious to know about the loan repayment rate and if you have steps that are being taken to ensure prompt repayment of the loans. Repayment rate is very high. It differs among populations, but its generally well over 75 and with many populations significantly over that. And we continue to look for ways to improve pay payment of those loans repayment of those loans. I have 15 seconds. What are the repercussions to a refugee who doesnt pay back the loan . What about that 25 . I believe it affects their credit rating, but i would have to get back to you on other details on how it affects them. Would you give us that information . I can do that. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. I yield to the gentle lady from washington. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Let me pick up on the questions of our Ranking Member of the subcommittee, miss lofgren. Mr. Lloyd, do you believe that a womans constitutional right to abortion depends on her immigration status . I think the any entrant into the United States its a yes or no, question, mr. Lloyd. Do you believe that a womans constitutional right to abortion depends on her immigration status, yes or no . A number of rights that is not a yes or no answer, mr. Lloyd. My answer is that any number of rights depend on the where they stand in terms of our immigration system. I do not understand that answer. Is that a yes or a no . Ill take that as a no. So do you believe that immigrants have Constitutional Rights . Once again, um, maam, if somebody wants to come into the United States and ill take that as a no. Mr. Lloyd, do you have medical training of any kind . I, um, if i need advice regarding any medical situation regarding any of the populations i serve i consult the medical so the answer is no you dont have medical training. No. Are you trained to provide Counseling Services to the young people, mr. Lloyd . Again, if Counseling Services are called for i rely on the team of counseling professionals to advise me in my role as director. Mr. Lloyd, what expertise makes you qualified in this jane doe case to override the determination of a Texas State Court that jane doe is mature and competent enough to make her own decision . I am not going to comment on any individual case, but in any case that comes across my desk, were going to look at the totality of circumstances that may affect their case. And that may include legal, it may include policy considerations, medical, social welfare considerations and we have teams of experts and staff who are well equipped to advise me on any number of those things. And terms of how what the outcomes were going to come to or what decisions were going to make its going to come from a totality of that advice and the facts on the ground. Mr. Lloyd, is anybody able to review or override your decision . Are you ultimate decisionmaker with regard to a womans ability to exercise her constitutional right to abortion . The office of Refugee Resettlement is situated within the department of health and Human Services, administration for children and families. So i answer to the assistant secretary for children and families and to the secretary of health and Human Services. Mr. Lloyd, is it your intent to block unaccompanied minors from accessing abortion care . Or will you instruct providers to deny minors other types of Reproductive Health care like contraception or information on ko contraceptive methods . How far will your jurisdiction over this issue extend . My again, anytime or any circumstance is going to depend on the totality of facts that any individual case brings before us. And so, its always going to be a casebycase determination. Its extremely troubling to me, mr. Lloyd, whats happening. I think youre far overreaching over your expertise or your jurisdiction. Mr. Henshaw, from the beginning america has been a refuge for the persecuted and in keeping with our past with our values past republican and democratic president s alike have championed refugees and regarded the Refugee Program as core to the nations identity. And in fact, 20 National Security leaders including Henry Kissinger michael chirtot. Madeleine albright wrote into a 2015 letter that resettlement initiatives help advance National Security interests by helping our patterns struggling to host large numbers of refugees. Yet this administration has repeatedly and contrary to evidence characterized refugees as fraud, security threats and resource drains. To what extent and why do you think that this administrations view of refugees is dramatically different from the longstanding bipartisan tradition and fundamental American Values . Security is our utmost concern with any Refugee Program. And we have, over the years, often reevaluated our program to make sure that the best Security Standards are met, and thats what were doing now. I believe that the current plan to bring in up to 45,000 refugees this year is well within our past history of refugee numbers. And signifies that we are still the leader in Refugee Resettlement in the United States. In the world. Sorry. Mr. Chairman, i ask unanimous consent for one more short question. Thank you so much. Mr. Henshaw, the white house has recently released statement of immigration principles cited a misleading study climbing to show that United States can resettle 12 refugees in safe zones near their home countries for the cost of resettling one refugee domestically. Are you aware of who performed that study . No, i am not. I would simply say that it is always our number one option to resettle people back in the voluntarily back in the country from which they fled. Let me just say and ill yield back my time, that the source was the center for immigration studies, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as a hate group and found that it disseminated White Nationalist content on over 2,000 occasions. Deeply disturbed that the administration would be using that as a source of anything in an official report. I yield back, mr. Chairman, i thank you for the additional time. Okay. The chair will yield time to gentle lady from texas. I thank the gentleman. I really do, as i look, these are Public Servants, and i thank you for your service. I would argue that the service that each of your agencies are supposed to give really falls in the category of mercy and sympathy and empathy for conditions that refugees around the world are facing. I am not sure whether that is possible, having the kind of statements that are coming from the administration. And i frankly believe the American People should realize that, when Public Servants appear before us, they are unfortunately the spokesperson of a cruel and ugly policy, as evidenced by the administration. So having sat on the immigration subcommittee for many, many years, i can probably, with great comfort, say this is probably the worst time in American History as it relates to the rights of immigrants. With that said, i would like to begin my line of questioning on a general