Transcripts For CSPAN Newsmakers 20151122

This week is tom price of georgia. He is a doctor, and a longtime friend and confidant of the new bigger of the house, paul ryan. Let me introduce our two reporters who will be asking questions. New tower. And 10 a daniel, the first question, go ahead please. Mr. Newhauser should the house do more . Rep. Price as you say, everyones house and prayers thoughts and prayers go out to the victims in paris. The real challenge, the real problem, is that the United States does not have a strategy. The administration has not defined a strategy. They refused doing gauge in this issue in a way that would make it to where we would actually defeat isis. What the house did this past the was to say, because Homeland Security secretary and say that wethe fbi cannot be certain that people coming in on the Refugee Program are coming here and not having any association with terrorist groups they are not able to say that. Since they are not able to say that, halt the program, and put it in a posture of making it certain that they can vat these individuals in a proper way. Mr. Newhauser obama says he will veto this, what would be the next step . Rep. Price what the American People need to ask themselves is what does it mean when the president vetoes a piece of legislation that is solely for the purpose of protecting the American People . Troubling time. I call on the president , as does all of our conference to recognize the concerned that the American People have about this issue. This is not childs play. Very seriousy, issue. To have the president say, even in spite of his Homeland Security secretary, saying they are not able to appropriately vet these individuals they that is note republican senators or republican governors, that is his Homeland Security secretary. As the president , he will not listen to that, and continue to allow people into this nation that he cannot with any degree of certainty say they do not have any ties to terrorism this is a very troubling event. Mr. Newhauser some of your members have been calling on choking down funding unless they can properly vet refugees, or choke off funding to admit refugees at all. You think that is a wise idea, when it could risk Something Like a Government Shutdown . Responsibility is represent the American People. The calls right now to our office are running roughly 1000 to one making certain that no one is meant into this country that is not properly vetted. You have 30 governors saying that they do not believe it is appropriate to have refugees resettled into their states, republican and democratic governors. Any way that we can accomplish of the American People are, and also our responsibility of making sure the nation is safe and secure, and the American People are protected. Any opportunity to do that is the right opportunity. Beingylor as you know, chairman of the Budget Committee is a busy season, and then there is a followup season. A few weeks ago, there was a vote on a mini bipartisan budget deal that took care of some of these automatic budget cuts that trouble both pentagon hawks and democrats. The president , who was more money on domestic programs, has some spending cuts that are quite dicey. You voted against it two years ago, and voted for something, put together by your predecessor that followed the same concept. What were you objecting to . Rep. Price i think the Important Message to deliver to the listeners and viewers in as aprogram is that republican conference over the past five years, we have done a remarkable job an in holding Discretionary Spending level. The problem is that is one third of the federal budget. Two thirds of the federal budget that continues to grow in the automatic in mandatory spending programs that continue to eat up more and more of hardworking taxpayer dollars. In this instance, we believe, i believe, the house budget resolution that we passed actually had more money for defense that was brought forward in this bill that was passed a couple of weeks ago. We believe it is appropriate to put resources where they are most effective in our federal government. To be tied to increasing money spendingiscretionary safely in order to get more money for defense, which is what the president demanded, is a bridge too far from my perspective. Not asht that it was responsible as it could have been. I liked it to continue to push the budget resolution that House Republicans passed in the spring. Mr. Taylor those of us who follow the budget see the same thing year after year. You put together a budget that tries to set a blueprint to do all kinds of things it would do tax reform, also as of things. It alwaysseems like goes up on the shelf, you never follow up with tax reform. As far as i know, you have never drafted or publicly released a medicare reform bill. You had kind of a filibuster proof device that allows you to send bills to the present without any democratic support. Instead of using that to take on the budget, you used it to take obamacare, and go after funding for planned parenthood. Next year, if you elect a republican president , will you be able to fulfill these promises that you never really tried to implement . Rep. Price i think so, and i think we will. Two points. One, i