Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20160617

Minority leader harry reid congratulated chris murphy for leading the 15hour debate against gun violence on wednesday in the senate. His remarks were followed by Mitch Mcconnell criticizing senate crast democrats for the debate calling it a talkathon. This is 20 minutes. Mr. President . For 14 hours and 50 minutes, beginning Late Wednesday morning and ending early thursday morning, the entire nation watched the senator from connecticut teach our republican colleagues a lesson and another things not the least of which is courage. It is easy to say we stood for 14 hours. We talk a lot about filibusters in the senate. They dont happen very often. I have been in congress for 34 heres and i have probably led two more than anyone else. They dont happen much. There are a lot of fake filibusters but this was real. I admire and appreciate the junior senator from connecticut very much. Four days after 49 innocent americans were gunned down in a nightclub, senator murphy stood here as indicated for 14 hours, pleading with republicans to join and stop the nations scourge of gun violence. 40 other democrats joined him and without exception all 46 of us united together, led by the senator in support of what we was doing. Because we all believed he ecoed the words we wish to speak, to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorist was inspiring. A reminder the Senate Democrats will not cave into the fashional Rifle Association or the gun owners of america. National. The people of the nation responded nan overwhelming way. Throughout the course of senator murphys filibuster hundreds game and watched in the senate galleries. A hundred people were still sitting in the gallery at 2 12 a. M. This morning as senator murphy brought the filibuster to a close. Thousands and thousands and thousands of constiuents called and demanded congress do something to address this gun violence. Senator murphys filibuster took over social media. Hold the floor was a top trending topic nationally and globally. Senator murphy got the worlds attention and certainly americas attention and i hope he got the attention of the senate republicans. In the Early Morning hours, the republican leader spoke, and we talked and he indicated he would commit to allowing votes on two gun Safety Measures. The booker legislation, sorry, the fienstein booker legislation to expand background checks and the fienstein to close the terror loophole preventing terrorist from walking into a gun store and buying all of the firearms and plosives they want. Why the passion of senator murphy, mr. President , could a man get to these babies by the mad man walking to Sandy Hook School . Of course it was. He said he cannot get that out of this mind. Every day that is what he thinks about. Not 24 hours a day but every day. Why was clay booker here every minute of the time with senator murphy . He was here because he lives in an area where people are killed, several a week, in his neighborhood. He gave one of the most passionate speeches on tuesday in our caucus about holding a little boy, shot in the head, and dying in his arms. He has been involved in gun control since the early days in house of representatives. Dian diane fienstein. Doing something about guns has been on her portfolio since he she was a member of the board of supervisors of San Francisco, became mayor as a result of the mayor being murdered. Dianne fienstein led the charge to pass on this floor, when filibusters were not what we did around here, stopping every piece of legislation going through. Now see persuvievered and made legislation to stop the assault weapons. Does anyone think assault rifles are used for hunting or protecting a family . This evil man that went into a nightclub in orlando had at least three bullet clips. It takes about less than 20 seconds to shoot those. All gone in less than three seconds. It takes, if you are not very good at it, 12 seconds to reload. So to fire off 90 shells it would take 1015 seconds if that is what he wanted to do. Many years later she is still right. The assault rifles are not for the American Peoples entertainment. They should not be. What the nra and gun owners of america love to sell these guns. So we are going to vote on the murphybookerschumer legislation to expand background checks and the fienstein measure to close the terrorist loopholes and prevent terrorist from walking into a gun store and buying all of the firearms and explosive they want. These are common sense measures that the American People overwhelmingly support. Look at the polls from september, october, it doesnt matter. I ask anyone do we want someone who is a criminal or has problems with their mental capacity, do we want them going in there and purchasing a gun . Of course not. More than 80 of americans want to close the socalled loophole preventing suspected terrorist from purchasing firearms. And the legislation of fiensteins bill will cover just that. I appreciate it very much. We dont get votes on a lot of stuff. But i want to be clear it is not enough to let us simply vote. Democrats cant pass these gun Safety Measures by ourselves. We are the Minority Party as a result of the election two years ago. Any change, there will be a new majority here coming the first part of the year. Republicans must join us for those measures to pass. That wont happen if the republicans continue to take their orders from the national Rifle Association and the gun owners of america. We need americans to understand that we need republicans to follow senator murphy lead and senator fiensteins lead and show courage in standing up to the gun lobby in the aftermath of the worst massacre in history the American People are looking to us to make them safe. We can close the loophole and support background checks today. Immediately. We need gun safety. Not more guns. Lets take a stand in the senate and say enough is enough. On another subject, this sunday, june 19th is juneteenth. The day we celebrate the reminder that liberty and justice much reach all corners of the great nation. On june 19th, 1865, two months after general lee surrendered, one of the slaves in galveston, texas learned the slavery was no more. There was no press, no internet or television. As we celebrate june 19th, i hope we remember the celebration and freedom for all americans. Sadly 150 years later we have much work to make sure all citizens regardless of race, nationality or who they love are treated equally. Our nation continues to struggle. We continue to disfranchise exfelons. They have done their time. Let them be part of society. If we want them to come back and help out. Citizens that are part of our networ network, our great community, let them vote. Right here in the capitol, 600,000 residents continue to face taxation without r representation. I have been here a long time and supported this for d. C. I hope we can remember the troops sent to galveston, texas and the lesson of no matter who you are and where you may be this is a nation of liberty and justice for all. And let the record reflect, i understand protocol here and i was told senior mcconnell would be a little late so i was told to hold the floor. Mr. President . The Senate Majority leader. I ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of debate only until noon today. Without objection. Only the past few months, terrorist directed or inspired isis have committeded mass murder in brussels, california, and in france. When isis issued a call for lone wolf attacks during ramadan the followers heard the attack. A terrorist broadcasted news of the attack over the news of the internet. In orlando, americans were targeted deliberately and taken forever from their families by terrorist isil has claimed is one of the soldiers of the caliphate. It is clear from his behavior that this was not a random act of violence. This was a calculated act of terror. The cia director john brennan testified before the Senate Select committee on intelligence Islamic State militants are quote training and attempting to deploy officers for further attacks on the west. He called the terrorist attack the assault on the values of openness and tolerance that define the United States as a nation. Of course he is absolutely right. It goes into the sharp relief that the troubling reality we face. Isil is not the jv team. Isil is certainly not contained. Isil is the personification of evil in the world and it will continue to bring tragedy after tragedy to our own door steps until it is defeated. President obama needs to lead a campaign to accomplish this or at the least prepare the military and Intelligence Committee to help the next president do it if he wont. This is his primary responsibility in the wake of this terrorist tragedy. Here is what we need to do. Our responsibility in the senate