Transcripts For CSPAN Tonight From Washington 20110311

represent the faith. i command you and mr. bledsoe. i cannot say that enough. thank you for your courage. you are representing "voices from minnesota." they have families with sons who were radicalized. they are now living in somalia. at the forefront, i want to recognize in a very public way that minnesota somalis are good people. they are here chasing the american dream that my grandparents came for. raising your kids to be great americans and bettering our great state of minnesota. i reject the message from some on this committee and these hearings as doing anything but initiating an open process and not only protecting muslim- americans, but protecting all americans. my goal is to put a spotlight on this particular issue and then refocus this lens on the small number of individuals and organizations in the muslim community that are 100% committed to totally implement muslim law which is a direct violation of article 6 of the constitution of the united states. gentlemen, i thank you for your commitment to this. i have a couple of questions for you if you do not mind. thank you for your service in the corps. >> semper fi. >> i am 8 navy guy. i hope you'll forgive me. i have a question for you in regards to care. you are aware that this is a hamas and muslim-brotherhood entity. is that true? >> no, i am not aware of that. >> and bring it to your attention. this was actually proven in an fbi philadelphia meeting. all attendees of this meeting were polos members. the two meeting to work in that meeting were both founders. my question is, basically you are dealing with a terrorist organization. i am trying to get you to understand that they may be using you to implement their goals. >> thank you for asking that question. it sounds more like a possible accusation -- may being used by an organization that, quite frankly -- let me just answer this way. if the fbi had something to charged care with, bring those charges forward, try them in court, and deal with them that way. there is a reality that in my culture as a police officer that you have facts and you have a crime. deal with it. we do not play around with criminals in my world. if terrorism is a "criminal organization" prosecute them, hold them accountable, and bring them to trial. >> my time is limited, sir. are you saying the fbi was wrong in identifying that care is a part of hamas? >> you do not want to cause a conflict between may and the fbi. we work together better than perhaps this committee worked together. [laughter] >> that would be an understatement at this point. [laughter] >> if you knew that care was a terrorist organization sponsored by hamas, would you continue to work with them. >> you are asking a question i am not qualified to answer. i am not representing anything other than your personal safety. i do work well with your police in the great state they represent. >> sir, i am tried to do the same thing. i am trying to protect united states citizens. >> this committee usually does get along pretty well. the young lady from new york is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. hearingay that today's has been great congressional theater. it is the equivalent of reality tv. i am just really appalled with the fact that we have not really gotten to a substantive conversation about how we define terrorism, how we define the whole idea of radicalization. just in listening -- if i had my eyes closed in listening to mr. bledsoe, not to diminish what he said because his experience is a real -- i have parents in my district who can sit and talk about their children being recruited, their children being brainwashed, and their children being gang members. the bloodshed in communities like mine across this nation since i have been here has not been an issue up for homeland security. when i hear someone talk about the concerns about the elements of radicalization in islam, i am also reminded that those elements are evident in christianity and in judaism. i know because i represent all three face in my district. as someone who was directly impacted by 9/11 and who has lived in the community where we have respected every human being irregardless of their background, ethnicity, or religion -- to see it come to this day where we are pointing fingers at one another, i do not see the benefit. i see the benefit in the approach of sherrif bathe sherr. i do not see the benefit in stigmatizing, finger-pointing, or even creating the specter that it occurs as being something worthy of where we should be in the 21st century. emphasize with the challenges faced by these families -- while i can emphasize with the challenges faced by these families, we can all point to circumstances where families are suffering. the goal should be how we address that suffering for dialogue and enlightenment. that is where we need to be in the 21st century. i would like to get the balance of my time to the young woman from california. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield 10 seconds to mr. green. >> i think that we did not have a hearing on christianity and how it is radicalizing young american boys. we could have. we did not. that is my point. i yield back. >> and mr. green, it is good to see you both. we have been here since 9:30. i was thinking a little longer than that. it was not my idea to leave, but they set me somewhere else. >> we missed you, brother. [laughter] we will see in another five minutes if you are saying the same thing. >> is long is a beautiful religion, mr. chairman. but this hearing is not on as long. it is on the muslim community. there is a big difference. when you are admonishing people that they do not know what they are talking about, here is the title of this hearing. correct, mr. chairman? it says it. that is what we are talking about. but the extremists, many times are at in the eyes of the beholder. what we do not understand, all of us are bound to miss characterize and to stereotype. i do not believe anything i have heard. i listened to part of the hearing. i was in another meeting. i do not think i have heard anything from the panel of trying to bring to a conclusion that we should start stereotyping more or that we should start profiling. we always have to find a response for an answer to what we are trying to attack. we want to protect this country. we love this country. democrats do not love it any more than republicans and vice versa. we are all in this together, believe me, sir. my heart goes out to you, but we are all in this together. let's get it straight from the beginning. i am confessed that this hearing would result in good because when reasonable people will conclude that the greatest majority of muslims like every other community in this country are patriots to america. you agree with me, dr., do you not? >> yes, sir. >> every sit down i have had, we have discussed this with the fbi about my own district. newome from paterson, jersey. we had the second-largest muslim community in the country. i grew up in the neighborhood. arabic neighborhood. eight more air big food and an italian food. that does not make me no more -- eight more arabic food than the italian food. that does not make me anymore an expert. every time i sat down with the fbi about my own district, i was told many times that there is no hidden agenda and that you need not fear the recruiting that we are talking about today in this hearing. does that mean every district in the country -- does that mean chairman king's district? i do not know. some very bad people came out of some mosques and some very bad people came out of catholic churches. we have to do everything we can to avoid a wide crushed. that gets us nowhere. we cannot defend our own children and neighborhoods if we had bad information. why should we be surprised? we know our enemies are probing the system every day. they come in many forms, many shapes. right now as we speak in this hearing, the enemy is probing our systems. no question about it. we need to be strong. the graph you showed a few moments ago is very artful to the very community you are investigating. -- very hurtful to the very committee you are investigating. i do not what this administration -- i do not think this administration was to protect it any less than any other district. >> even after five minutes of that, i still love you. i recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> process, mr. chairman. i want to thank the chair -- thank you mr. chairman. i want to thank the chair for this desperately needed hearing. i want to thank the leadership for bringing this to the forefront and i hope we have more of these hearings. for my colleagues on the other side, i will be with you shoulder-to-shoulder in the hearings with the two plots klan and any other racist groups that -- and the ku klux klan and any other racist groups. >> the gentleman from pennsylvania controls the time. >> i respect i will be there with you, but the issue today is terrorism. >> the klan as a terrorist organization that role for over 100 years. >> the gentleman from pennsylvania controls the time. >> this hearing today is not about religion, with all due respect. it is about terrorist. it is about people who kill men, women, and children in the name of religion, which is a blasphemy in and of itself. as far as the witnesses are concerned, i want to thank you for being here. i want to thank you for your courage to stand up as americans in america before america and the world and tell the truth. as a united states attorney, i prosecuted a home-grown terrorists. he is in prison now for 30 years. it was the right thing to do. the questions that were asked today were well thought out and professionally asked. you excellently answered them, but as a freshman congressman, i think sometimes we fail to ask this question of you. doctor, i would like to present this to you and the other gentleman can respond if we have time. what do you expect from us? from congress? what should we be doing to promote the fact that this is not about a religion because i have many friends who are muslims and they love this country as much as any of us do. what you expect from us? >> thank you, congressman. i hope and pray that you develop the political will to deal with this problem. that we separate all of the theatrics and concern with vitriol and get to help to solve the problem. our enemies use the language that someone articulate as offensive. as a muslim, i do not find it offensive. we use words like jihad at home, but i do not want my children to take the predominant things that are predominating the web. we have not had the resources. we need the political will, we need to maturity of the nation to be able to discuss religion and state some things that may not be right and not get offended. we have to respect religious practice. if the first amendment is freedom of religion, but not freedom from religion. we are so polarized we cannot do that. the sharks have shown that we have seen exponential increases in attacks and law-enforcement will continue chasing their tales of doing community outreach work. we cannot confront the ideology. >> i have less than one minute left. >> i would like to say that i would like the congress to call a terrorist with it is and say what it is. many times i hear people saying everything but what it is. as the judgment said next to you -- the other side -- i should note that i was talking about the side that did not understand. >> this is about saving families and young people. it is about the security of this nation. i think we should forget about our political conditions and just take the opportunity and take advantage of muslim -- american-muslim families coming forward, demonstrating what is happening in their communities. i think it is a great challenge. i thank the community. i think congressman king. nobody hates me. i see my own community hurting me. i want you to deal with that. i do not what somebody else i do not know it -- >> the time for the gentleman has expired. >> we will have that house hearing on homegrown terrorism in the muslim community at 10:00 eastern. up next on c-span, house republicans and democrats talk about u.s. gas prices. we'll get an update on libya from the defense minister. the wisconsin state assembly approved a measure that eliminates state worker's bonds -- state worker's bargaining rights. what's essential republican presidential contenders have been making stops in primary states. this weekend on c-span's road to the white house, michele bodman at a fund raiser for the republican state committee, sunday at 6:00 27:30 p.m. eastern and pacific. >> house speaker john boehner announced his plan to pick up energy legislation in response to rising gas prices. he was joined by other republican leaders at this news conference. he also took questions on budget talks. this is 20 minutes. >> as gas prices go up, the cost of everyday life goes up. our economy is in a position where it is not creating enough jobs. rising gas prices are hurting the people who need to lead us out of the economic crisis. that is small business. the american people recognize that washington has been a big part of the problem when it comes to the price of energy. if the obama administration has consistently blocked american energy production that would lower costs and create jobs in our country. they have canceled new leases for exploration and jeopardized our nuclear energy industry and imposed a moratorium on future drilling in our country. they have even pushed a cap and trade national energy tax that the president himself admits would cost -- would cause the price of energy to skyrocket. while the average price of a gallon of gas is on his way to $4, the epa is about to impose a national energy tax which means gas prices would only go higher. republicans have a plan to lower gas prices and create new jobs. in the coming weeks and months we will be taking action on the plan. we are calling it "the american energy initiative." it is rooted in our pledge to america. in the pledge we said we would help end some of the uncertainty facing small businesses so they can begin hiring again. we said we would fight to increase access to domestic energy sources and oppose attempts to impose a national cap and trade energy tax. that is exactly what we are going to do. under the american energy initiative, we want to stop government policies that are driving up the cost of gasoline, have advanced american energy production to lower-cost and create jobs, and to promote all the above strategies to increase all forms of american energy. we will also work with governors and state officials to identify ways we can help them increase energy production and create jobs in their state. these are common-sense policies. the american energy initiative will be a sustained, on-going effort in the weeks and months ahead. our committees are fully engaged. americans do not want sunday- jerk reaction. what they want our real solutions that increase the amount of domestic energy that will be produced. we will work to lower gas prices, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create new jobs. we made a pledge to america and we intend to keep it. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i am fred upton. we have seen in the last two years gas prices go up double. the first gas price bill that we have now passed out of the subcommittee -- we passed hr-9- 10, which blocks the epa from sending gas prices higher. this is the first step. we intend to mark that bill up in full committee next week. we want to apply the of the crackle oath. first, do no harm. the idea that this administration is focused on petroleum reserves which has the volume of only 770 million barrels is not the right answer. our focus should be on the 50 billion barrels of oil that had been put off-limits. part of the speaker's efforts, we want to streamline the permitting process. let me give you some examples. shell has spent $3.50 billion over the last couple of years trying to drill some test wells in an area of the shores of alaska where they think there could be as many as 25 billion barrels of oil, yet their efforts have been stopped so far. the keystone of pipeline, which will provide access to canada, to the oil coming down from the midwest. that will tap a quarter of a billion barrels of -- a quarter of a billion barrels of oil a day. they need to come to the lower 48. i look forward with working with the committee to see if we can streamline the permitting process and increase the supply to put downward pressure on those prices that are impacting every business, farm, and household across the country. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i am the chairman of the help natural resources committee. the purpose of our committee is to utilize the tremendous resources we have on federal lands. federal lands were designed to be multiple use of lands. that includes commercial activity. we have tremendous resources under our jurisdiction on federal lands, on the continental shelf, and certainly in alaska. the known reserves we have are in excess of 160 billion barrels. unfortunately, this administration since they have taken charge have gone in a 180 degree direction away from these resources. right after president obama was elected and secretary salazar was appointed as the interior secretary, they canceled active leases and exploratory leases in the west. after what happened with the bps built, there is no a moratorium on drilling. meanwhile, gasoline prices go higher and higher. we are going to focus. if we held four hearings this month alone. we will have a hearing in the gulf of mexico to make sure we can, in the long run, have these resources for our use. i believe this debate -- as we move forward on this debate regarding utilizing our resources, we have seen today in alaska a sharp spike in the price of gasoline because of the unrest. here we are sitting on all of these resources. it seems to me it would be the best interests of our country to utilize these resources not only for jobs and our economy, but also for national security issues. i look forward to working with others to make sure we can make our country less dependent on foreign sources for the things that make our economy run. thank you. >> principally due to the policies of president obama and the two democratic congresses, the american people have witnessed the longest recession and economic recovery in the postwar era. this congress, this house is about creating jobs. it is why under the leadership of speaker banner, week passed a bill to put america on a fiscally sustainable path. historical levels of debt lead to historic levels of taxation. at least to historic levels of unemployment. it is also why we need to get red of the dreaded 1099 forms that would crush small business job creation. this is a house that is dedicated to helping small businesses create more w-4s. businesses create a great -- businesses face a environment of uncertainty. we know we'll have had and administration and two previous democratic congresses that have been anti-carbon-based energy. that means they are anti-energy. that leaves an impact of being anti-business and anti-family. small businesses, all job creators in america, do not need greater uncertainty to keep their capital on the sidelines. struggling american families do not deserve higher prices at the pop. -- at the pump. republican members of the house embraced this initiative. american businesses and american families need affordable american energy. >> what -- when can we expect to see legislation on the floor of the house? it has been said that it is preferable not to do a sweeping comprehensive bill, but rather, pieces. >> i will let the chairman comment on the timeline. the big comprehensive bills should be open. i would rather deal with this in a bite sized chunks. why would we not have a bill to encourage vehicles to use natural gas? why would we not have a bill that would encourage more oil and gas exploration where the royalties would go to support a more green energy development? why would we not do that by itself? what would we not do a nuclear energy bill, for example, by itself? i think it is a more logical and thoughtful way to deal with these issues. i'll turn it over to tim. >> there have been lots of discussions. we'll set lots of letters seeking information. i agree with what speaker john boehner just said. we will have the regulatory commissioners testified before our committee. we want to figure out what it takes so long to go from start to finish. what does it take to end to 12 years when it takes the japanese foour to five years. if we lower the number of years, we can lower the costs. we will have specific legislation on that. we will look at a number of things to streamline the process. we were used by sized chunks. we're looking for bipartisanship on a lot of these different issues. i look forward to working with the leadership to get these bills out of committee and again to do something about increasing the supply so we can work long- term at decreasing the cost. >> i just want to say that we are going to focus on what we think is the most immediate solution to this issue and that is the moratorium in the gulf of mexico. we are going to have hearings this month. whether a few hearings on that. there are several things we can do. there are active at leases prior to the moratorium. there is no reason why those leases should not be executed and we should not be utilizing those resources. that is one example where we will be aggressive. we get roughly one-third of our crude from the gulf of mexico. that is an area we need to utilize and not take off limits. that is the reason for the focus on our area. >> hr-1 was just mentioned. [unintelligible] the red and 105 billion future appropriations -- there have not been at 105 billion future appropriations. >> we put obama care on the floor and the house passed the repeal of that bill. we are going through regular order. i would expect the committees will bring forward a bill to eliminate some of the mandatory spending that is involved in that bill. >> chairman upton, the white house has not been especially forthcoming in your investigation and negotiations. i was wondering if you have given any thought to inviting any of the c.e.o.s and getting information from them. >> we received a letter from the white house early this week. we are preparing a response back. i will be glad to share that letter with you. it is something that is not off the table in terms of what we may do. we are looking for more information for the oversight subcommittee. >> what would you need from current democrats and the white house [unintelligible] >> it is time for democrats in washington to get serious about these budget negotiations. we are trying to clean up last year's mass. the democrats did note budget. they did no appropriations bill. as a result, they doubt this in our lap. we're trying to clean this up. the house passed a bill that would cut $100 billion from the president's request for this year. the senate had a couple of votes yesterday, neither of which received the necessary votes. they have to get serious. the american people understand that cutting spending will lead to a better environment for businesses to create jobs. >> what about the $61 billion number? >> where is the democrat's plan? i am not going to negotiate with myself. >> what you make of the democrat's proposal by are talking about to widen cuts in mandatory spending programs -- >> they do not understand that the american people want us to cut spending. they note that it will create a better environment for job creation -- they know that it will create a better environment for job creation. entitlement programs, tax increases -- that is what the next budget process is for. you have plenty of opportunity to talk about that. >> is it fair to blame the obama administration for the price of gas when not three years ago your party was -- did you not bear some of the responsibility? >> i think we did everything that we could to increase the amount of american energy that we produce. if you watch what this administration has done for the last two years in their regulatory process, they stopped drilling in the gulf, they are imposing these epa regulations on american businesses that are going to sharply increase the cost of energy in america. look at the gap and trade bill. the 2000 pages -- look at the cap and a trade bill -- the 2000 page monstrosity they came through a year and a half ago. but when it imposed on american industry. -- look what it imposed on american industry. when the americans investing in our economy. all those policies discourage investment. the net result of that will be big question the american people are still asking -- where the jobs? >> a lot to respond to that briefly as well. one-third of our oil comes from the gulf. this administration has said no since bp.hing cent today, we are getting less oil from the gulf than it was predicted just four or five months ago. that is the result. because of that, that has helped raise these prices to double what they were two years ago. we have to reopen the gulf. alaska has dropped by about 10% in terms of production. if you look at the department of energy numbers and where we were, we are almost half a billion barrels last in 2012 than we were producing in 2009. that is not acceptable. >> let me respond to that, too. the situation in 2008 if you recall -- there is a presidential moratorium on drilling and a congressional moratorium on jelling. the price of gasoline went to $4 a gallon. the american people asked, "what is going on?" in august, we went into session and brought this to the attention of the american people. most of those moratorium's what away. that sent a signal to the markets that the united states was serious about utilizing the resources we have in our country. prices went down. this administration has gone 180 degrees from that. it sent the wrong signal to the markets and prices are going up again. we import more than 50% of our crude oil. we are becoming dependent on foreign sources. if we are going to make that less, obviously the prices are going to go up. we need to send a signal that we are serious about becoming less energy dependent. the way we do that is to utilize the resources we know we have. that is what will focus our resources on public lands that have those resources. >> when the follow on the spending cuts. a report was just posted on the senate side. s as democrats have moved several times toward the republican position and will move more, but they will not do that until you come up with some compromise and move off of the $61 billion. >> the senate has moved several times. for months it was no cuts. we have to continue spending at last year's levels. we said that was unacceptable. the senate decided they would give us $4.70 billion worth of real cuts for this fiscal year. we cut some $61 billion. i think it is time for them to get serious. they are not serious. it is time to get serious about cutting spending. i hope the talks are going to continue, but we are not going to get very far if they do not get serious. >> when you say you're not willing to move off, -- >> i do not think i am going to negotiate with you over what the spending levels are going to be. our goal as i have said many times is to cut spending and keep the government open. cutting spending will lead to a better environment for job creation. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] the ranking member calls on president obama to release petroleum reserves in response to gas prices. this briefing is just under 30 minutes. >> thank you for coming here today. i am it congressman ed markey from the state of massachusetts. i am joined with jake -- joined by peter welch. we'll be joined very soon by lois capps from california and by the representative from the state of connecticut. today we are announcing a new piece of legislation that would provide short-term help to consumers at the pop and promote long-term security and flexibility for our national oil reserves. the bill will introduce today, the enhanced strategic petroleum reserve act, which deployed at least 30 billion barrels of crude oil into the marketplace beginning within the next six months during the peak driving season in america and starkly the time when prices are highest. the legislation will also say that no more than 10% of the reserves is deployed in order to maintain a high level of security for our nation. this crude-oil would then be replaced by refined petroleum products like gasoline or diesel fuel at a later date after the current crisis has subsided and prices have gone back down. it would give the department of energy the flexibility to locate these new reserves out of hurricane danger near the coast so they can be more accessible to consumers. that means if they supply disruption happens overseas affecting the supply of crude oil, the strategic petroleum reserve can respond. it also means that if a major hurricane of fax some of america's refining centers, the reserve can send already refined product to consumers while the refineries or offline. i know there is currently a debate over deploying the reserves. i believe this legislation provides a responsible answer to that debate. it would deploy about 5% of the total reserve and give the department of energy the discretion for how to do so, helping to calm the markets before they spiral totally out of control and drag our country back into a recession. it would provide longer-term flexibility to the reserves by diversifying the petroleum products that can be moved out into the market more rapidly if needed. whether higher prices or disruption of supplies and happen by an act of god or an act of gaddafi, the united states should respond by deploying the strategic petroleum reserves in order to protect us against slipping back into a recession once again. our belief that the current state of our economy and foreign affairs means this is the time to deploy and responsible amount of the reserves before it is too late. as we have seen recently, as the continued turmoil in the middle east spreads, a small supply disruption from a relatively minor producer like libya can have a huge impact on the price of globally and of the american economy. then if you have to consider the continued speculation in the marketplace. the report released last week by the communities features -- by the commodities futures trading commission says there is an inordinate number of traders who are not suppliers and not refiners' who are betting on the price of oil going up. we must send a signal to those speculators that we will not allow them to play games with the american economy. lastly, consumers are being tipped upside down at every gasoline pump in the united states. money is pouring out of their pockets and into the coffers of oil companies and opec. by deploying the strategic petroleum reserve a week and stabilized and reduce the impact on consumers. if gas averages $3.50 a gallon, americans will spend $41 billion on gasoline just this month. we hope that during an energy swap from the strategic petroleum reserves will work. during the clinton administration, a swap of oil was done. the oil was replaced later on when prices were lower. the swap reduced prices by nearly 19%. i know speaker john boehner was just in this room telling did -- telling you how they have and all the above strategy. their plan is not at all the above strategy, it is an oil above all strategy. the republican strategy is to keep us updated to oil. it is not just reflected in their rhetoric, it is also reflected in their actions. hr-1 the republicans last funding for energy by $1 billion. they cut energy science. earlier today in the energy commerce committee, they approved a bill to stand at the epa from regulating greenhouse gas emissions for cars and trucks which, if adopted, would result in americans consuming more than 700,000 barrels a day more of oil than we would if the epa had been allowed to regulate. the republican bill also removes the epa authority with regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes, trains, and other large sources of transportation. in the republican movie, it is about big oil in getting the big christmas gift. all of these actions taken together will result in higher prices at the pump, higher home heating oil prices. it represents the republican party energy tax on the american public. this is an important piece of legislation. we are doing it in order to signify the criticality of the united states congress and the white house acting to protect the consumer and -- protect the consumer. >> thank you very much. i am delighted to join in with my colleagues today. i want to thank them for their leadership on this issue. oil and gas prices have been on the rise since before the turmoil in the middle east and northern africa began. now the markets are reacting. we should keep in mind that in libya only roughly 2% of that global supply is affected. with the economic recovery, which is fragile, on employment excessively high -- unacceptably high, we cannot afford any sort of a shock to the system right now. high oil prices affect every aspect of the american consumer's lives. the bill will drive down oil prices in the short term. it will ensure that moving forward the strategic petroleum reserve has refined petroleum. -- has refined petroleum on hand -- 30 billion barrels were. the spr is there for emergencies. we need to protect consumers. i have been asked about whether or not we should release any of this supply because it is there for emergencies. if anyone does not believe we are in an economic crisis and this is an emergency for middle- class, working families, i do not know what they have been doing for the last several months. after hurricane katrina, pipelines and refineries all over the gulf coast -- we had to live on -- we had to rely on petroleum from europe. prices rose. this could have been avoided if we had had refined petroleum on hand as this bill would do. my colleagues and i recently asked the president to call the market's, a decrease -- to calm the markets by releasing a small amount from the reserves. the reserves are filled to capacity. releasing a small amount of oil can have a very big impact on price. it has been done by presidents on both sides of the aisle. in the long term, we need to ensure that implementation of the dodd-frank financial reform is fairly -- is fully funded. as my colleague from massachusetts said, the commodities futures trading commission which comes under the jurisdiction of the agricultural subcommittee of appropriations, the house majority last week that the funding so that the best they could do in order to protect against speculation in this area. we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. we have oil hovering around $100 a barrel. gases nearly $4 a gallon in connecticut today. -- gas is nearly $4 a gallon in connecticut today. if we need to provide immediate relief to americans who are suffering from high energy prices and make sure we are not victim to more shocks in the future. we need to make sure we have refined petroleum on hand. this will help us protect our consumers and protect our nation. once again, i am delighted to join my colleagues. >> next, we will hear from lois capps. >> we will go cross-country. i had the distinction today of representing two counties in my congressional district with the gasoline prices for the highest of any area in the country. i am very eager to be part of this legislation. i want to thank mr. markey for his leadership. we are here today as people who are committed to hard-working americans who are struggling with these prices. as the price of oil cert -- source, so does the need to help consumers -- as the price of oil so does the need to help consumers. bis is rippling throughout our economy. we need to do something about this now. my constituents know about this. this is why this legislation makes a lot of sense. an immediate resolution of this problem is not something that will happen a decade from now when you oil reserves are tapped into. this is swapping oil from the strategic petroleum reserves for refined products, putting in the crude and taking out the refined makes sense. it will help drive down prices now. the "drill baby drill" mantra will not provide long-term relief from oil prices. we are home to more than half a million producing oil wells. it is about 60% of oil be producing oil wells in the world. we have more oil wells than the middle east. we get 14 times as many as opec does. we have drafted more wells and to our soil that all the countries in the world put together. still, it only produces 19 billion barrels of oil per day even though we are drilling more now than we did during the bush years. we need to get off this rollercoaster. we will never be able to drill our way to cheat or sustainable oil prices. -- cheap or sustainable oil prices. the policies that we put in place like better fuel economy standards will help get americans through this in the future. we certainly are not doing that today. our leaders should be focused on investing more in these policies, not on spending taxpayer money overseas to feed our oil habit. republicans need to put the american -- need to put the interest of the american people before the oil companies. they need to start thinking less about taking away the epa work and more on the job at hand -- or in gas prices for hard- working americans. this is what this legislation addresses. thank you, mr. markey, for your leadership. >> let me address some of the criticisms of the efforts we are making. one, it is not a long-term solution. my response to that is, no kidding. we have a short-term problem. we have the tools to provide short-term relief. there's a certain irony in meaning -- in many members of congress because they have made a career after proposing long- term solutions. the effect of that defense is basically to pass on the cost of congressional inaction on to citizens, farmers, commuters going to and from work, small businesses -- to of congressionn to the people who represent. they have no control on whether congress does or does not come up with a solution. it is the height of irresponsibility to talk about a long-term position. prices went down 33%. prices went down 19% one president clinton did. it is not the refiners of petroleum. they are taking advantage of spikes in the price. that is not serving the interests of the american economy. there are spending $41 billion a month on energy. that has a significant negative affect on family budgets and the a economy. is there a tool available to us to provide short-term economic relief to american families? if the answer is yes, what is the harm in using it? that is our position. we believe it is essential to send a clear message. now return effort to build olin's -- to bill owens. >> i live in a very rural district. this legislation is going to help us preserve jobs. that is what my constituents are concerned about. rising prices range from $3.62 3.90's.high we need to be something that drives down the increase price of oil. we know saudi arabia has stepped up. this is something that is driven by speculators. for this reason, i am urging everyone to support this legislation. >> can you identify yourself? >> this was to the market faced. there is the strategic petroleum. they were going to be deployed over a sustained. of time. there is a 30% increase. >> it is important for us to basically understand that traders and speculators are betting on nothing happening except the events which are happening every night in libya. if that is allowed to be the dominant psychology -- >> the ability to deploy it, i wonder -- you are talking about something mor eon top of that. is this what your pluripotent? >> they can utilize it. we believe this is an emergency. they should exercise that authority. we also want to send a signal to the people who are manipulating the oil prices. congress will take action. >> there is an official game that you are being played. >> that is not quite get to the point. >> our legislation is intended on constructing the formula which can work. it is sent to the country and the white house. we believe this is the strategy which can work. they used and will spot as a way of signaling to the way that the government is not going to stand on the sidelines when the free market is being distracted by events outside of the control of our country. this is our statement to the in to these to cas republicans still are in complete denial of offering a false hope to the american people that a dual strategy will help them right now. right now, the oil companies are drilling into the pockets of american consumers. it is an opportunity to build it. you also think about what has happened to us in the past. let us think for the future. let's think about what happen ed in katrina where we were unable to get a reply. let's have it there. let's do it in a very careful way. you are also dealing with the speculation. >> in 1998, we pass legislation that created a home heating reserved. the families would not have to freeze in the winter. we are building on that for the long term with more refined products. it could be stored in a way that could deal with an emergency. for now, it is a signal to the marketplace. the oil speculators and scalpers who are out there trying to drive up the price, because they think they have the mayor consumer the digby consumer where they want it. they said this is not designed to deal with fluctuating oil prices. they should be saving is to protect for supply destruction. have you spoken to the president about your legislation? >> back then august 2, 1990, saddam hussein invaded kuwait. immediately the price of oil spiked dramatically. the first president bush refused to deploy the reserve. it was just as the war was about to begin. several months later, that high price of oil that has been built into every product and service it created many recession. this will the product is the central one in the economy of our country and the planet. if we ignored, we create an emergency later. at the time, the only response is to extend its unemployment benefits. does better to use the assets are invested to keep the price lower today. i believe it is very important to protect us against the longer term pain. i believe the emergency is now. if we use it now, we will protected against a lot more. >> i've not had a specific conversation. i just gave my view of what role into play. >> there are different views. that is fine. >> respect steny hoyer. >> they said that they were a look at this. we have asked them to consider it. >> great. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> president obama will hold a news conference tomorrow. with the topics will be rising gas prices and the cost of oil. we will have live carriage tomorrow morning on c-span2. they met in brussels to discuss the situation in libya. after the meeting, the native general secretary to questions on prospects for a no-fly zone over libya. this is 20 minutes. good afternoon. thank you for year patients. if you can only ask about libya. at a guy is good afternoon. the book as of harper session has been the situation in libya. they showed great concern to us all. the bill has become the scene of violent clashes. it is unclear which direction the country would take. what is clear is that the international community is condemning the outrageous and systematic violence against people. at first concern must be the civilian population. this crisis requires close international coordination. that is why we have been in regular contact with other organizations. i also invited the eu representatives to take part in our meeting today. time is of the essence. today we have made two decisions. it has been decided to increase the presence of nato maritime assets in the simple mediterranean -- in the central mediterranean. they will move into the mediterranean. these ships will improve the neda situation and awareness. it is vital in the current circumstances. they will contribute to our civilian its -- two hours surveillance. we have also directed nato military forces to develop detailed planning with regard to humanitarian assistance and provided the resolution and more active measures to enforce the embargo. we considered initial options regarding a possible the no-fly zone in case nato were to receive a clear united nations mandate. ministers agreed that further planning will be required. our matrix -- metric today is that nato is united. nato is ready to act. in moving forward with these options, we bear in mind the sensitivities in the region. we agreed that any nato operation must show the added value to existing effort hist. it must have a clear mandate and strong support. we will also maintain intensive contact with human -- humanitarian actors appeare. we are determined to enhance the road nato can play to assist the transition process more broadly. it is clear that any assistance should only come following a specific request. we want to strengthen longstanding partnerships. we also agreed that any nato initiative should be coherent. with that, i'm ready to take your questions. >> how united is the alliance when one of the key members is yardy talking about the possibility of direct military action against the air force? >> i do not comment on concerns and rumors harm sources. did rumors from sources. >> are your forces ready to intervene? could you please introduce yourself? >> >> nato is united. we made a decision by consensus as we always do. we decided to let our military authorities carry out the necessary planning. nato is a united organization. we decided this by consensus. do you have the necessary means to intervene? tomorrow is the security council. that is not reality today. we have a security council resolution. this resolution does not include the use of force. that is a fact. >> they have stated today that the libyan army has attacked the opponents. he confirmed this? heard this information. >> you said you cannot come under rumors. >> is there a slight change in position that there are three conditions for these possible demos. there is not the word the u.n. security council. this will be the guiding principle for in a nato action or operation. there must be needs. secondly, there must be a clear legal basis. there is a strong regional support. they are admitting the three principals. that'll be the guiding principle for any major operation. >> you have set these three conditions, and the need and the mandate. we are not really close to any of those things. it is hardly a strong nation for him to stop doing what he is doing. >> i think it is a quite strong measure. we operate on the basis. we assume it still be a clear un mandate. i take note of the fact that the current un security resolution of 1970 does not authorize the use of armed forces. having said that, i can imagine the international community out. if he continues attacking his table systematically. i have to say that we do not look for intervention in libya. we will need a clear legal basis for any action. >> how could you characterize the situation? there is the possibility of this petition. >> i will not embark on the definitions. what we can see is that it is an arm of people. there is fighting. there is the risk of division. there is the risk of seeing it failed space in the future that could be a breeding ground for extremism. obviously, this is a matter of concern. the reason why we urge the government of libya to stop violence and allow a peaceful transition to democracy in the country. >> any discussions for today? to ask questions about afghanistan on how you deal with the civilian casualties. it is a main issue nowadays. how well the power not to avoid the further casualties -- it is very optimistic about a transition process. if the afghan forces failed to take irresponsibility, people have to leave the country by 2014. or they will stay there. obviously, afghanistan remain at the top of our agenda. we will deal extensively with afghanistan tomorrow. tomorrow we will have a meeting with our partners. the only item on the agenda will be afghanistan. we will take the important decision to endorse the recommendation from the board. it to be the start of a process. believes to increasing afghan responsibility. we hope to see that completed by the end of 2014. i'm quite a optimistic about that time table. this must be conditioned based. we have to make sure that forces are needed to take responsibility. based on the development we have seen in recent months, i feel confident that afghan security forces will be able to take more responsibility and be capable by the end of 2014. you were remove from a combat role in to a supporting role. we will assistant necessary. with regard to civilian casualties, i regret civilian casualties. our commanders have a strong focus on diminishing the number of civilian casualties. they have also succeeded at reducing our share. the responsibility for a huge majority of casualties lie with the enemies of afghanistan. according to the united nations, are around 75% of civilian casualties are by the enemies of afghanistan. we will continue to do our utmost to diminish the number. >> he mentioned a movement of maritime assets in the mediterranean. could you explain more precisely what those assets that will be moved are and where they will be moved and what their capabilities will be? he said one of the reasons they will be moved is to force an arms embargo. is there any evidence that need to be enforced? have to clarify that enforcement of the embargo from our side would require a new u.n. resolution. what i said was that an extended surveillance and monitoring activity in the mediterranean monitor the compliance with the un security council mandate arms embargo. that is what it is about. it is not enforcement. that would require a u.n. mandate. it is monitoring activities that can help monitoring whether the arms embargo is actually implemented. i would not go into details. we are speaking about maritime assets that can be moved within the authority. >> we have to go to the next session. >> the wisconsin assembly of prudence and measure to eliminate workers' bargaining rights. they were able to pass a yesterday's even with the absence of 14 democrats. scott walker defended the legislation. he argued that it is necessary to help them stay correct. here is part of today's debate. >> we will vote on this bill. political rps and it's unjustifiable. to do that and tscapegoat our workers in that way. ms. norton: they deserve the opposite. far from scapegoat, we ought to stand up and is a lulet feder employees for what they're doing for this country. ms. hirono: and you mentioned, ms. edwards, about exploration and meet rolses, well the astronaut program where we went to the moon, that's a federal program. we had a wonderful astronaut from hawaii who tragically lost his life in the challenger disaster and so these are all -- you know, this is part of what we need to do to educate all of us and the young people and our students. i was visited by a group of students from my district yesterday and they're here with a closup program and they're here to learn about the federal government and what keeps the federal government going. it's nojust us. 's all those 4.6 million people out there. helping. ms. norton: ms. edwas, you probably also are aware, we hear about the best and the brightest, the federal work force now with many baby boomers is eligible to retire and there is absolute panic about whether or not we'll ever see a work force as good as the work force we got in the post-kennedy period. these were people who came fresh with the -- with all of the notions of the kennedy era that public service was a wonderful thing. and they made their careers in the federal service. 90% of them could retire in the next 10 years. now the whole world is open to them. they could go to the high tech companies. they could go to hawaii. they could go to california. will we be able to attract the best and the brightest right when we most needhem? in an era when the country needs this side as well as in the military side the very best talent we can find? ms.irono: and the gentlelady raises yet another -- ms. edwards: and the gentlelady raises another interesting point, not only could they go anywhere else in the united states but the world is their oyster. we know our best and brightest are not just being recruited from state to state outside of the federal work force, they're being recruited tside of the united states because we know that we have the talent he and what better place to absorb that talent in plic service than in service in the federal sector. i'm so proud, i think about the time i met a scientist a researchers, over at the national institutes of standards and technology and let me tell you what they do at nist. any piece of electronic equipment that you mht have, maybe it's in your doctor's office and it's an m.r.i. machine, or maybe it is -- it's something, a piece of your home equipment in your home and maybe it's the iron or it's the toaster or it's the microwave, the national institutes of standards and technology sets a standard for industry for those products and tests those to meet standards. it means that no matter where you go, no matter what store you shop in, that equipment is calibrated in the same way. now you may not think that matters for a toaster but it surely matters for an m.r.i. machine. and so those are the kinds of jobs that our federal employees do and those are jobs that you really can't translate into the private sector but that are so necessary to safeguard the public. ms. norton: that's such an important point, unlike what the federal government is required to do, the people who are doing the comparisons don't do what the bureau of labor and statistics does. this is very, very difficult work. when the bureau of labor statistics compares workers in the public and private sector, they have to, for example, look beyond the title of budget analyst. in the federal government they may be dealing with a budget analyst which has -- who has oversight over multimillion dollar agency buets. in the private sector, that may be somebody who is sitting in an office pushing papers, they're qualified but nowhere ne the same kind of responsibility. what the bureau of labor statistics does and only the government can do this because only the government has the resources is to literally get into the weeds so that when you see the government statistics, those are the statistics to be trusted. i've got to ask my good friend to help me as well on one of the great distortions and that is on federal benefits. i think most americans don't know that federal employees pay r 30% of the cost of their health care. if you get dental and vision, you pay 100%. if you have group life insurance, the employee pays 66% of the premium and the full cost of any additional coverage. if you have, and many employees now have federal long-term care , 100%. the federal government is, yes, it is a decent employer, it is