share the frustrations that you articulated that we seem to pass a budget full of , itsorts of great things balances within 10 years, doesnt raise taxes, saves over 5 trillion, outlines a way to save and strengthen medicare and on,caid, and then we move which is precisely why the Budget Committee started a restoring the trust of all americans be ago a of all visibility americans. Disabilities and thosethens and secures spending programs, and also creates a Critical Mass of individuals who will demand of ir representatives that they are accountable. We will spend more than what we have spent on defense, education, everything. That is unacceptable to me. Second, i cannot tell you how excited i am about the new speaker. Yes, it is a good friend of my, but it is an individual that understands putting forth positive policy solutions, which is why i affirmed your question, because i am sure that he will put for those positive policy solutions. Mr. Newhauser following on the budget question and the syrian refugee crisis, the fbi would have to implement some new vetting process. They say that would probably cost some money. Where would you find that money to up the fbi budget . Rep. Price i have all the confidence in the world that there is money in the executive branch that would more than the need to a college that. The question is will this president make securing this nation and protecting the American People a priority or not . Currently, there is no confidence that he is securing this nation. That is a very troubling place to be. Mr. Newhauser you touched a bit on how excited you are for speaker ryan. You are in his advisory council, if you will, of different groups that meet on just about a weekly basis with him. What do you think that group will accomplish that was not able to be accomplished during speaker boehners reign . Rep. Price i think one of the challenges that we have had is a lack of communication. When you have a lack of communication, and what has been described as a topdown decisionmaking tree previously, there is a lot of trust that needs to be built up. The way you build up trust is communicate with each other. Speaker ryan has done an incredible job in his short tenure and trying to pull everyone in in our conference, in the various groups of our conference that have different perspectives on different issues to make certain that everyone understands that their voice is being heard that the issues are being listened to and considered to adjust bigger challenges. It really is an exciting, new day. Mr. Newhauser just this past week, we saw a bill come to the floor at a lastminute handed down by leadership with no amendments, and all republicans voted for it. What is different now than when this happened in the same way under boehner . Rep. Price you are referring to the refugee bill . Mr. Newhauser correct. Rep. Price this has been worked on for months. The fact of the matter is this is a dynamic process. The rules of engagement for the terrorists changed on friday night in paris. They attacked innocent people, the largest attack on the french nation cents world war ii. We cannot, with our oldest ally being attacked by a terrorist attack, sit back and allow for nothing to happen over a period of time. Is absolutely imperative that we respond and answer the challenge of the french people. We stand with france. We urge our senate colleagues, when they come back, to get to work, to address this issue, if they believe the house has responded appropriately, pass the house bill. We past with the super withstand at would president ial veto. You brought up the senate. Knowing what you know about speaker ryan, how would he Different Senate than banner day . Rep. Price again, i think it is communication. Allow them to take up the set piece of legislation and act on it, whether it is on health care, National Security, energy policy, tax reform, the senate can take up that legislation or pass something they believe is most appropriate. Then, we come to conference, and iron out the differences. The difference you will see is lookone and tenure being forward by the speaker which is positive, optimistic, upbeat, that says, a lot of challenges, yes, but there are positive solutions to address it. What im hearing from you is speaker ryan has built up a lot of goodwill, he has Peoples Trust Going Forward, however, before you leave washington for the holidays, you have to deal with trillionive 1. 1 spending bill. You said you have to get your hands dirty with things like appropriations. The history has been there are a lot of compromises, the president always does well in , democrats do well, and it has been a frustrating process for a lot of rankandfile republicans. What are your expectations as to how much better or whether speaker ryan would get Better Outcomes . Or, will this be cleaning up the old business before you look forward . Rep. Price some of it is cleaning up the activity to date. You cannot saddle speaker ryan was where we are right now. What gives me confidence and whatism for the future is he says is if we are to move forward next year, to get our appropriations bill done, make certain we pass all of them, and get them to the senate so they are able to act on them as well, and get