is to make a choice. Work on Serious Solutions to prevent terrorist attacks or use the senate as a campaign studio. A campaign studio. Yesterday, the fbi director came to deliver a critical briefing on orlando and explain what is needed to prevent similar terrorist attacks in the future. Senate republicans attended and asked serious questions. A rather Significant Group of Senate Democrats skipped it. Skipped the briefing all together for a campaign talkathon out here on the senate floor. It is also prevented us from Going Forward on the bill offering amendments and votes. It is hard to think of a clearer contrast between serious work for solutions on the one hand and endless partisan campaigning on the other. Doing what we can to fight terror beyond our borders and prevent attacks within the border were priorities of ours well before the terrorist attack in orlando and they continue to be at the forefront of our efforts now. We passed the annual Defense Authorization act that will go a long way helping americans confront Global Security challenges today and preparing the next commander and chief to take on tomorrow. We are now working to pass an appr appropriation bill that will give more resources to track down and diffuse threats here on american soil. As we continue that measure, we are continuing to explore additional tools that can help prevent devastating terrorist attacks. Tools that will help us prevent the threat of lone wolf terrorist and help us connect the dots when it comes to terrorist communications. Now is the time for democrats to finally join with us in pursuing Serious Solutions that can actually make a real difference. As we said on tuesday, there will be amendment votes on this bill. There will be amendment votes on this bill. And yesterday, we were prepared to begin that process but were unable to get amendments pendig because of the extended floor debate that went until two in the morning. We will try again to move forward and get agreement on both sides and once there is an agreement we will update everyone. No one wants terrorist to be able to buy guns. No one wants terrorist to be able to buy guns. So if democrats are actually serious about getting a solution on that issue, not just making a political talking point, they mean join with us to support the shield act. It would give the Justice Department the ability to prevent known or suspected terrorist from purchasing firearms. It will protect the Constitutional Rights of all americans. It will go a step further and allow terrorist to be taken into custody if a judge finds probably cause. That is a serious solution on this issue. Lets remember, however, this issue represents only a piece of a much, much bigger challenge. Director brennen told us despite fight against isis on the battlefield and the financial ral realm we have not stopped the global reach. If we want to prevent isis inspired directed attacks we have to defeat isis in iraq and syria. If we want to prevent isis inpired and directed attacks we have to defeat isis in inspired iraq and syria. Here is what that means. From the white house it means we dont need another lecture. Another lecture or another threat to veto to defense bill. It means we need real leadership and a plan to defeat isis. From our colleagues here in the senate, it means we dont need more campaign talkathons like yesterday preventing us from voting. It means we need Serious Solutions and hard work. Afterall, that is what the people sent us here to do. After all. We may have gotten held back by a day but we can keep moving forward and setup votes on both sides just as we always expected. I yield the floor. Texas senator ted cruz responded to the murphy filibuster. He blamed the shooting on the Obama Policies and showed support for the nra saying they didnt commit these crimes. This is 20 minutes. Our nation is at war. Five days ago we saw a horrific terror attack in orlando, florida. From september 11th, to the boston marathon, from ford hood to chattanooga, from San Bernardino to this attack in orlando, radical islamic terrorism declared jihad on america. As the facts unfolded, it now indicates the orlando terrorist has pledged his allegiance to isis in the process of murdering 49 and wounding more than 50 at a nightclub. Our hearts go out to those who were murdered, to the families of those who were victims and who are grieving, we stand in solidarity and lift them up in prayer at this horrific act of terrorism. But it is also a time for action. We need a commander in chief who will speak the truth, who will address the enemy we face, who will unleash the full furry of the military on defeating isis and islamic terrorist. In the wake of the attack, many of us predicted what would unfold. It was sadly the same political tale we have seen over and over again. Many of us predicted that democrats, as a matter of ridged partisan ideology, would refuse to say the words radical terrorism. They would suggest this was another isolated incident. One lone criminal not connected to any global ideology or any global jihad. And even worse, they would try to use it as an excuse to go after the Second Amendment rights of the american citizens. This week played out too predictable. Yesterday, we saw a show on the senate floor. Democrats incensed not at isis or islamic terrorist but innoceni i think the American People find it ridiculous that in response to a terrorist attack the democrats say we have to restrict the Second Amendment rights of lawabiding citizens. This is not a gun control issue. This is a terrorism issue. And it is nothing less than political gains manship for them to try to shift to their favorite hobby horse of taking away the amendment rights from lawabiding citizens. I have spent years defending the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, the constitution and the bill of rights, and i am committed to defending the Constitutional Rights of every america. You dont defeat terrorism by taking away our guns. You defeat terrorism by using our guns. This body shouldnt be in a circus trying to restrict the Second Amendment. Instead we should be focusing on the problem at hand. Why did we see yesterdays series of speeches . Because Senate Democrats have an election coming up in november. They dont want to talk about the real issue. Lets talk about isis. Lets talk about radical islamic terrorism. Lets talk about the failures of the last sever n years of this administration to keep this country safe seven. In response to my criticism and that of many others, president obama gave a press conference where he said echoing the words of had been, what difference was it make if we call it islamic terrorist. Mr. President , it makes a world of difference. The failure to address the enemy impacts every action taken to fight that enemy. I want to talk in particular about three areas where this administration and the democrats refusal to confront radical islam has made us less safe and what he need to do about it. Lets talk about prevention. We have seen the poem Obama Administration have information they need to stop a terrorist attack but because this administration wont say jihad or radical islamic terrorism they look the other way and the attacks go forward. In my home state of texas, fort hood, nidal hussein, the Obama Administration knew that nidal hassan had been in communication with an islamic cleric anwar alwaki. It was known before and they did nothing and on that faithful day he murdered 14 innocent souls yelling jihadist phrase as he pulled the trigger. And just to underscore the blindness of this administration, even after the terror attack, the administration insisted on characterizing that terror attack as quote workplace violence. That is nothing short of delusion. It is a delusion that cost 14 lives. If we know of a u. S. Service member who is communicating with radical islamic cleric and asking about waging jihad against his fellow soldiers mp should be showing up within minutes. If we didnt have an administration that put its head in the sand like an ostrige this wouldnt have happened. Likewise, the boston bombing. Russia informed the brothers were connected with radical terrorism. The fbi went to interview them. And yet once again they dropped the ball. They stopped monitoring them so they didnt know when the elder brother posted on youtube a public call to jihad. Mind you this was not requiring complicated surveillance. This was youtube. Anyone with a computer who could type in google could see this. And yet because the administration will not acknowledge we are fighting radical islamic terrorism they were not watching and monitoring the brothers so when they called for public jihad they carried out that public jihad with pressure cookers at the boston marathon. Yet another example where we knew about the individual beforehand and if we had