by no means an overly generous employer. just compare that to fortune 1,000, or fortune 500 employers and see if these employees who pay 30% of their health care premium are coddled. i don't think. so -- i don't think so. anotheissue that is often raised is contractors. up with of the most astounding things about the federal work force, and we -- so things should be done by contracting out, but there are more contractors than federal employees. so that when you are attacking federal employees, you're attacking peop who work in the agencies who work as my two colleagues have spoken in detail, who work as park rangers, who work as rocket scientists but the invisibl work force, the contracting work force, at the department of homeland security, for example, we have 188,000 employees, but there are 200,000 contracting employees working for the agency. so if the public really wants to know where the money goes, they shouldn't be targeting the employee who stands up, has u.s.a. written across her chest is proud to work for the federal government, they should look at the entire work force, which turns out to be many, many contracted workers,t's interesting to note that the president is cutting the number of contracted workers and expects the -- to save$40 billion annually by in fact bringing that work in house so we know who is performing it, we can measure them, we can get rid of the work we don't need, you contract the work out, it's gone and it gets a life of its own. . ms. edwards: if the gentlewoman would yild. you raise an amazing point for the amican people. one about federal benefits. there is a wide assumption across the country that federal workers don't contribute to their own health and life insurance and dental insurance, and it's just not true. think it's really important for us to debunk that right now. and as you say, the federal government is a decent employer, but it is no means te best employer when it comes to providing benefits as some of those fortune 500, fortune 1,000 companies that you point to. nonetheless, it's the fedal worker who contributes to her pension, contributes to her health insurance, contributes for her family members across the board. the gentlelady also makes an important distinction for us to ow that, in fact, the federa work force, because they sometimes work along side contract employees who are paid different rates, who have fferent benefits, but in some cases doing very similar kind of work. and i applaud the obama administration trying to get a handle on what is uniquely government work and shouldn't be contracted out because we need much greater oversight. i know -- i mentioned earlier to the gentlelady that i come from a family of federal workers. and i want to tell you about one of those workers, because if anyby goes back, they would say my money saved the federal government a boat load of money. she was a steward of the taxpayer. she worked in the department of defense doing military housing, overseeing contracts and she would tell you in a minute if a contractor was violating a contract. she would tell you if they were overspending. and she would save the taxpayer money because she viewed herself as a steward of the taxpayer, as a public servant. i know my mother is not alone. she's joined by millions of federal workers all across this country to take pride in the workhat they do for the taxpayer, the work that they do in service to this nation and whether it's processing social security disability clms or it is making sure that our veterans get appropriate mental health attention or making sure that our airways are safe and clear and planes are landing and taking off safely, protecting us in our parks, if a child gets lost in a park, it's a federal worker that goes to find that child and reunite him or her with their parents. and so, the federal work force is varied, it's diverse and efficient and becoming more efficient every day. and federal workers are really contributing to the life blood of this country. and so i think, you know, for those who want to get about the business of cutting spending where it's appropriate, let's do that responsibly. but let's not make the federal worker the scape goat for budget cutting and for ending deficit spending. let's continue a strong and vigorous federal work force that is working to the best benefit of the taxpayer. ms. norton: this is such an important point, i say to my friend from maryland, because remember in wisconsin, the public employees said look, we will do our share. and yet, the governor insist the going after collective bargaining. anyone who says the public employees don't understand how unn operates, if there is a work for that needs to be downsized or a work force that needs to give up some of what it has for a period of time, the best way to de with that work force is through an agent that the workers trust. if the employers have no agent and goes in and does it, that becomes a deflating, i am moral, sapping exercise. unions are very sophisticated. unionsperate within our capitalist system. they know when there is money on the table and when there is not. unions areaid to have been the major agent in creating the amican middle class. what do we mean by that? ere were businesses, automobile companies and managers, what we mean by it is that when that revenue was coming to business, it was sitting across from a union who said workers help produced this product. the revenue from this product should be shared with workers out of that came the great american middle class. that iwhy an automobile worker, for example, who didn't have a college education, could get a pension and could support families. and unions did this, yes, across the bargaining table, but in doing it for their own members. they have spread it through the society because then competitors had to meet the union wage. and so what happened was, you got a great american class that you did not have before the unionization of american workers and they deserve credit and unions deserve credit for that. they don't deserve to be bashed. and i have to say to my good friend, i was never so gratified to read what the polls show us. and i indicated some of those figures when we began this special hour, that two-to-one, americans opposeeakening the bargaining rights of public employees after all that is happening in wisconsin. instead of them reaping the whirl wind, american people understand what it means to take away a precious right, even a right they don't enjoy, so they would rather have their taxes raised to weak yench the collective -- weaken the collective bargaining rights of workers. if that is not a listen for th other side of this chamber which is overreaching in a thousand different ways, nothing is. it is a bellwether of what is to come. ms. edwards: i thank the gentlelady and my friend, because i think what you have done is you havebrought the connection from the public sector worker in wisconsin and throughout our states to the federal work force, to the private sector work force. and i think what we have seen over these last couple of decades and it is evidenceed in the polls and all workers are showing in wisconsin and the idea for collective bargaining rights, we recognize as workers whether in the private or public sector, state orfederal government, that, in fact, it's that organizing and the ability to organ the ability to bargain that has helped so many of us to achieve a place in the middle class. and i think there is an understandable fear of losing that given what's transpired over the years. in fact, you look at wages in the private sector and private sector wages have, in fac remained stagnant for about the last decade. so you can understand that a private sector worker is actually feeling that strain. but they understand the position of the public sector workers, of the federal workers. so we are all united as workers together to make sure we can lift all of us into the middle class. and i think the federal work force is particularly important because the federal work force then becomes sort of a bellwether for what can happen in other sectors in our work force. so thank you for bringing that full circle. ms. norton: i thank the gentlelady for coming down and you make important points about the stagnation of the american standard of living. it correlates with the stagnation of the american labor movement. the stagnation of the american labor movement has everything to do with the difficulty under the national labor relations act of organizing a union today when unions were first legalized in 1930. they were encoaged. today, it is very difficult under the existing statute to organize a union. i'm amazed that they are still alive and kicking. but what we are seeing in wisconsin is a national reawakening of the union movement. they will be able to organize. thank you, governor walker. as i close this hour, i want to thank my two frnds from hawaii and maryland for coming down to share this special hour with us. we think -- the least we can do is to every once in a while say to federal employees and public employees, we appreciate what you're doing. president obama perhaps said it best, i don't think it does any good, he said, when public employees are denigrated or villified or their rights are infringed upon. we need to attract the best and the brightest to public service. these times demand it. again, i thank the gentlelady for coming forward. and i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back her time. under the speaker's announced policy january 5, 2011, the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. jackson, for 30 minutes. mr. jackson: thank you, mr. speaker. let me first begin my associating myself with the remarks with -- with the gentlelady from district of columbia and gentlelady from maryland. there are comments about my comments that every child in this country should have an equal right to education of high quality. let me be clear. i raised the possibility that it might lead to a standard of an ipad for every child just like it lea to athletic facilities and music classes and other important resources for our children. let me be clear. these devices a receive -- revolutionizing our children and will alter the way we educate our children. mr. speaker, this is an ipad. an incredible device, so incredible, in fact, before i could open it up, after i recently purchased it, apple came out with the ipad 2. mr. spear, this is a kindle. a device from amazon that allows you to download books and to read them. before i could finish opening up my kindle, kindle came out with an even smaller kindle, neither of which have been activated at this time, even smaller than the original. mr. speaker, it won't be very long before every chd in this country is educated using one of these devices or something similar. why? just go to your local borders book store, that is if there's one left. recently borders announced it was closing 200 of 508 stores, including one in my congressional district. if the recent history of the music business is any guide, then other book stores and libraries, both private and public, may not be far behind them. that's because the future of publishingsn't in hard copy books anymore or magazines or newspapers, it's all digital. the ipad, the kindle, the nook and other similar devices make it possible to access any book, any period call at any time, any place. as digital downloadable music has gained popularity, we see a shift in the music industry. there are hardly any physical stores where we can buy cs. we have gone from the 78 to the 48, to the long-playing lp, to dvd's and now to downloadable music. the same will be true for publishing. books will soon become obsolete. so the school library will soon, unfortately, be obsolete. schools are likely in the future to use that space for more classrooms. maybe it will help alleviate our classroom size problems. but for certain, architects in the future will likely be designing future schools without a library. hard copies of textbooks will become obsoletes instead of buying them and storing them and forcing our children to lug around huge backpacks full of heavy books, we'll download them on to a device just like one of these. . this is going to happen in the future. in fact, it's happening right now. in my district, at chicago state university, the freshman class of students, every single freshman, received an ipad. over time, as new classes enroll, the administration hos that all students will use electronic gires textbooks and to submit assignments. it could be a textbookless campus in four years. imagine the cost savings for schools, president watson said. give a child an ipad, nook, kile or any of these devices when they are in the first grade and he or she could use it all the way through college. all the cost of buying hard copy books for the course of that child's educational career would be simply wiped out. now, mr. speaker, because i suggested this idea, i've been called a communist and a socialist and any number of other things but let me tell you why that's misleading and malicious. let me go back to what i talked about last week. last ek, from the house floor, i talked about the greatest capitalist in the history of our world. in my opinion, the greatest capitalist in the history of our world whe the -- were the mewho founded our country, our founding fathers. they were engaged in all manners of trade and commerce. it ranged from farming cotton and beans and corn and even before the constitution of the united states was ratified in 1788, even before the bill of rights in 1791, even before the declaration of independence, from 1492 until 1776, and certainly and even me tragically in 1619, 19 scared africans ai'ved on the shores of jamestown, virginia, 157 years before the declaration of independence. their