bills to the president s desk. I believe he ryan has said this is not the way he would want this to occur. Time is growing short, and it is important we get these were this work done. Im hopeful we will see a spending piece of legislation that has more good than bad, and moves us in a positive direction. Im hopeful we will do that before christmas eve. Have,s the challenge we to get the work done. Mr. Taylor theres also hope to do a longterm reauthorization of highway programs. You probably noticed that when the house passed its version, and replacedoffset it with a phony offset. Youd a letter yesterday, or the day before, which basically said, it is worth 59 million, but does not really do anything to the deficit. Will you let that stand . Rep. Price this is troubling. Often times, when we have pieces of legislation that come through, and you have to figure out how to pay for the legislation that is moving its way through congress, some of them you are comfortable with, actually reducing spending, and prioritizing it in an appropriate way, and some of it gives you pause. This gives me pause. It is not how i would prefer to do it. I think how i would have preferred to do it is the way we redoing it in the means. Ommittee the infrastructure in this nation needs significant attention. A longterm highway bill is absolutely a priority. Capacity on ased highway system. The average worker in my her car sits in his or over 50 hours per year simply going to and from work. That is a long, long time. In 50orry, 50 weeks weeks, they spend more than one week of time in their car, which is just outrageous. Stream that isng willble, and hopefully we get there at some point. Mr. Taylor what is the word . Will that stand . Rep. Price it is an conference right now, and they will work through it. My understanding is they will have it done by the time this errors, and we will know what it looks like then. Host i want to go back to the deadline of the big spending bill. There are still a number of policy issues that could be potential landmines for some of thatconference members might trigger another Government Shutdown. How confident are you that the Communications Group that the speaker has set up will be able to negotiate with rankandfile they are passing about, like the planned parenthood bill and the refugee issue . Rep. Price i think it is less about negotiation, and pulling people into have them be part of the decisionmaking that goes on. This is really a pivotal time house, this government, as we reach these spending decisions, to make certain how we fund the government that we are already six weeks into. Listening to people, seeing where their priorities are, knowing that no one is going to get all that they want, and you want to make certain that the highest Priority Issues are addressed. I think that is what we will be able to do. Mr. Newhauser would you vote for an omnibus bill that does not deal with the syrian refugee issue . Rep. Price i think you have to look at the full package. Those are things that i think need to be addressed, as you know, in our budget. We appealed obamacare. We did so, not just because of the numbers, but because i can tell you, as a physician, it is bad for health care in this country. Quality health care is decreasing because of obamacare. You have states that are ending coops. Theyhave gone bankrupt or are struggling. You have Major Insurance Companies realizing that it does not work, what we said would not be able to function, is not surprise,ng surprise. They are pulling out their participation in obamacare, which means patients have fewer options to purchase. The quality is going down, they are losing choices. This is a very, very troubling program. I will not rest in my political in denver until we make it certain that we move towards patient centered health care, and not washington, d. C. Mr. Taylor i thought we would maybe get your thoughts on the president ial race. You have two front runners in your party who have not Held Elected Office that are viewed with a lot of suspicion by unquoteof the quote establishment. On the other hand, you have secretary clinton, whose members are not that impressed whose thatnumbers are not impressive. Are you nervous that you will put up a nominee that will be affordable even if you are up against a vulnerable democrat . Faithrice i have great and confidence and the American People. I know their frustration of the semester asian, and the overreach of this administration, the overreach of the democratic policies, are not where they want them to be. I also have great confidence that any individual on the republican platform trying for our nomination will do a much better job than those on the democratic stage. Mr. Taylor who do you like . Rep. Price we are talking to every Sale Campaign about issues, particularly health care. Speed voters to be up to to get the Health Care System moving and a better direction. We have not made a decision yet. Mr. Newhauser if donald trump becomes the republican nominee, that is someone you would and or struggle rep. Price i am wholly republicanof the nominee because i said, any one of those individuals would do a better job running this country, getting our country back on track, solving the challenges