focused on the prevention of the problem we could have stopped it. A third example was San Bernardino. That horrific terror attack. Once again we had ample information about the people in question. The female terrorist had given the administration a fake address in pakistan and yet the socalled vetting this administration tells us they do failed to discover it was a fake address. She had made calls for jihad and yet the administration failed to discover that. In San Bernardino, we saw another terror attack. How about orlando . Lets talk about what the facts are in orlando. Now we are only five days in. The facts will develop further as they are more fully developed. Here is what has been publically reported. What has been publically reported is that omar mateen was interviewed not one, twice but three times by the fbi in 2013 and 2014. One of the reasons why he was interviewed by the fbi was because he was talking at his place of employment, which shockingly enough was the contractor to the department of homeland security, and he was talking about being connected to terrorist organizations including the boston bombers. That is a big red flag to any rational person. Yet it has been reported his coworkers were afraid to say anything because they didnt want to be labelled as somehow antimuslim by speaking out against someone claiming to be connected to radical terrorist. We know he was questioned by the fbi in 2014 according to public reports. It was because he was believed to be connected to the man when traveled to syria to join the terrorist organization and became the first known suicide bomber in the syrian attack. If you are hanging around with suicide bombers, that ought to be a big flag. If the administration is focused on radical terrorism, this is an individual we ought to be watching. We know mateen traveled to mecca and saudi arabia in march of 2011 for ten days and for eight days in march 2012. And we also have indications that the fbi may have been aware he was a follower of the Islamic Educational website run by a radical emom and not only that, but his father had posted video online expressing not only sympathy but support for the taliban. All of that is what the Obama Administration knew. Morning, they were no longer watching omar mateen. They were no longer watching omar mateen. They were not monitoring him, and he was able to go in and commit a horrific act of murder. The question that every member of this body should be asking is why is the ball being dropped over and over and over again . Its not once, its not twice, it is a pattern. It is a pattern of failing to connect the dots, and i would suggest, madam president , it is tuggest, madam president , it is it is directly connected to president Obamas Administration to acknowledge what it is we are fighting. If you direct the prevention efforts to stopping radicalis islamic terrorism we had all the information we needed to keep a very close eye on it. And yet if thats not what you are fighting then you close the investigation. And yet another attack goes forward. I would suggest that this willful blindness is one of the reasons why we saw the circuit yesterday on the senate floor. Senate democrats should be asking these questions and yet w we dont hear them asking those questions. Instead, they want to shift this to gun control. They want to shift this to putting the federal government in charge of approving every firearms transaction between lawful gun owners in america. Mind you that would not have prevented this attack. Mind you was not the evil of t this attack. Lo mind you it ignores the global refacing but its a complaint convenient political dodge. We need serious leadership focused on keeping this country. Safe. Hat a second component of keeping this country safe identifyings the enemy would produce is defeating isis or it. Utterly and completely defeating isis. And in yesterdays circus, when calling for taking away your and my Constitutional Rights pin democrats say lets utterly destroy isis, not with the pinprick attacks we are seeing and not Foreign Policy of this administration. A failed effort that leaves the terrorists laughing at us, but instead using overwhelmingnstead airpower, instead using thete concerted power of the United States military with rules of engagement that allow us to fight and win. Madam president right now certainty in our servicemen and women with rules of engagement tying their hands behind their backs is wrong and is not accomplishing the task. You want a response to the Orlando Attack . President obama and Vice President biden will no doubt give a selfrighteous speech about gun control, trying to strip away the rights of lawabiding americans. How bout them standing up and having the president pledged that isis will be driven from driven from from the face of the earth . You want to see a response to murdering innocent americans . If you declare war on america or you are signing a death warrant. That is the response of the commanderinchief. Thats the seriousness we need. W and the third component of focusing on the enemy is that we should focus on keeping us safe and in particular passing two pieces of legislation oath of which ive introduced, the first of which is the is the expatriot terrorist act. This is legislation that provides that any american citizen takes up arms and joins the radical Islamic Terrorist Group that he or she forfeits their u. S. Citizenship. So you do not have american citizens coming back to americaa with u. S. Passports to wagen jihad on america. We have seen americans like joee padilla and Anwar Alawlaki like faisal was odd to name a few that would abandon their country and join up with the terrorist and waging war against us. And just this week the cia director testified to the senate that more are coming, that isis intends to send individuals back here to wage jihad. Rather than gauging in political showmanship, trying to gain partisan advantage in the november election how about we come together and say if you join isis you are not using a u. S. Passport to come back here and murder american citizens . That ought to be a unanimous if we were focused on keeping this country safe and likewise lets talk about the problem of refugees. Ness o what are the consequences of the willful blindness of those demonstrations that president obama in the face of the terror attacks says he will admit some 10,000 Syrian Muslim refugees despite the fact that the fbi directors told congress he cant determine if they are com terrorists. Indeed heres what fbi director, he said, quote we can only query against that which we have collected and so of someone has never made a ripple in the pond in syria the way we can get their identity or identity or the interest reflected in our database we can query our database until the cows come shw home but there will be nothing to show up because we have no record of it. This is an fbi director appointed by president obama who is telling the demonstration they cannot accept these refugees and yet would it be administration say and what did Hillary Clinton sam looked at the Senate Democrats say . Leather refugees and even though isis is telling us they are going to use those refugees to send terrorists here to come and murder us. This transcends mere partisan disagreement. This is lunacy. We know the terrorist attack was carried out in part by people who came in using the refugee program, taking advantage of the refugee program. Indeed earlier this year january 6, 2016 all mark for rod zaida ow hard palestinian born in iraq entered the United States as a refugee in 2009 was charged with attempting to provide support for isis and he wanted to set off bombs using cell phone detonators and at two malls in my hometown of houston texas. This is a refugee who came fromt iraq and do you hear the demonstration saying this is a dangerous world, jihadists are temp thing to kill us. We have to keep us safe. Theyll say that. The legislation ive introduced which i would urge this body to take up would impose a threeyear moratorium on refugees coming from any nation where isis or al qaeda orr radical islamic terrorists toe come into the territory. Forts. We can help with humanitarian efforts. We can help resettle refugees in majority muslim countries in middle east. America is a compassionate country that has given more than 10 times as much money as any country on earth to caring for refugees but being compassionats we doesnt mean we invite to america, we invite to our homes people that the fbi cannot tell us that they are terrorists or not. E what should the senate be doingg we shouldnt be engaging and the sideshow of gun control. By the way i will say on behalf of a lot of american citizens in the wake of this terror attack it is offensive. I sat in that chair and presided yesterday over some of the show. It was offensive to see democrat