desire for commerce and capitalism even had them trading people. they traded among themselves and with others across the wol. when they rebelled against the government of england and established their own country, they had a choice in unregulated, unfettered free market system or a system of government with checks and balances and regulations and rules. so much for the anti-government movement in our nation. our founding fathers were not anti-government. they chose government. but they chose government with an over all overall structure of freedom and personal liberty along with rules. that leads us to the bill of rights. the first amendment is one of the great landmarks in human rights and personal freedom. it certainly is that not only in domestic history but in world history. it protects free speech, freedom of and freedom from religion, the right to assemble and to petition the government, it also happens and often not talked about in our country, it also happens to be the greatest economic program in the history of our country. think about it. i asked the congressional research service and their experts responded by saying to specific question, how many jobs in the united states of america are tied to the first amendment? initially they said, it's practically incalculable. he said, any job, and i quote, with a public presence, unquote, could be condered protected under the first amendment. and therefore the congressional research service conservatively estimated that approximately 50% of all jobs in the united states are tied to the first amendment. imagine. or just stop and think about it. every newspaper in this nation, and the jobs that emanate from those newspapers are tied to the first amendment. books. internet publications. every tv station. cial media. public speaking. serious networks. -- sirius network. am-fm radio. lawyers. advocates. movies. c.d.'s, d.v.d.'s, v.h.s.'s, mp-3 players, democrats an republicans, telephone services, cell phones, droids, pagers, music, classical, r&b, pop, country, western, hip-hop, techno, karaoke. the united states postal service. federal express. u.p.s. print advertising. times square. new york city. commercials. ipods. iphones. ipads. computers, art, museums, photography, education, colleges and schools, theaters, plays, musicals and on and on and on. they have their basis in the first amendment. that doesn't even includ freedom of religion. the churches, the synagogues, the mosques. all religions. nonprofit organizations. 501 c 3's, 501 c 4's. charitable given. all of this is first amendment activity. the first amendmt with american innovation through time from the founding of our country to this very day has unleashed over time the greatest economy that th world has ever known. the founding fathers set in place a system that through our value system would give birth to more than 50% of all jobs in the united states of america. that system has worked remarkably well for a long, long time. but now there's a problem, mr. speaker. these devices will cause the loss of jobs at bookstores, boers is closing. almost 50% of its stores. it's going to cost the jobs of librarians. and libraries. publishing houses. printers. bookbinders. and where do we think these devices are made? they're not made here in the united states. they're most likely made in china or other places. so if you're not an american and you believe in the value system that emanates from the first amendment, including all the jobs that emanate from the first amendment and you're outside of america looking in you need only wait for american innovation as a result of our own freedom system to take advaage of selling to the united states at some cheaper labor cost a product that helps strengthen our first amendment. it comes, however, at the cost of jobs. significant jobs. so the first amendment, the amendment that has unleashed such great economic activity and brought about such amazing innovation and helped america become the greatest economy in the world is now known for >> up next, a congressional hearing on homegrown terrorism and the muslim american community. following the hearing, a news briefing with the witnesses and how homeland security -- and homeland security chairman peter king. letter, debate on a housing program on mortgage refinancing. new york republican congressman peter king, who chairs the homeland security committee held a hearing on what he called the radicalization of american muslims. witnesses included michigan's congressmen, who represents the largest arab-american community firsterica, and congress' muslim american member. we will also hear from virginia congressman frank wolf. this is the first in a series of hearings chairman king plans to hold on radicalization in the united states. this first panel is one hour. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] > >> good morning. the committee on homeland security will come to order. we're meeting to hear testimony on the extent of radicalization of the american muslim community and to investigate that community's response. the chair wishes to remind our guests that demonstrations from the audience, including signs and placards and verbal outbursts, are a violation of the rules of the house and the chair wishes to thank our guests for their cooperation in maintaining order and proper decorum. guests for their cooperation in maintaining order and proper de the ranking member and i have agreed that we have three member witnesses testified on panel on. in prior consultation with the ranking member of mississippi, i ask unanimous consent has member witnesses not be subject to questions from committee members. member witnesses not be subject to questions from committee members. they're going to be testifying as one panel. testifying as one panel. without objection, so ordered. i believe the ranking member has unanimous consent request to make. >> yes. i'd like to ask unanimous consent that congressman carson, pasquale and green when he comes in be allowed to sit on the panel. >> without objection, so ordered. at this time i will now recognize myself for an opening statement. at the very outset let me thank all the witnesses, the member panel and the witnesses who have traveled to be with us here today. thank you very much given the time in what i believe to be a very valuable and important hearing. today's hearing will be the first in a series of hearings dealing with the critical issue of the radicalization of muslim americans. i am well aware that the announcement of these hearings has generated considerable controversy and opposition. some of this opposition such as from my colleague and friend mr. ellison and mr. pascuale has been measured and thoughtful. other opposition has been from disbelief to rage and hysteria. let me remain clear that i remain convinced these hearings must go forward and will. to back down would be a surrender to political correctness and abdication of what i believe to be the main responsibility of this committee to protect america from a terrorist attack. despite what passes for conventional wisdom in certain circles, there is nothing radical or unamerican in holding these hearings. indeed, congressional investigation of muslim american radicalization is the logical response to the repeated and urgent warnings which the obama administration has been making in recent months. just this past sunday, for instance, dennis mcdonough, the deputy national security adviser to president obama made a major speech on radicalization stating that, quote, al qaeda and its adherence have increasingly turned to another troubling tactic, attempting to recruit and radicalize people to terrorism here in the united states. for a long time many in the u.s. thought that we were immune from this threat. that was false hope and false comfort. this threat is real and it is serious. mr. mcdonough went on to say al qaeda does this for the express purpose of trying to convince muslim americans to reject their country and attack their fellow americans, end of quote. i should also add my own personal conversations with mcdonough prior to the speech, he told me to go forward with the hearing and that the administration welcomed congressional involvement. similarly, in late december, attorney general holder said the growing number of young americans being radicalized are willing to take up arms against our country, quote, keeps him awake at night, unquote. and two weeks before that, the attorney general defended the fbi's sting operation against muhammed muhammed who attempted a terror attack during christmas tree lighting ceremonies in portland, oregon. the attorney general said he made no apologies for this operation. said, quote, the attorney general, those who characterize the fbi's activities as entrapments simply do not have their facts straight, end of quote. one month ago sitting right there secretary napolitano testified before this committee and said the threat level today is as high as it has been since september 11th because of increased radicalization in our country. i would ask the audience and committee just notice this chart over here. just in the last two years alone, these are terror plots which were blocked by our government. virtually every part of the united states is affected by this. it affects the entire nation. those of us in the northeast perhaps have more threats, you about the fact is we found out no one is immune from these type threats, these type attacks. this committee cannot live in denial, which is what some of us would do when they suggest that this hearing dilute its focus by investigating threats unrelated to al qaeda. the department of homeland security and this committee were formed in response to the al qaeda attacks of september 11th. there is no equivalency of threat between al qaeda and neo-nazis, environmental extremists or other isolated madmen. only al qaeda, and islamic affiliates in this country are part of an international threat to our nation. indeed by the justice department's own record, not one terror-related case in the last two years involved neo-nazis, environmental extremists, militias or anti-war groups. itch i have repeatedly said the overwhelming majority of muslim americans are outstanding americans and made enormous contributions to our country but there are realities we can't ignore. for instance the pew poll that said 15% of muslim american men between the age of 18 and 29 could support suicide bombings. this is a segment of the community al qaeda is attempting to recruit. to combat this threat moderate leadership must emerge in the muslim community. as a majority and minority staff of the senate homeland security committee concluded in its report which ironically enough was entitled violent islamic extremism and the home grown terrorist threat, this report concluded muslim community leaders and religious leaders must play a more visible role in discrediting and providing alternatives to violent islamist ideology, end of quote. this means a responsible muslim american leaders must reject discredited groups such as c.a.r.e., the committee on american -- the committee on islamic american relations. c.a.r.e. was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the terrorist financing case involving the holy land foundation. in the lead-up to this hearing i found it shocking and sad that the mainstream media accepted c.a.r.e.'s accusations as if it were a legitimate organization. thankfully, fbi director muller has ordered the fbi to cease all dealings and contact with c.a.r.e. possibly and probably because of this type of placard and poster which is posted by san francisco c.a.r.e. i would hope that all law enforcement officials would follow the lead of the fbi director. al qaeda realizes that the measures we have put in place over the past 9 1/2 years make it very difficult to launch a large-scale attack against our homeland from outside the country, which is why they have altered their strategy and are using people living legally in the united states. these include new york city subway bomber, former terrorist major nissan. carly larose. fayssal shahzad. bledsoe, his father is a witness today. and dozens of individuals in minneapolis associated with the somali terrorist organization al shabaab and the uncle of one of the young man radicalized and eventually killed is also here and also the mumbai plotter david headley. let me thank all of the witnesses to give up their valuable time to be here today. i want to express special thanks to melvin bledsoe and another brave man who endured suffering no father or uncle should ever have to go through. their courage and spirit will put a human face on the horror which islamic radicalization has inflicted and will continue to inflict good families, especially those in the muslim community unless we put aside political correctness and define who our enemy truly is. as we approach the ten-year anniversary of the september 11th attacks, we cannot allow the memory of that tragic day to fade away. we must remember in the days following the attack, we were all united in the dedication to fight back against al qaeda and its ideology. today we must be fully aware that home grown radicalization is part of al qaeda's strategy to continue attacking the united states. al qaeda is actively targeting the american muslim community for recruitment. today's hearing will address this dangerous trend and now it's my privilege to recommend -- to recognize the distinguished ranking member of the committee, the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. as we begin today's hearing, i want to take a moment to thank you for agreeing to my request to invite representative dingell and sheriff baca. these witnesses will add to the committee's understanding of the outreach and cooperation between the muslim community