that we have, and making certain that the world knows america will lead again. Where we find ourselves is what the world looks like when america refuses to leave. The world is in a less safe place when th american backs lead. Not i believe the world will understand that there is a significant difference. Mr. Taylor when donald trump is in front of a crowd and says he out ofmb the blank syria, that does not give you pause . I went been present does not know what is going on in certain regions of the world, that does not give you pause to go rep. Price . Commentse there are made by everything will candidate, including yours truly, that one wishes they could take back. Whether this tax policy, energy policy, what republicans understand and appreciate is that you cannot have they, successful citizens realize their dreams when you have a big, overreaching federal government. The two are mutually inconsistent with each other. What i believe is going to happen is the American People will recognize that whoever the nominee is, it is someone who will get this country back on track. Host two minutes. Final questions . Mr. Newhauser what do you make of the trend and the republican party, particularly in the president ial contest . Way do see elected governors, with conservative track records, dropping out of the race, getting traction, and you have a notle of folks who are elected officials, who do not have that much of a track record leadershipexecutive at the top of the pack . What does that say about your party, about the electorate right now . Saysprice i think what it is the anger and frustration and concerned that the American People have about what is going on here in washington is real and palpable. I have heard it for years. Ive tried to communicate it to my colleagues here in washington that this anger and frustration is correctly arrived at. They look to washington, and is a system that has not worked. It has not worked because the system does not work, it has not worked because we have not followed the system. You have an administration that is overreaching at every single turn, there is becoming oppressive. You have a judiciary that thinks it ought to be making laws as well. This is probably the weakest legislative branch at the federal level in the history of. Nybodys life watching this that is a dangerous place to be. People need to recognize there is a division of power and authority in this country that is real, needs to be enforced, reinforced by everything all branch, and to start that, we must get a legislative branch that cause back some of that authority. Mr. Newhauser where do you think the legislative branch can do that . Rep. Price the appropriations and budgeting process. The power of the purse is one of the fundamental powers of the legislative branch, and it needs to exercise that. This is a republican and democratic problem. When i talk to my republican colleagues about this issue, many of them identify clearly the concerns that i have to respond and very forceful ways with an executive that most of us believe is overreach. Coming backyou for to newsmakers again. We appreciate it. Is back with andy daniel newsental new user. Where are his challenges . Mr. Newhauser this on the list bill omnibus bill that must be passed will be a challenge. There are several stumbling blocks that could arise. This syrian refugee crisis is one, as the members clamor for some measure that would choke , fbi, or some dhs other agency tasked with into thisefugees country. Once you put something in there, you will lose both on the site, or that side. There is still a lot of room to be tested for ryan. Host there was a good bit of criticism of speaker boehner, calling it topdown communications, and suggesting that communications was going to address some of the challenges within the conference. Watching them over the past couple of years, particularly ae freedom caucus, is that communication problem, or real policy issued . In a lot of ways, it is a numbers game. Ory have a majority of 246, 247, republicans. Anything that is remotely controversials, you see republicans or the freedom caucus, that are not willing to vote for things like big spending bills or the tax increase that occurred after the 2012 election. What it means is the speaker it used to be boehner had to go over to nancy pelosi to get votes. That eroded his speaker position. Paul ryan is trying to keep his troops more united, but it remains to be seen whether when it comes to this big spending bill, which will be more than one foot tall, funding for the irs, planned parenthood, and all of these things that people have fallen on their swords for in recent weeks. It is difficult for a lot of speaker reince members ryans members to vote for it. It all comes down to votes. A the new speaker can command durable majority behind what he wants to do, he will be in the same not the same boat as boehner, but the same dynamic. Host in the interview, you talked about the budget process, and how it gets put on the shelf, and is frustrating for people. All of the work of the committee , and crafting their own bills, omnibus thatby an rolls this up into one. Are any of these sessions that the new speaker is having addressing this in the cycle at all