after democrat going on about the nra. It wasnt the nra who murdered 49 people in orlando. W it wasnt nra that set up pressure cookers and the boston bombing and it wasnt an riaa who murdered 14 innocent souls at fort hood and its offensive to pay play political games with the Constitutional Rights of american citizens instead of getting serious about keeping this country safe. Senate democrats held a News Conference thursday to talk about their legislation to expand gun control. Speakers included chris murphy of connecticut who controlled the senate floor for nearly 15 hours to secure a commitment from republicans to bring votes for theirs amendment to the senate floor. This is about an hour. [background sounds] good morning and thank you all for joining us today that my name is chris murphy. I have the honor of being the junior senator from the state of connecticut. This country is rising up and demanding Congress Take action to address the epidemic of gun violence in this nation and we are doing it in part because of the courage of survivors and victims of gun violence all across america demanding action to have the privilege to begin today by introducing to you two of those heroic survivors. Tina minds is from california. Her father was an employee of San Bernardino county who was shot and killed by a coworker and his office and his wife who pledged allegiance to isis on december 2, 2015. She will be followed by reverend sharon bishop. Her mother apple and cousin suzie jackson, and to Wanda Sanders were shot and killed a year ago, june 17, 2015 and the Emanuel Ame Church in charleston or if the shooter was able to buy a weapon. Please welcome to the podium first tina and then reverend fischer. Thank you senator schumer, blumenthal, murphy, booker, marquis for inviting me here today. Im grateful to you and members of the delegation for taking action on this issue so that other families do not have to live for the heartbreak and anguish by family has been forced to endure for the rest of our lives. Her leadership has been a source of comfort to my family and me. My name is tina minds at my Father Damien minds was killed on december 2 last year at the inland regional plant while at a work event with a San Bernardino county Environmental Health department. When a coworker and his wife pledged allegiance to the terrorist group isis burst through the doors of his office spraying bullets from their semiautomatic rifles. My dad a lot with 13 of his coworkers was killed. In mere seconds my life and the lives of my mother and sister were irreversibly change. Our family is small but close, very close. Dad was eyes happy to spend time with this weather is helping us with their homework, teaching us how us how to ride our bikes helping coach our soccer teams were later just going for long walks with us. We traveled the world together and spend countless hours talking about the importance of helping others and Everything Else from politics to Current Events or whatever was on our minds. In our house there was laughter all the time. Now that laughter is gone. A horrific shooting in orlando began to unfold in front of ours in the numbers of dead and injured continued to rise i was immediately taken back to december 2. I know exactly what those families were going through. I know what its like to get the call telling you the worst news you could ever imagine and the pain of knowing its happening again in our country to so many families was just too much to bear. Each person in that club was someones child, sibling, a lover, a friend trait i wish i could say im surprised but sadly im not. We will continue to be here again and again they if our elected officials failed to take action that prevents dangerous and hateful people from getting their hands on a deadly weapon. Its time to disarm hate. One day after the San Bernardino mass shootings, congress had the opportunity to take meaningful action to make our nation safe for but instead a majority of senators voted in lockstep with the gun lobby against a common sense measure that would prevent prevent would have prevented people on this federal terrorism watch list from buying guns protect me at artifact in at artifact as countries easy and legal for dangers people including suspected terrorists to commit unspeakable acts by providing them with easy access to guns . Suspect that terrorists are prevented from boarding planes if they can legally purchase firearms. Since 2004 more than 2000 terror suspects have taken advantage of this loophole in our laws to buy guns. I cant wrap my mind around why anyone in Congress Finds this acceptable. Imposing the terror could have prevented what happened in sunday in orlando. The fbi investigated the shooter multiple times for terrorist ties and homicidal threats. Based on its history. Legislation could have blocked the gun sale to him and prevented the deaths, injuries and emotional scars of hundreds of our fellow americans. It wasnt easy for me to be here today. It wasnt easy for my mom and my sister and died to get on an airplane and fly across the country. We are still in a very early stages of our grief. I think about my dad every single day. I lost my father, my best friend and a horrific and brutal way that seems to defy all reason. But that is also why i couldnt not be here today. I want my story to remind others that it doesnt have to be this way. Its time we take a stand in this country and disarm them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you senator schumer, blumenthal, murphy, feinstein, booker, baldwin and marquis for bringing us here together today. Its hard to believe that tomorrow will be one year since i received a devastating news that my mother and two of my cousins were among nine people who had been shot and killed while praying at the mnu while African Methodist Episcopal Church in charleston, South Carolina by a man so filled with hate, armed with a gun. The pain of knowing my mother and cousins were killed in a racially motivated hate crime carried out against lack of churchgoers praying is something i carry with me everyday. I have spent most of my professional life working as a br trauma chaplain that no amount of training could have prepared me for the shock, pain and emptiness that consumed me in the days after the deaths of my family members. I struggled to answer why, why my loved ones in so many other people have been killed along with so Many Americans i was baffled at how the shooter was able to get his hands on a gun and how we live in a country filled with so much hatred. Racism, sexism, misogyny, nationalism, and religious intolerance are all things that we have sadly experienced over and over in this country. But hates becomes deadly when we make it far too easy for those intent on causing harm to get their hands on a gun and that is why i am here today, to disarm hate. My mom expression on her face her strength and resiliency, coming from humble means. My mama always wanted more. The circumstances of her life were hard yet she found a way to keep on dreaming. After the shooting in charleston, i needed to be a part of the solution, to find a way to keep on dreaming like my mother did. I needed to channel my pain and action. I became part of this group every Town Survivor Network joining my voice with others who have experienced the same incomprehensible grief. On sunday, when i learned that 49 people were killed at a club in orlando and 53 more were injured making it the largest mass shooting in the modern u. S. History, i turned off the. I did not participate in social media because my heart could not take it, hearing about that, knowing that families were getting ready to feel the same kind of pain that all the people in charleston, especially the nine families were feeling. I was overcome with sadness and anger. I was full of heartbreak for the victims and their families whose lives are forever changed physically and emotionally by the sheer horror of that day. I am still learning how to walk this walk of action and advocacy i must profess i dont know all the things, i dont know all of our nations gun laws point by point but i do know that the unspeakable grief that accompanies the death of a loved one killed by gun violence is something that stays in your heart. I know that there is more that we all can do, we must do, to prevent the next tragedy. And i know that america is with us. In less than a week since they are land a tragedy, more than 19,000 americans have called their members of congress and more than 70,000 people have signed petitions demanding our elected leaders do more. As our communities come together to remember the lives taken in the horrific events that took place in charleston South Carolina one year ago and the lives taken and the tragedies that have occurred in orlando on sunday and more than 90 americans are killed