and government officials. i want to reiterate, however, my belief that a hearing on the linkage between extreme ideology and violent action to be a broad-based examination. yesterday the fbi made an arrest in a roo cent martin luther king day bombing attempt. news reports identified a suspect as a member of the same white supremacist group that influenced oklahoma city bomber timothy mcveigh. i urge you, mr. chairman, to hold a hearing examining the homeland security threat posed by anti-government and white supremacist groups. as the committee on homeland security, our mission is to examine threats to this nation's security. a narrow focus that excludes known threats lacks clarity and may be myopic. i understand that our personal experiences play a role in howu experiences play a role how we see the world. we all come to this place from somewhere else. the chairman's background includes the history of a country divided by religion and torn by a violent struggle. i'm from mississippi. my personal history is one which nonviolence was the bedrock principle in the struggle for societal change and political rights. religion played a role in that struggle, too. but we are not here in these places now. as members of congress, our words transcend this hearing room. we must be vigilant that our words and our actions do not inflame. acknowledgement of an obligation to be responsible does not equal political correctness. we must be mindful that this country is conducting two wars, our words and our actions cannot be used to endanger our soldiers. i had hoped that this hearing could be used as a forum to point out a recent report of the southern poverty law center. last week the southern poverty law center released a chilling report. the number of active hate groups in the united states toppled 1,000 for the first time and the anti-government movement expanded dramatically for the second straight year. the southern poverty law center study indicates that several factors have fueled this growth. those factors include resentment over the changing racial demographics of this country, frustration over the lagging economy, and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and other demonizing propaganda aimed at minorities and the government. i'm particularly troubled that much of the current vitreal has been directed to the president and first lady. in the wake of the giffords shooting, news accounts indicate in a public meeting a member of congress heard a threat made against the life of the president that was greeted with laughter. we live in troubling times. i heard concerns that today's hearing would stoke a climate of fear and distrust in the muslim community. it may also increase the fear and distrust of the muslim community for cooperation of law enforcement officials outreach in cooperation may become more difficult as we consider the possible domestic effects of our actions, we must also consider the possible effects abroad. as i look at the recent uprisings in north africa and the middle east, i'm struck by the fact that these movements are inspired ed by secular mot notions of democratic industry and freedom. in scores of hearings and briefings, members of this community have been told al qaeda remains a recruiting tool in the notion that the powers of the west are aligned against the people of the middle east. do you ask accused of engaging in a modern-day crusade against islam. we cannot give this lie a place to rest. i cannot help but wonder how propaganda about this hearing focusses on american muslim community will be used by those who seek to inspire a new generation of suicide bombers. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman from mississippi. thank you, ranking member thompson. remind other members of the committee opening statements may be submitted for the record. i would like to welcome our first panel, the gentleman from michigan, dean of the house, congressman john dingell, gentleman from minnesota mr. ellison and mr. wolf. your entire statement will appear in the record. now it is my privilege to ask chairman dingell to begin his testimony. thank you, john. chairman, i think your microphone is -- >> i thank you as the ranking member mr. thompson for your courtesy and also the members for your kindness to me. this is a hearing which has great potential and i'm very hopeful that under your leadership and with the cooperation of members of the committee that good results will have been achieve d there is reason for us to go into this question of risk to our nation. that is one of the assigned businesses of this particular committee. for the record, i'm john dingell, member of congress from michigan's 15th congressional district. as you mentioned, i'm dean of the house. i have engaged in the practice of being chair of committees for many years. also in running new committees. i represent a very diverse congressional district which we have all races, religions and all parts of the world society represented. i represent a very fine community of muslim americans that i'm here to tell you something which you know and that is they are local, decent, honorable americans. they hold elected office. they have immigrated to our state from all parts of the middle east. they're lebanese, palestinian, iraqi, egyptians amongst others, iranians. they come from all parts of the world. muslim americans are honorable citizens. they are much distressed about what we are seeing going on. they are not only ordinary citizens but professionals, elected officials, members of the state legislature, people who sit on the courts as judges and persons who hold other high offices in our society. they are almost, without exception, honorable, loyal citizens and as i indicated, they are distressed as much as we are about the behavior of al qaeda and other threats to their nation as we are to sharing their concerns about what is of danger to our nation. as i mentioned for years, i ran investigative committees. i kept a picture of joe mccarthy hanging on the wall so that i would know what it was i did not want to look like, to do or to be. i believe that this committee going into these matters wisely, carefully and well can achieve a fine result of alerting the nation to the real concern. i would beg you, mr. chairman, and the members of the committee to do what i know you are fully intent upon doing and that is to see to it that as we go into these matters, we do not blot the good name or the loyalty or raise questions about the decency of arabs or muslims or other americans enmasse. there will be plenty of rascals we can point out and say these are real dangers to the nation we love and serve. i want to tell you how much i appreciate your courtesy permitting me to be here this morning. i know that you will see to it, mr. chairman, and the members of the committee that we address the problems that we confront in terms of our national security in a fair, decent, thoughtful and honorable fashion. i am prepared to leave then this high responsibility to you. with the assurances of my good wishes and support. again, the hope that people will understand that the purposes of this hearing should be to find where there is wrongdoing, danger and risk to our country, while at the same time not raising threats about the loyalty or the patriotism of important branches of our society who are as loyal, decent and good, thoughtful and honorable americans as are all of us here present in this room. i thank you for your courtesy to me, mr. chairman. >> thank you, chairman dingell. i still haven't acclimated myself to seeing you on the other side of the microphone through the many years when you were sitting in the chairman's chair. thank you for your testimony this morning. >> we've been friends a long time, thank you. >> thank you, chairman. next witness is congressman ellison from minnesota. he and i have divergent views on this issue but we try to maintain the cordial relationship, and when congressman ellison spoke to in mid december about the possibility of being in the hearing i welcomed his request and i am pleased to have him here today to explain and discuss his version and his analysis of the crisis confronting us today. with that, i recognize the gentleman from minnesota, mr. ellison. >> thank you, chairman king, for allowing me to testify today. though the chairman and i sometimes do disagree, including on the aspects of this hearing, i appreciate his willingness to engage in this dialogue. let me also thank the ranking member thompson. it's a challenge to protect both security and liberty but congressman thompson seems to strike the right balance. i'd like to introduce talot hamdani with us today. she is the brave mother of a first responder who died trying to rescue fellow americans on 9/11. i would like to make three points today, mr. chairman. first, violent extremism is a serious concern to all americans and is the legitimate business of this committee. second, this committee's approach to this particular subject, i believe, is contrary to the best of american values and threatens our security or could potentially. finally, we need increased understanding and engagement with the muslim community in order to keep america safe. let me elaborate on my first point. understanding the roots of domestic terrorism is the legitimate business of the house homeland security committee. i share the chairman's concern about violent extremism. i voted for the violent radicalization and home grown terrorism prevention act of 2007 authored by representative jane harmon. this bill was a common-sense approach to studying violent extremism in the united states. after gathering more feedback from the community, i expect to introduce a similar bill in the future. i recently made a presentation sponsored by the center for american progress called strengthening american security, identifying, preventing and responding to domestic terrorism. my presentation there addressed causes of violent extremism and solutions for prevention and intervention. the safety of our families and communities is at stake in our discussion today. we should apply the utmost professionalism to this issue which leads me to my second point. we need to conduct a thorough fair analysis and to do no harm. the approach of today's hearing, i fear, does not meet these standards. today's hearing is entitled, "the extent of radicalization of the american muslim community and that community's response." it's true that specific individuals, including some who are muslims are violent extremists. however, these are individuals not entire communities. individuals like anwa, fizal and nidal who do not represent the muslim community. when you assign their violent actions to the entire community, you assign collective blame to a whole group. this is the very heart of stereotyping and scapegoating. this is the heart of my testimony today. ascribing evil acts of a few individuals to an entire community is wrong. it is ineffective and it risks making our country less safe. solutions to the scourge of domestic terrorism often emerge from individuals from within the muslim community, a point i address later in my testimony. demanding a community response as the title of the hearing suggests, a search that the entire community bears responsibility for the violent acts of individuals, targeting of the muslim american community for the actions of a view is unjust. actually, all of us, all communities are responsible for combatting violent extremism, singling out one community, focusses our analysis in the wrong direction. throughout human history, individuals from all communities and faiths have used religion and political ideology to justify violence. let's just think about the kkk. america's oldest terrorist organization. the oklahoma city bombing, the shooting at the holocaust museum by james von braun. did congress focus on the ethnic group of these acts of public violence as public policy? no. stoking fears of an entire group for a political agenda is not new in american history. during world war ii, the united states government interned the japanese americans. during john f. kennedy's campaign his opponents portrayed a dire future for america with a catholic president. we view these events of our past as a breach of our treasured american valued. let's talk about facts rather than stereotypes. in fact, the muslim american community reject violent ideology. a report released last year states, "given the low rate of would-be violent extremists, about 100 amongst the 3 million american muslims suggests the american muslim population remains hostile to jihadist ideology and its exotations to violence." at a press conference yesterday, eric holder said, "the muslim community has contributed significantly to the resolution of many things that have resolved over the last or the course of the last 12 to 18 months, tips have been received, information shared, has been critical to our effort to disrupt plots that otherwise might have occurred." muslim american community across the country actively works with law enforcement officials from dialogues with attorney general eric holder to community meetings with local police in minneapolis, recently tips from muslim american community fall to plots including the times square bomber and virginia five. law enforcement officials depend on those relationships. information provided by muslim americans has helped to foil seven domestic terror plots and 40% of all plots since 9/11. a 2011 study from duke university triangle center on terrorism reiterated that 40% of the domestic terror plots that have been prevented with the aid of muslim american community. this cooperation with law enforcement is rooted in relationships and trust. relationships we should nurture. a witness at today's hearing, los angeles county sheriff lee