Going Forward . Mr. Newhauser i think that so far these listening sessions have been working in the near term. I have been talking to members that normally would be at John Boehners throat who say they dont want to put ryan in a box. He has a certain level of leeway right now. People like him and trust him, and want to give him room to produce different results. Longterm, i dont know if that will work. Bill on the house most members would not have said that is as far as they want to go. They would go further. They say, we will do something later. You might not have seen that dynamic, certainly not at the end of boehners tenure, but certainly not at the beginning of it. Host final thoughts . Mr. Taylor i tried to get him to talk a little bit about what happens if there is no republican president. The fact of matter is they passed this budget resolution which has all of these painful cuts, but there is no pain because of the way things are done around here, it is nonbinding. In recent weeks, when they have tried to do even the miniscule cuts on things like crop insurance, members have freaked out. Suspicion that if we have a republican president and a holy republican congress, following through on their promises will be quite a challenge. He is obviously a very optimistic man, and certainly confident. For our time. It thanks to both of you for returning to newsmakers this week. Thank you for your questions for our guest. Did i feel prepared . Yes. I really did. First of all, i was not elected, so did not make that much difference. I did notice the difference between being the Vice President s wife and the president s wife. It is huge. The Vice President s wife can say anything. Nobody cares. The minute you say one thing as president s wife, you have made the news. That was a lesson i had to learn. Bushsng george h. W. Presidency, barbara bush raised awareness about aids and homelessness. She also earned her way into the history books by becoming the only the second first Lady Abigail Adams to be both a wife and mother of a president. Barbara bush on cspans original series, first ladies influence and image. From Martha Washington to michelle obama. Tonight at 8 00 eastern on American History tv on cspan 3. Cspan has the best access to congress with live coverage of the house on cspan and the two. E on cspan over thanksgiving, watch our conversations with six freshmen members of congress. This morning, a republican from georgia and the only pharmacist serving in congress. Then, a new jersey democrat and Longtime Union electrician. Friday, a california democrat, and former restaurant owner. At 10 30, a republican from North Carolina and the baptist minister in his first elected office. Saturday, it is congresswoman maybe waters from maybe im from california. Theni, a marine who served four doors and iraq. Your best access to congress is on cspan, cspan radio, and cspan. Org. Officials from the state department and citizenship and Immigration Services were on capitol hill this week to testify on National Security concerns in the aftermath of the paris terrorist attack, including the screening of Syrian Refugees. This hearing was held by the house judiciary subcommittee on immigration and border security. It is just over two hours. Gowdy i would tell her witnesses that we will do things a little differently this morning. I have some colleagues that will be here shortly. We are going to recognize our witnesses for their Opening Statements before we recognize the members for theres. Because there is a lot of floor activity this morning at 10 30, we want to get as much done as we can. While each of you has very vast and impressive resumes, i will probably skip them as i introduce you. Nameust recognize you by for your opening. Before i do that, i would ask for everyone to rise for the administration of an oath. Just the witnesses, im sorry. [laughter] that was my fault. I was ambiguous. That was my fault. Do you swear that testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth . May the record reflect that all of the witnesses answer in the affirmative. I will introduce you and then recognize you individually for your opening. We are delighted to have missed and richard miss and richard, leon rodriguez, seth jones, krikorian, and mr. Mark hatfield. Richard thank you very much. Thank you to the subcommittee for holding this important hearing. I know the murderous attacks in paris last friday evening have about they questions spillover of not just migrants to europe, but the spread of violence from war zones in the addle east to the streets of major european capital. Let me assure you that the entire executive branch and the state department that i represent have the safety and security of americans at their highest priority. Rigorouslypplicants no one who poses a threat to americans is able to enter our country. All refugees undergo intensive security screenings, involving multiple federal agencies, intelligence, and agencies including the fbi terrorist center, and the department of Homeland Security and defense. Consequently, screening is a long process that could take 1824 months. Applicants are currently subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States. These safeguards include