every day by gun violence and hundreds more are injured. I plead with you, i plead with you with everything that i have in my heart, i ask everyone to join me in this walk to disarm hate and for those of you watching this i urge you to text this sunday 264433. Together america, together senators, everybody, we can build a safe future and spare other communities from experiencing tragedy by someone who should never have had out zest to a gun. Thank you. Senator murphy. We all wish that overflowing grief that you hear from sharon and from tina was isolated but it happens every day. 80 times across this nation someones life is cut short by a gun in every day there are 80 families who live through that same and calculable indescribable pain. This weekend 50 families are figuring out how to reorder their lives as their beautiful son or daughter or sister or brother is no longer with them just because they wanted to go to a nightclub and have fun celebrating with their friends and their community. How on earth does the state of the with the largest mass shooting in history of this nation to the United States senate ignore us in the week following . That is the question that we all ask ourselves when we got here on monday and that is the reason why we took the floor yesterday at 11 20 and held it for 15 hours demanding that this week the senate take up votes on commonsense measures to make sure the terrorists and wouldbe killers cant get their hands on firearms. Common sense consensus measures supported by 90 of the american public. Members behind me were there on the floor, 40 Democratic Senators joining together to make this passionate case senator blumenthal and senator booker there with me for the duration of the 15 hours. My legs are a little bit rubbery but my heart is strong this morning because i know that we made a difference yesterday and i know that we galvanized support all across this country. 10,000 people called our office individual yesterday in every state in the nation offering their support and i know that we were given a chance because senator Dianne Feinstein for years has made it a priority to make sure that those who are expected to terrorism cannot get their hands on a deadly weapon. She will tell you had her amendment been in effect we wouldnt be sitting here today talking about orlando. I thank her for giving us the power to bring that issue to the floor yesterday. So we have a number of members who want to speak so im glad that we are on a path forward to get votes on these two amendments and we will see where members come down. We will see if republican members can vote with the nra, vote against 90 of their constituents who want paris to be kept from buying guns and return home and the victims of gun violence and the people who care about this issue deeply tell them that they have done their job. We will see that when we started this week we didnt know whether we were going to have any debate or in a boat. Now we believe we are on a path to get votes on the record and thats a start. Again i want to thank senator booker and senator Blumenthal Center baldwin senator markey and senator schumer for being down on the floor yesterday. I didnt have to have to do as much talking as i normally have to do because i had all of these men and women by my side and with that i will turned over to senator corker from new jersey. I want to thank again senator murphy who showed a level of courage and grit which is so sorely needed in the United States senate. I want to thank the victims who are hard not to get emotional about who are here right now and usually i get very excited when americans come together and very uplifted when you have Diverse People coming together, blacks, whites, latinos christians and jewish. When you see folks come together for a passionate purpose thats an exciting thing but this is an agonizing affiliation represented by these women. These are people who are bound by brutality and bloodshed tied together by tragedy. And their numbers are growing every day and every hour. Victims of gun violence of savagery that is preventable. And they are not intend to wait on change. I have to make something happen. The senators right, that old thing i learned when i washington, change does not come from washington, it comes to washington by people demanding it happened, people saying enough is enough. No more business as usual. Right now, what we need is a whole bunch of democrats that got together yesterday and they wont solve gun violence in america but it certainly will make it better. Unknown and suspected terrorist who can even get a plane, we have legislation that will make sure that person cant go out and buy a gun. Its not radical. This legislation is pending now. It is up to us to change the hearts and minds of the people who are planning on voting against it. This is a fight that should not only belong to the victims of gun violence. This is americas fight. Do what our country said it would do when we founded this nation. I wish we were hanging out doing something social but last night they stood with me and 40 of our colleagues but he is not new to this. He has been a champion as a senator, he was a champion as one of top Legal Officers in our nation and he fights this fight every day. I want to bring up my friend and colleague and hero from last night, senator blumenthal. Let me just say, if you have to spend 15 hours on the senate floor, i wanted to be there is no better cause then stopping gun violence. The most difficult question i am asked, having spent the better part of 25 years years on this issue is what has changed . Answer is that americans have changed. Gun violence cannot only be prevented but must be prevented. It is linked not only to hatred and bigotry and random anger and sometimes severe Mental Illness but also to terrorism. The simple fact is, people pledging allegiance to violent extremists abroad, whatever label you want to use for them they are now committing acts of terror. Ask of terror and hatred in nightclubs and churches and schools, places that have been assumed to be safe for all whole history. No places safe from in america from hatred and terrorism. We must stop them from intimidating people and we have to stop acts of terror and hatred at home. These stories are worth a thousand of our words. Americans. Part of this is what we did on the senate floor yesterday, giving it a voice to people who are willing to take a stand. When i came to the senate, almost six years ago the idea of having 40 of our colleagues on the senate floor and clearly and emphatically take this kind of stand wouldve been difficult. It happened yesterday. It happened without anybody twisting arms. They volunteered. It was an outpouring of people ready to help. One last point, america wants the senate to change washington. Americans want change. They want us to be changemakers. And change agents. This issue presents an opportunity and an obligation to show america we can change. Thats what we are going to do. We are going to change the dynamic and stand up to the nra and the opponents of gun violence. People who are too dangerous to board a plane are too dangerous to buy a gun. To prevent them from buying guns and other dangerous people from having access to firearms there needs to be background checks. Someone who is aiding or engaging in terrorist activity should be too dangerous to buy a gun. There is due process. Means to verify them to remove that name from a list and the background check should be seen as a means to enforce those laws and existing laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Someone who has been a model for me on all of these laws including stopping the spread of assault weapons, which should be another priority, these 22 measures are just a start, we need to stop the spread of assault weapons and better protect survivors of Domestic Violence and remove the unique community and ban straw purchases and a legal trafficking. All these measures follow these. They are a start. Dianne feinstein has been at the forefront of this effort. She has been a model for me when i was attorney general in advocating common and sensible measures. She is now continued to be the force, not just as a strong voice, but a great intellect and symbol of courage. I am really honored to be with her today and to join in the amendment that she has offered. Thank you for your exaggerated, about my intellect. I appreciate that. I want to thank those who did the 15 hours on the floor yesterday. Anyone who watched saw the emotion and saw the commitment and also, i hope, saw the harm that has been done to this great nation. It would be one thing if i thought that it was going downhill. I dont. Im on the Intelligence Committee. This morning john brennan in an open hearing said he would anticipate that there will be more attacks by isil as they lose