bacca testified before the house homeland security subcommittee last year. he said to effectively detect and manage extremists, police need to have trust and the understanding of the muslim communities who live within and outside the united states simply police need public participation. as leaders, we need to be rigorous about our analysis of violent extremism. our responsibility includes doing no harm. i am concerned that the focus of today's hearing may increase suspicion of the muslim american community, ultimately making us all a little less safe. we have seen the consequences of anti-muslim sentiment from backlash against park 51 muslim community center to the hostilities against the islamic center in tennessee to a threatened koran burning in gainesville, florida, zoning boards and communities in illinois are denying permits to build mosques. at the height of the park 51 controversy, a man asked a cabbie whether he was a muslim. when the cabbie said "peace be unto you," the individual stabbed him. dennis mcdonough recently spoke at the adams center and the all-dulles american muslim so side. he noted al qaeda coerced recruiting argument is that the west is at war with islam, a chief goal of our national security policy is to undermine this argument. this requires active engagement with muslim community at home and throughout the world, as president obama said in his cairo speech, "islam is not part of the problem in combatting violent extremism. it is an important part of prom poeting peace." this brings me to my last point and i will try to hurry, mr. chairman, because i see the time. the best defense against extreme ideologies is social inclusion. ralph bolter, head of the minneapolis fbi illustrates my point. he led a large-scale probe into counterterrorism involving local somali americans heading overseas to fight with terrorist organizations. he is now coming to d.c. to become the agency's deputy assistant director in charge of counterterrorism. bolter's strategy, to find extremism, the agency needs to establish sincere relationships within the community. "we had to be able to show people they could trust me, trust us," bolter said of the local community. fbi agent bolter, "showed a side to the fbi that people don't see," said minneapolis police chief tim dolan. they needed a little more to make their case and it paid off because of the connections he made. people came forward. he became sb that they were willing to go to." unfortunately, i fear that this hearing may undermine our efforts in this direction. recently on a news program, it was stated, "how about the number of young somali men who went to somalia and imam and leaders in the muslim community who refused to cooperate? they denied for a long time they even left." this sweeping statement regarding the community i represent is inaccurate. unfortunately, why weren't law enforcements from minneapolis invited to testify before this committee about the effective counterterrorism work going on in minneapolis today? i invite and would welcome such an invitation. in january, the department of homeland security of the civil rights and civil liberties convened a youth summit with somali american youth and law enforcement agencies in minneapolis. the event attracted over 100 people including u.s. attorney, three somali american police officers, myself, several law enforcement security agencies. the meeting provided an opportunity for somali youth groups to learn more about the various roles and responsibilities of the u.s. department of homeland security and to discuss community issues and concerns with government representatives. the meeting participants discussed way which youths can improve ways of communications. muslim americans have been part of the american scene since the nation founding. cedar rapids, iowa, is home to one of the oldest mosques in america. the muslim community is like the rest of us. muslims serve our nations as doctors, lawyers, teachers, business owners, cab drivers and even members of the congress. muslim americans live in every community in america and they are our neighbors, in short, they are us. every american including muslim americans suffered on 9/11. 29 muslim died at the world trade center. three died in hijacked airplanes united flight 175 and american flight 11. muslims stood with the rest of the america united in grief and in our resolve to protect america. along with americans of all faiths, muslim americans rushed into save and rescue victims of al qaeda's terrorism. let me close with a true story, but remember it's only one of american stories that could be told. muhammed hamdani was a 23-year-old paramedic, a new york city police cadet and muslim american. he was one of those brave first responders who tragically lost his life in 9/11 terrorist attacks almost a decade ago. as "the new york times" eulogized, he wanted to be seen as an all-american kid. he wore number 79 on the high school football team in bayside queens where he lived. he was called salbi his friends. he became a research assistant at the rockefeller university and drove an ambulance part time. one christmas he sang handel's messiah in queens. he saw all of the star war movies. it's well known that his new honda read with the young jedi license plates. you bravely sacrificed his life to try to help others on 9/11. after the tragedy, some people tried to smear his character. solely because of his islamic faith. some people spread false rumors and speculated that he was in league with the attackers because he was a muslim. but it was only when his remains were identify ied that these li were exposed. muhammed hamdani was a young american who gave his life for other americans. his life should not be identified as just a member of an ethic group or just a member of a religion, but as an american who gave everything for his fellow americans. i yield back. >> i thank the gentleman for his testimony. >> mr. chairman? >> gentle lady from texas. >> being moved by the statement of mr. ellison, i am wondering whether or not you would waive the rules of this committee to allow all members to have opening statements? >> i will not. >> i think, mr. chairman, i would like to finish my inquiry. i think because of the severity of this issue and the passion that is being expressed and the concern for demonizing of one group, that members need to be on the record to be able to express their view, their opposition or their support for the format and the structure of this hearing. >> reclaiming my time. the regular rules of the procedure will be followed. i recognize the gentleman from virginia. >> i object, mr. chairman. >> i recognize the gentleman from virginia mr. wolf. mr. wolf served long in the congress. he has shown particular interest in this issue and his district had severe cases of radicalization. i recognize mr. wolf. >> mr. chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify. i commend your leadership in holding these hearings and i will revise and summarize. i've been following radical islamic terrorism for nearly three decades. in 1998, i authored legislation creating the national commission on terrorism and highlighted the threat from osama bin laden in my introductory remarks. i was chairman of the house appropriations and subcommittee that funds the fbi on september 11, 2001, and worked closely with director muller from 2002 to 2006 to transform its missions to deal with terrorist threats. i am, again, chairman of that subcommittee and have received regular briefings on terrorism and visited the counterterrorism center often in northern virginia. the new and growing threat posed by domestic radicalization. according to the congressional research service, there have been 43 home grown jihadists terrorist plots and attacks since 9/11, including 22 plus were attacked since may 2009. as u.s. government officials, law enforcement and community leaders seek to combat this emerging challenge, we must foster partnerships with peaceful and law-abiding americans of the muslim faith. mr. chairman, over the last three decades, i've seen first hand the violence in a repression against muslims in many countries and have spoken out in their defense in places such as sudan, chechnya, kosovo and china. in bosnia, what is one of the only members to visit a prison camp run by the serbs where i saw evidence of modern day ethnic cleansing and support of lifting the arms embargo so the muslim population to defend themselves. i am mindful of the important role american muslims play today, they are teachers, doctors, policemen and soldiers. mothers, fathers and neighbors. they are patriotic americans. some have paid the ultimate price in service to the country. i'm reminded of a young pakistani american i had the privilege of meeting at walter reed hospital. he lost both legs in combat in iraq. he was a patriot who makes us proud and he was a muslim. my oversight of the justice department including civil rights and national security programs, i am mindful of the government's responsibility to safe guard the rights of all americans. there have been instances in our nation's history, especially when our country has been under attack, for the civil liberties of certain groups of people have been violated because other people were afraid. this is inexcusable, but this is the exception and not the rule. yet, mr. chairman, we cannot ignore the phenomenon that domestic radicalization. it is a national security challenge that must be confronted. according to a recent report by respected counterterrorism expert bruce hoffman and peter bergen called "assessing the terrorist threat," they said, "the american melting pot has not provided a fire wall against the radicalization and recruitment of american citizens and residents. though it has arguably lulled us into a sense of complacency that home grown terrorism couldn't happen in the united states." they went on to say by not taking more urgently and seriously the radicalization of recruitment that was actually occurring in the u.s., authorities failed to comprehend that this was not an isolated phenomenon. rather it indicated the possibility that even an embryonic terrorist radicalization recruitment infrastructure had been established in the u.s. homeland. consider the following individuals who have been radicalized in my state of virginia or i would even say here in northern virginia. in october 2010, faruq aaek mad what ashburn, virginia, was arrested for allegedly plotting attacks on the metro system to find times to kill as many people as possible. july 2010, zachary chesser, graduate of oakland high school was arrested in new york en route to somalia. chesser pled guilty to charges provided material support to terrorist, communicating threats and slis tating crimes of violence and was sentenced to 30 years. november 2009, five american muslim teenagers from fairfax county were arrested in pakistan attempting to join militant islamist organizations. they've been sentenced to ten years in a pakistan prison. in november 2009, virginia native army major nadal hassan killed 13 service men and women in ft. hood, texas. hassan grew up in arlington, went to wakefield high school and later moved to roanoke. in 2004, abdul al moodie from falls church, virginia, was convicted on three charges of conspiring to senate the crown prince abdullah. in 2003, a northern virginia resident and the islamic saidia academy 1999 valedictorian was arrested in saudi arabia and convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorism including a plot to assassinate president bush. he was sentenced to life in pris yochblt one cannot overlook the prime role an american citizen played in northern virginia during his time preaching at a mosque in falls church, virginia. this is particularly noteworthy begin his recruitment of the ft. hood shooter, the christmas day bomber and the times square bomber. some experts say the internet is the conduit to radical voices to corrupt minds while others say it is the important importation of radical terrorism. others temperature to stifle debate and obstruct cooperation with law enforcement. in june 2009, i spoke on the house floor in great detail laying out my concern about care and discussing the holy land foundation case. the foundation and five of its former organizers were found guilty of illegally funneling more than $12 million to hamas. we know hamas is a terrorist organization on the terrorist list by the eu, by the united states and wants to destroy israel. they designated a foreign terrorist organization and among the unindicted co-conspirators in the case was c.a.r.e. which is routinely and mistakenly elevated in the press as the voice of mainstream american muslims. they have been granted access to the highest levels of government at times. last week during a hearing before my subcommittee, attorney general eric holder recognized c.a.r.e.'s troubled history, he said, and fbi director has suspended all noninvestigative cooperation with c.a.r.e. my concern is not limited to its disturbing origins and connections to terrorist finances. i'm equally concerned about c.a.r.e.'s role attacking the reputation of any who dare to raise concerns about domestic radicalization. may 25, 2007, "wall street journal" op-ed, a former member of a terrorist organization described terror as, "perhaps the most conspicuous organization to persistently accuse opponents of islamaphobia." in 2008, the editorial page editor of "the columbus dispatch" spoke on an accusation as a means of muzzling debate. they said, "for many years contrary has waged a campaign to intimidate and silence anyone who raises alarms about the danger of islamic extremism. the group acts properly when it hammers home the point that only a small number of muslims

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