biometrics, fingerprints, biographic checks, and a lengthy interview by specially trained officers that scrutinize ensure that the applicant is a bona fide refugee and not known to present security concerns to the United States. Will talk about this. It is in his department to determine who comes and who does not come. We work so closely with them, i want to say that they are , and if theyreful have any doubts, they will not allow anyone into the United States. No one has the right to settle in the United States, it is something that we offer based on our history, and humanitarian values. The vast majority of those who have been admitted to the United States, including from the most troubled regions of the world have proven to be hardworking residents. They pay taxes, said their children to school, and after five years, take the test to become citizens. Some undertake forms of Service Serve our country. ,ur program is so well regarded british members of parliament richard harrington, who is responsible now forgetting refugees through process through the u. K. To one of our centers tomorrow. Im happy to answer any questions you may have in my about anything in my testimony. In my testimony talks about assistance overseas, and a medic efforts. But i know that the American Public wants to hear that our First Priority is the safety of the American People. Thank you. Mr. Rodriguez . Mr. Rodriguez thank you. I think we can stipulate two things. The u. S. Has a proud and long tradition of admitting refugees from some of the worst crises in the most dangerous places in the world. Secondly, that the situation around syria is an untenable 1 11 Million People displaced. If we are to continue that tradition of being a welcoming country, can i, as the director of the agency that vets refugees, for sure the American People that we are using all of the resources that we have read and that they are meaningful resources do that refugee. I am here to tell you this morning that as the process as secretary richard described, it is a multilayered, robust, and intensive process through which individuals must pass before they can travel to the u. S. Given the limitations of time, i will sign post three critical phases of the process. There is the u. N. Phase. The department of state phase. Then the phase conducted by my refugee officers. Hopefully, i will have time to dig into those elements further. During the process, individuals for the first time are reviewed. Im sorry, they are interviewed as to the claim for Refugee Status. Extensive biographical information is captured, as well as preliminary analysis as to whether there are potential bars or disqualifiers for those individuals. The fruit of those individuals interviews are passed to the state department and to the uscis. At the state department stage, a second layer of interview is conducted. At that point, a series of critical biographic checks are initiated. There are three critical likes to that. The first is the lookout advisory support system. Which queries against a number of critical Law Enforcement and intelligence holdings, the security advisory posted by the fbi. The most importantly of all, what is called the interagency check. That is checked against a number of both Law Enforcement and intelligence holdings. And it is important for me to let you know this morning that through that suite of checks, we have in fact either denied Refugee Status to individuals or at a minimum, place them on hold based on derogatory information that came up. That check is populated by the extensive work that is being done by the u. S. Intelligence services which is indeed one of the most robust, welldeveloped, and Intelligent Services in the democratic world. At that point, they come to my refugee officers, who have extensive training both generally and protective and refugee law, but then also very specific and targeted training as to conditions in syria. Including the Lessons Learned during the refugee process. As we interview each refugee or each family of refugees, we gain more information, more clarity as to what is going on in syria. That is coupled with another round of fingerprinting, a set of biometric checks against the department of defense databases, customs, border patrol, fbi databases. Which further check the status of these individuals. Also, when i talk about the interagency check, i would note the fact that that is now a recurrent process. These individuals are checked on an ongoing basis. So that if new derogatory information arises about these individuals during the process, that comes to our attention. I hope i have further opportunity during the questioning to elucidate each step. I think it is critical for the American People to get the reassurance they need to continue to be the kind of welcoming country that we are. But i also ask us, the price of an action, the fact that being welcoming contributes to the stability of the region. It puts us sidebyside with our allies in europe who are taking on this program, to the same extent or greater than we are. And it honors our traditions as American People. Thank you. Mr. Jones . Mr. Jones thank you chairman, a distinguished members of the subcommittee. It is an important subject. And the tragic attacks in paris