territory in iraq they become more violent. In fact, what we see in this latest attack is the homegrown lone wolf and the enormous damage he did to literally what are hundreds of lives. Many dead, many seriously wounded, many families affected for the rest of their life. Our witnesses today, i think their courage and un stamina and determination to stand up and say america, do something. What i have tried to do is just that. The bill that we would propose, we have developed with the attorney general. They called yesterday afternoon and said they would support it and last night the chief of staff called to say the white house would support it. It gives me some heart that we may have some unity coming together to say terrorist and potential terrorists should not be able to buy a gun. Thats what this bill does. A dozen away that allows the Justice Department to be essentially paying if somebody goes to buy a gun on these list. Justice could prohibit the sale of that weapon. It would cover this latest shooter. It does have a good appeal process and ive started this a long, long time ago. I was mayor of San Francisco and that was a long time ago. The assault weapon legislation that was sponsored here and was passed into law and lasted for ten years. I believe it began to dry up the supply of assault weapons. It went out of effects. We couldnt get it back in. There we are today with the situation that are more sophisticated and gun shows where people can buy one of these with no questions asked, no background check and the time has come, mr. And mrs. America the time has come to do something about it. This is just one piece about it. This should be the easiest piece because this deals with the punch and chill potential terrorist. This is not a safer world than when we began. It is a much more dangerous world. My hope is that when this comes up for a vote and i think it will be next tuesday, we will have the votes to defeat it. I just cant tell you how strongly i feel about being able to stand with this group of senators, particularly our young representatives who were willing to go down there and spend 15 hours on the floor of the United States senate. Mr. And mrs. California, please hear us. We are trying to do the right thing. Now i would like to introduce a relative newcomer but someone who cares deeply and represents a great state and that a senator baldwin. I have seldom been at a press conference where i have seen so many in the audience and the media wiping away tears. And holding back tears. It bears repeating that in the wake of orlando and all of these horrific tragedies that our country has witnessed, we routinely ask for moments of silence. We tell victims that they are in our thoughts and prayers. Prayers are important reverend, prayers are important. They are not enough. It is time to disarm hate as i woke to the news on sunday of the worst gun attack in recent history by a u. S. Citizen inspired by terrorist groups, filled with hate had legally purchased a weapon of war and targeted the Lgbt Community at a gay bar on latin night, i asked myself how many more times do we have to wake up to news like this before we act i was so proud to join my colleagues yesterday on the floor. First time i was on the floor i had the opportunity to read the names of the 49 victims in orlando, tell a little a little bit, as much as we could collect quickly on their lives, and its so vital that we never forget. I want to stress that this was a hate crime. What is a hate crime . Its a crime. Its a crime in which the victims are targeted based on certain characteristics. In this case lgbt americans, latino americans and its meant not only to kill or gravely harm its victims but to terrorize all those who share those characteristics, who who belong to that community. I attended a vigil, a candlelight vigil that was called together by people whose hearts were broken by this. As a member of the Lgbt Community and surrounded by many other lgbt, i was surrounded by fear. I think back to Matthew Shepard after whom the hate crime legislation, signed by president obama in 2009 was named, and seeing young members of the Lgbt Community with their whole life ahead of them, wanting to live out and proud, wondering whether doing so would subject them to bullying, discrimination or violence. I see that again. And so, as we join to disarm hate, i want to say that i am so appreciative of senator murphys efforts efforts to make sure we get about the closing of the gun show loophole so every gun is subject to a background check and making sure that the fbi has the power to deny a weapon to someone who is on the terror watch list. There are many people who hate in america who wont necessarily be on a terror watch list. They might be inspired by his domesticate groups groups. I will also be offering amendment to the Civil Rights Division in their effort to both prevent and fully investigate and enforce the hate crime laws of this nation. I hope in light of all this tragedy that we have reached a moment where we have decided that our silence and our moments of silence that our thoughts and prayers are not enough. America is better than this and we need to pull together. We need to stand united and we cant let those who want to divide us when the day again. I am honored to call to the microphone, my colleague of many years even though he too is a relative newcomer to the United States senate, we served many years in the house of representatives. Ed markey of massachusetts was there on the floor time and time again last night. Thank you for your efforts. Senator markey. Thank you senator baldwin and thank you tina, thank you sharon thank you for being here and representing the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. We are at the critical juncture, we are at the juncture where we are about to have a showdown on the senate floor on the issue of gun control in our country. In 2001, 19 people hijacked plane and hijacked and killed the flight attendants and pilots. We passed law to prohibit tax cutters and knives and guns from going onto those planes. We passed laws ensuring that all cargo that goes on planes would be screened for explosives. We made sure it would never happen again. This killer said that the start of brothers from boston were models for him. We know, unfortunately, that what they did in boston, they are models for too many people. We have a chance to do something. We have a chance to have a showdown on the senate floor. The nra has a viselike grip on the republican party. The nra has a vice like grip on the agenda of the leader of their party, donald trump. Donald trump said that he wants to make America Great again, but he doesnt not want to make america safe again. People not to fear that we are going to have these kinds of horrific events that visit cities and towns all across our country. Donald trump says that he has the ability to talk tough to terrorists but he does not have the courage to talk tough to the nra. That is the challenge for the republican party. What senator murphy did by leading this 15 hour debate on the senate floor was to focus the American People on this issue. Senator blumenthal, senator booker, everyone here has tried to help so that we can bring this issue to the American People so they can no whose side each party is on the nra is not relevant anymore in the u. S. Politics. Thats what all of us tried to do, was to force the vote, to force the debate. I have had an amendment to add just 10 million a year to the cdc to do research on gun violence. They wont even allow that to go in. We dont need Research Whether someone on a terror watch list should be able to purchase a weapon. We dont need research to know that someone shouldnt be able to go on instagram and by a gun. We know we dont need research on that. Thats where we are. Thats what senator murphy and the others have done. They have set up the showdown. This showdown is one that is the beginning of a long fight. I think weve reached the tipping point. I think its all come together. Everyone realize that the terrace we need to fear is not on the streets of mogul or falluja, its on the streets of the United States. They will have guns unless we pass laws. This is, for me, such a powerful moment. People go through sadness, but i think its anger that the American People feel. They feel and inability to do something about it. Years ago, Chuck Schumer led the fight to ban assault weapons. He was the leader in the house of representatives. He was the person responsible for that becoming a law in the United States. So, to have him still here giving the leadership, the passion and the wisdom that will be necessary for us to make very important, i give you the great senator. I want to thank all of my colleagues for their moving eloquence. I particularly want to thank senator murphy, booker and blumenthal. They