statement. Mr. Henshaw and mr. Lloyd, how do you treat muslim refugees . Mr. Henshaw. We dont treat refugees any differently any way based on their religion. How is that possible when the administration has fought consistently for a muslim ban . There is no muslim ban. We are simply reevaluating our Security System country by country. There is a muslim ban proposed by this administration as evidenced by the stance that the attorney general have been taking in the courts, though theyve been defeated. What youre saying to me is you do not decipher and or reject a muslim refugees that may be in refugee camps in jordan and on the border of syria. Never, ever. All right. Mr. Lloyd . Once they enter into our care, all determinations about placement have already been made. This is the office of Refugee Resettlement where we administer benefits. So we treat muslim refugees the same as we treat all other refugees. Will you submit to this committee your statements in dealing with refugees who have come i know the process. The American People dont know the process. That is, of course, that refugees coming out of areas are in a camp. I think you work with United Nations. That is the process. Its a long period of vetting. And then these individuals come to the United States by way of your choice of them out of those who are requiring or requesting the opportunity to come to the United States. Is that not correct . Well, the the initial determination and selection is made with prm in consultation with dhs. Provide me and this committee with that whole process. And that includes those individuals who may be coming from the areas of the muslim ban, because they do exist. I would appreciate if you would do so. Otherwise, the myth of taking in terrorists will continue to abound in this particular administration. I would like to pursue also the line of questioning dealing with your treatment of refugees having just visited the border and seeing some of the detention centers. Although i appreciate the service, again, of the federal employees, it is not a pleasant sight. In particular, mr. Lloyd, with miss jane doe, again, did you have direct contact with miss jane doe or those advocating on her behalf . I cannot comment on individual cases. Would you would you i am not sure why you would not indicate whether or not did you have contact with the lawyers . Did the agency have contact directly with the lawyers . In any case where there is any lawyers involved, we would be in contact with the lawyers. So yeah. Do you have a set policy that you are pushing by way of the administration that opposes any young women who are falling under a particular statistic that says that 60 of those who are trying to flee oppression and persecution coming from the southern border are generally raped by their by those who are trafficking them or and therefore might be in need of medical help . Are you familiar with that static . Statistic. I am not familiar with that particular statistic. Do you have any position on providing any sort of humane response to an individual who may have been raped and is pregnant and that falls under the laws of the United States which would allow an abortion . We work in the best interests of all the uacs who come into our care and in the confines of our statutory requirements so then they would be covered by the general laws about the ability to achieve an abortion based upon being raped . Well, that would fall under the tv pra which we have implemented with internal is that a yes . They would have that right, because of the laws that allow women to secure an abortion because theyve been raped. Is that a yes . With regard to the the Sexual Assault i would like an additional minute for the witness to answer the question. I would object. Youve gone over the limit already. Would you finish the question, sir. You can answer the question. With regard to Sexual Assault, we follow the guidelines of the trafficking victims protection act and have implemented that into our policies. In jane does case you did not, however. I am not going to comment gentle lady time has expired. I gave you an additional minute. I appreciate it, mr. Chairman, but this is a serious issue, the treatment of refugees under this administration has diminished. It has frankly deteriorated. The apologize to those people were trying to reduce the number of illegal people coming to the United States because many get raped trying to cross the border. Thats what were trying to stop. We should at least treat them with decency when they come. I yield back. This concludes todays hearing. Thanks to all of our witnesses. Without objection all members have five days to submit additional written questions for the witnesses or additional materials for the record. This hearing is adjourned. Coming up later today on cspan3, House Speaker paul ryan in his Weekly Briefing with reporters set to start about an hour from now at 11 30 eastern this morning. When it gets under way, see is live here on cspan3. Later today on our companion network cspan, a conversation with the Cato Institute about the republicans tax cut plan at noon eastern also live on cspan. This weekend on American History tv on cspan3, saturday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history, university of california san diego professor luis alvarez on the 1943 los angeles zut suit riots and how they challenged racial identities. Mexican american zut suitors in particular were viewed as public enemy. If not number one. 1b right behind japanese americans. They were seen as unamerican. Sunday at 6 00 p. M. On american artifacts. Saving slavehouses project explores the green hill plantation. This site, green hill plantation, has the original slave owner here was very active in the slave trade. So one of the things he decided to put in his yard is a slave Auction Block, an auctioneer stand. You can definitely feel the power of this place and think that Auction Block standing where it is right now is a huge part of why the site is so powerful. I mean, this would have been, really, the last place men, women, children would have been with their families. After this place, they would have been scattered all across the United States. So this is really kind of ground zero for that experience here. At 8 00, an interview with historian william seal on the stone masons who built the white house. The festoon over the front door carved with lilies and flowers and griffins and acorns, everything you could think of. Very lush over the front door. Probably the finest example of carving in america for a hundred years. American history tv. All weekend, every weekend. Only on cspan3. Republican hal rogers is in the 19th term and represents the Fifth District of kentucky. He is cofounder and cochair of the congressional caucus on Prescription Drug abuse. Later today President Trump will make a much anticipated speech on opioid abuse about the epidemic in the United States. What are you expecting to hear from him in the speech . I expect him to reiterate