over the weekend, and the links with syria, make this hearing particularly important. I have divided my comments into two sections. The first will provide an overview from syria and the region. The second has implications for the refugees in the homeland. My background in focus is primarily on terrorist groups of foreign fighters, that is my expertise. Serving in and working for special operations and for the fbi 9 11 Commission Last year, we did look at some of this for director komi. But first, let me talk about the extremist threat from syria. The put this into perspective, the usled airstrikes and recently from france and other Coalition Partners have probably halted the advance of the Islamic State in syria. And across the border in iraq, Operation Forces on the ground have helped halt the advance in places like sinjar. But the Group Remains strong. It is currently not on the ropes. In addition, in syria, the al qaeda affiliates are probably market will now as fighters that any time since its creation in 2011. It is an affiliate, meaning it pledged allegiance to al qaeda core back in pakistan. The concern for the u. S. Is a number of foreign fighters traveling to come and to some degree from, syria and iraq. The battlefield is a largest concentration of foreign extremists we have seen in any major war, certainly ones that i have participated in. And look at the numbers and pakistan in afghanistan, in somalia and libya, National Counterterrorism numbers put this in over 20,000 foreign fighters who travel to syria to fight. 17 have come to the west, depending on how you count. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 americans have traveled or attempted to travel to syria, mostly to fight against bashar alassad. We see that tied to operationally or inspired by daesh. In garland, texas and copenhagen, denmark. In ottawa, brussels, other locations. Emanating from this region, the threat is clear. I know the recent mi5, thing they have 750 traveling to syria. Many have joined daesh. And they have been involved in cafferty plots that have been foiled. The threat is notable, coming to some degree to the u. S. Homeland. That brings the back to the u. S. And the refugee issue. Let me start by saying refugees clearly have played an important historical role in the u. S. In ensuring prosperity and diversity. The plots we look at last year on the 9 11 commission from the time square bomber to David Headley in chicago who was involved in the mumbai and copenhagen tax, all of these were refugees. The threat historically has been relatively small. But i would highlight a couple of things that make the syrian picture and iraq to some degree worth noting. As i said earlier, we see the highest number of foreign fighters on any modern jihadist battlefield in the syriairaq border. There has been an exodus of fighters to the west. European officials have expressed concern about refugees in europe that have been in contact with the Islamic State, including most recently in belgium. So there has been some concern, in some cases after the have gotten into europe, and then third, i would say this is based partly on my own experience what we had in iraq and afghanistan was a good intelligence architecture to collect information on individuals, including those in prison. We do not have this in syria. I will be happy to talk more detail about this. Let me just conclude by saying the u. S. As a longstanding tradition of offering protection to refugees. But an integral part needs to be ensuring that those individuals considered provide that the u. S. Is able to provide security to the homeland. And the syrian battlefield is of some concern, just because of the u. S. Election gap, that exist other battlefields we have been involved in. Thank you very much. Thank you. Refugee protection policy is based on two principles. One, what policy we adopt must not pose a threat to the American People. Secondly, whatever money we take from our people through taxes to devote to these purposes should be an yield the maximum humanitarian effect. Unfortunately, resettlement in the u. S. From syria, or from yemen or somalia, it fails on both those accounts. Hillary clinton said at the debate this weekend that the u. S. Should spend whatever it takes to properly screen Syrian Refugees. I think everyone would agree with that. But it misses the point. The problem is not that we are devoting inadequate resources. It is certainly not that our people in dhs, fbi, state are not permitted. Theyre doing the best job they can. The problem is that proper screening of people from syria cannot be done. We are giving our people and assignment they cannot accomplish. We imagine in a modern, developed country like ours that everybody in the world leaves behind them the kind of electronic traces we do birth certificates, drivers license, school records, those things we take for granted. But the fact is that those traces are nonexistent and much of the world, even in the best of circumstances. And in the kind of situation come of the chaotic situation we havent syria or in somalia, libya, afghanistan, what information that might have existed has gone up in smoke. Or the very least, it is inaccessible. Secretary jeh johnson made that point when