they took the anguish of america and turned it into a spotlight that is now focused on the senate. Every senator is now going to have to say whether they are for terrorist getting gun or against terrorists getting guns. Theres no if and or butts about it. I think them for their inspiration and their great work, amazing job. Tammys reading of the names was so touching to me, i literally had a lump in my throat watching it. I want to thank our victims who are here in the familys, you know what the bible tells us, one terrible, irrational tragedy befalls you, the natural reaction is to turn in on yourself and be upset and angry. These Beautiful People so many others like them are lighting a candle. Theyre trying to make sure that the evil that happened to them is not repeated. Now, the reason we are going to win this fight is because of the people behind us in the thousands unfortunately. Sooner or later we know we are going to win this fight. We have all had more than enough gun violence, enough is enough. The world has changed. Maybe 20 years ago passing a law that said this was a good thing to do but now that we have isis and the lone wolves, it is essential. When are they going to learn, our republican colleagues that the world has changed and there are loan wolves inspired by isis who can get guns who are going to rip america apart until we get something done. Our republican colleagues are feeling the heat for the first time. Instead of just saying theyre against it, they come up with these proposals that are wolf in sheeps clothing. Ive read read in some of the press that theres a democratic proposal and a republican proposal. Thats bunk. You know what the republican proposal said, it says that if the fbi thinks your terrace, they have three days to go to court and get an adjudication and if not, you can get a gun. Every terrace will get a gun if the fbi has that evidence, they wouldve arrested the person to begin with. Its a fake. Its a way for them to say theyre doing something when theyre doing nothing. Its a way for them to continue without changing the way it is. This idea that each terrace that before they can be denied a gun has a court case in a has to be done in three days, who would think that makes any sense. No one except a handful of our colleagues. Let me say one other thing, in addition to the problem, it forces the government to rebuild the terror watch list and every person has to go to court before they can go on. We will be here for decades do you know who either draft these proposals or has to give the stamp of approval, the nra. We are here to say we need both measures we need senator feinsteins measure which which says terrace can get a gun but we also have to close the gun show loophole and the idea that anyone can buy on check no questions needs to stop. It goes handinhand with saying terrace cant buy a gun and thats why we are pushing both amendments today. One more word, my Dear Colleague eddie markey mentioned donald trump. Donald trump, like the republicans, hes talking hes talking the talk but hes not walking the walk. Hes going to meet with the nra. Our republican colleagues have been doing that for decades. Whats he going to come out saying . The nra and i agree . Terrorists shouldnt have guns. Then they do nothing about it or fight it. They have false proposals like have done, the nra once support of smokescreens proposals so they are not going to do anything. The American People wont stand for a group that supports terrace over the health and safety of the country. Will donald trump realize that. The only way donald trump can prove he seriously wants to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists is to givens the nra to support senator feinsteins bill and my bill along with senator murphy and feinstein booker. If he feels they should have guns, all they have to do is issue a two sentence statement. He needs to say he supports the bill that keeps guns out of the hands of terrorists and that he supports the murphy, booker, blumenthal bill. Senator blumenthal put it well, we have a whole lot of issue including an assault weapons ban. We are the authors of that bill. We believe in it. These are the first few things were doing but were not stopping there. For the first time, a few of our colleagues are saying we ought to do something. Whether they have the courage to buck the nra and do something instead of hiding behind these wolf in sheeps clothing proposals, we will see. At least they are feeling the heat and the heat is on them and on them in a way that it has been on them before, unfortunately, because we have 49 more people like these two fine women and many more every day. We are going to try to pass these bills let me say this, first the bill that we have proposed has protections and has an appeal. The difference between that bill is that those two are intended to never deny a gun or almost never. Even to a terrace. Thank you very much everybody. On thursday president obama and vp biden met with the families of the victims of their orlando mass shooting. The president and Vice President visited a makeshift memorial set up at the Phillips Center in orlando. Following protocol, mr. Obama and mr. Biden traveled separately on air force one and air force two. [no audio] coming up on cspan2, a hearing on u. S. Efforts to fight International Crime organizations. Its the annual congressional correspondence award dinner. Later Senate Leaders make remarks on senator chris miller these debate on gun control. After that, senator ted ted cruz on the orlando mass shooting. Cspans washington washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up friday morning executive director emeritus of gun owners of america will be on to discuss his groups mission on new gun control standards. Also the Human Rights Campaign representative will be on and theyll talk about the orlando nightclub shooting and what concerns his organization has with concerns of attacks on the gay community. Afghan about sir for the u. S. Will join us and share his perspective on the shooting of orlando, the future of afghanistan in the war against the taliban. Be sure to watch washington journal beginning live at eastern seven a. M. Friday the network of enlightened Women Organization hosted annual conservative conference. You can see the event starting at 115 eastern on cspan2. On cspan, the Democratic National committee holds its hearing in phoenix. The head of the Party Convention in philadelphia. With the political primary season over, the the road to the white house takes you to this summers political convention. Watch the Convention Starting july 18 with live coverage from cleveland. We will be going into the conventional matter what happens and i think we will go in so strong. Watch the Democratic National Convention Starting july 25 with live coverage from philadelphia. Lets go forward and win them nomination. And then we take our fight for social economic, Racial Injustice to philadelphia. Every minute of the republican Democratic National convention on cspan, cspan radio and cspan. Org. Next, hearing on the threat of transnational organized crime to the u. S. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard from William Brownfield. This is one hour 15 minutes. [no audio] Relations Committee will come to order. This morning we look at how we are moving beyond the warned drug and dealing with organize crime and what strategies can be effective in combating the threat. And why Illegal Drugs and crime are still devastating communities on both sides of the border. Its not how clear how successful the investments have been in eradicating supply and production. The bottom line is this, where the rule of law is weak or nonexistent, criminal organizations will prosper and engaging corruption. In 2011 they issued a strategy to combat organized crime. This was an ambitious aspirational strategy that marked an evolution in thinking. Now nearly five years later, we need to ask, what is working and what is not so we can get this right moving forward. Our witness today is ambassador bill brumfield was a strategic thinker with long practical experience. We welcome him and look forward to his testimony in our discussion. With that i turned to our Ranking Member, our distinguished Ranking Member been carted. Thank you mr. Chairman and thank you for convening this hearing on transnational crime. The world is changed and so has transnational organized crime. I think its important for us to have an update about where we are on the organized crime strategy. Its been there for a while. Is it working . Do we need to do more. We need an update and i hope today secondary brown felt, you will share with us how we are dealing in regard to that strategy. Organized transnational crime, we have seen many of the result of that. Weve had hearings on trafficking, on human