he said we are not going to know a lot about the individual refugees who come forward. That is true. And just this week, we found just more evidence of that. The french since our Intelligence Agency fingerprints. There was no trace of them. The very databases we are supposed to be using to screen the Syrian Refugees. Our screening of refugees resembles, and i dont mean to be flip here, resembles the joke about the drunk who loses his keys in the park. When asked about why he does that, he says the light is better here. The clear statement of this came from matthew emerick, nothing personal. He told the Senate Last Month that we check everything that we are aware of within u. S. Government holdings. Because the light is better there. The second point is efficacy. In other words, are the resources we are devoting to humanitarian protection for refugees, whether syria or anywhere else, being used to the maximum affect. And bringing refugees to our country makes us feel better. I assume mr. Hatfield will give us stories about that. The point of humanitarian projection is not to make us feel better. It is to assist as many people as possible with whatever resources we have decided to devote to this purpose. And what we have found, we did research on this, and we found that it cost 12 times as much to resettle a refugee from syria, from the middle east in the u. S. , as it does to provide for them in their own region. In this case, in turkey, jordan, lebanon. We conservatively estimated the fiveyear cost at 64,000 compared to you and figures that indicated the cost u. N. Figures that indicated the cost of 5,300. Each refugee we bring from the middle east means that 11 other people are not being helped with the same resources. The image i like to think about when considering this is imagining you have 12 drowning people. What do you do . You send them a oneman yacht that is beautiful but holds only one . Or to use in them like life preservers . We are sending a yacht, instead of sending life preservers. Congress has a variety of measures. And im not want to say we have a temporary pause or abroad changing the rules, these are questions you will consider. In considering them, i urge you to keep in mind these points the only way to reduce the Security Risk of resettling Syrian Refugees or afghans, you many, is to reduce the number we settle. And the obligations that make the most effective use of the funding we have taken from our people to devote to refugee protection compels a shift in emphasis away from resettlement toward greater protection for people in the region. Thank you. Thank you, chairman gary. Mr. Hatfield i happen to testify here today, we are the oldest Refugee Agency. Your microphone is not on. Mr. Hatfield thank you distinguish members of the subcommittee for inviting me to speak here today on behalf of the oldest Refugee Agency in the world. We have been doing this since 1881, not just because it makes us feel better. It saves lives. It has saved millions of lives since 1881. 60 million displaced across the globe, 20 of whom are syria. Fleeing a conflict that has artie taken over to what 40,000 lives. The considerably more international assistance, countries like lebanon, jordan, and turkey are beyond saturation points with over 4 million syrians. Causing them to flee for a second and third time. The crisis finally attracted International Attention in this country on a body of a threeyearold washed up on a turkish beach on september 2. One of 813 men, women, and children to paris at sea that month, try to make the journey to europe. This is an extraordinary crisis requiring extraordinary leadership. But so far, the u. S. Response has been tepid at best. While this is the largest refugee crisis of my lifetime, we are resettling far fewer than we did in 1980, when we resettled indochina refugees. For a 1994, when we resettled 10,000 each year. My Great Sadness at the ax in beirut and paris has been compounded by the reaction of some politicians in this country. They have diverted the focus. They have blamed the victims. This plays on fears, and weekends our weakens our national character. I mistakenly thought that irish need not apply, no jews or dogs allow, were buried in the past. No syrian muslims are welcome in my state. One governor even said, for my home state of new jersey, no syrian orphans under five are welcome either. What can only lead to the defeat of the Wagner Rogers bill which would have saved children from not to germany. Governors have a right to be concerned about security. So are the settlement agencies. So are the settlement agencies. And the process reflects that, as director rodriguez has already testify. While the number of refugees being resettled here today is relatively anemic, the security protocols in place are stronger than anything ive ever seen in my 26 years working in the field. So strong, that is made the Refugee Resettlement program and to more fortress than evidence, more fortress than ambulance, causing massive backlogs of legitimately deserving and unnecessarily suffering refugees. It is based on erroneous assumptions. The flow of refugees to europe is entirely dissimilar to the refugees accepted to the u. S. Program. The refugees will arrive in the