beings, on wildlife, on weapons, on drugs, weve seen the transnational organized crimes against us, particularly on cyber. We are proud of the work being done in my own state of maryland on Cyber Security dealing with the effects of transnational crime, the work at fort meade where we have our site security command Many Private Companies working in my state with regard to these issues. The connection between government corruption and transnational crime is pretty clear. When you take a look at how transnational crime spreads, you find areas in which there is corruption and in which they can deal with their expansion of their own activities. The human cost of this, we talk about the impacts of dealing with trans International Crime, but the impact of this, the trafficking of drugs in america, and in my state and every state in the nation we see Record Number of addiction. Its affecting our communities directly as well as the criminal elements and what they do. We have certainly seen that in the trafficking of migrants. In april 500 people died alone on one capsized traffic it vote. The numbers are astronomical. Just in the trafficking of refugees in 2015, it was a 5 billion enterprise. We need an equal response to it and i look forward to hearing from our witnesses. Thank you for your comments today. Our witnesses and ambassador William Brownfield and Law Enforcement affairs, we have had a long meeting last week to go through many aspects of this problem and i think him for being here today to share his knowledge and insight on how better to attack this. If you could keep your comments to about five minutes, that would be great. Without objection, your written written testimony will be entered into the record. With that, have at it. Thank you mr. Chairman and Ranking Member. Gentlemen, if i were were asked to describe the current strategic threat from transnational strategic crime i would mention too. First is our priority from the last century, drugs. We must today manage a strategic transition from cocaine to heroin. We have made great progress on cocaine. U. S. Consumption is down 50 but heroin use is exploding. Our International Challenge is to work the solution with the government of mexico, the source of most heroin in the United States. I can report we are working well together meshing our domestic plan with mexicos new heroin plan. We must not ignore cocaine. In two years, cocaine production in colombia has doubled. The u. S. Is the Traditional Market for colombian cocaine. Theyre focused on their Peace Process to include a fiftyyear Armed Conflict and we want to support that process and pursue a serious drug strategy for colombia and Central America and other nations. We need to address changes in our hemisphere. Afghanistan produces more than 80 of the heroine. Africa is a massive transit point for trafficking moving north south and east west chinese pharmaceutical industry produces much of the worlds dangerous new psychoactive substances and some old ones like that and all. The second and the greatest strategic challenge is that vast new field of organize criminal activity that is nor drugs nor terrorism. We call it transnational organized crime. It includes human smuggling and trafficking of persons and wildlife, arms trafficking, illegal, illegal mining and logging, cybercrime, intellectual property. They all share enablers. They require corruption to run the networks and moneylaundering to convert revenue into legitimize property. They prey on weak governing institutions and benefit from poverty, poor education and lack of jobs. In the 21st century, it may be the greatest lawenforcement threat to confront the United States. We have learned lessons since first attacking the drug crisis of the 21st century and we have changed our tactics accordingly. One lesson is that many of the techniques and technologies developed over 40 years. Police operations, rests, while important cannot alone. Long progress means stronger enforcement and rule of law institutions whether through training, education, equipment or technology. Our partner institutions are not just the police. They are also investigators, judges and correction officials. We must protect the architecture and other organizations, the cooperations and coordination mechanisms that permit governments and Law Enforcement to Work Together to address transnational organized crime. Mr. Chairman ive been in this business more than 37 years. I take the long view to solving our National Security challenges when i joined the service in 1979, the most, the most sophisticated tools available to Law Enforcement working an International Case with the telephone and rolodex file. We have come along long way since then but we have a long way to go still. Thank you and i think the members of my committee and i look forward to your questions and comment. Thank you very much for your testimony in the time youve spent on this and 37 years and for the meetings we have had. I want to make sure people heard fully what you had to say. 90 of the heroin that comes into the United States is not just coming from mexico. It is produced in mexico. Is that correct . That is a good rough estimate mr. Chairman. So is not a situation of having a border where things would naturally migrate through, as actually being produced there. I think the other point wanted to make that you got out was that you were working closely with the Mexican Government to try to deal with this issue and you feel like you have a good partner in that regard. Is that correct . Yes. What is it that specifically causing 90 of the heroin that americans are consuming to be produced in mexico question and. Mr. Chairman, thats a very good question. I will offer you two, three, maybe even for elements of an answer. One part of the answer is that the same mexican Trafficking Organizations or cartels that, for the last 20 years or so have been moving the product from south america, mostly cocaine, through Central America and into the United States discovered, as the cocaine demand reduced in the United States that they could replace much of that through heroin and made a systematic effort to build that market. It was mexican organizations building that market. They discovered that having a vertically integrated system which is to say controlling the entire process from cultivation through laboratories that converted opium poppy into heroin to the transport and Logistics Network and eventually than the revenue, the moneylaundering Networks Work to their advantage. Third, you have geography which is to say mexico is a lot closer to the United States then is afghanistan and forth, in a sense, mexico became but thanks to some serious efforts by the colombian government, they have dramatically reduced in the u. S. Market. So whats happening in mexico is not like any business enterprise. They have called this dramatically increase just like any other, this is obviously illegitimate. They are adopting the same principles. Is that correct . That is correct really like to say often that Drug Trafficking organizations are criminal and vicious but they are not stupid. They are very good businessman. Migrate staff had some comments about some of the positive things that were happening in colombia. However, i declined to say those in my opening, because of what you just said and that is a 50 increase is occurring in colombia. What is driving driving that. After all the years of effort, after positive effort, what is driving that increase . Actually, i might even the jeer figure up to closer to 100 over the last two, going on three years. I think think it is driven by several factors. One, and to be blunt and honest is the focus of attention of the colombian government on their Peace Process. To some extent, a willingness or desire not to take steps that would complicate that Peace Process. The Guerrilla Movement is today, one of the worlds leading drug Drug Trafficking organizations. Second, the government of columbia no longer has the same Eradication Program that they had for the last 20 years or so. They have stopped all aerial ratifications and they have not replaced it with manual eradication. This is partly a decision but its also the cocoa growers having realized and discovered that certain zones in colombia would not be sprayed. Zones in indigenous reserves or other areas, the net effect of that is this explosion. Is this somewhat, not what we want to hear, i know know we have the president appear recently and all of us were glad to see him and want to continue the partnership that we had, but is this in some way and accommodation that in order to end up in a more peaceful situation that you see occurring . Mr. Chairman, i think thats part of it but thats too simple an answer and i want to give complete credit to the government of government who i admire and enormously and has had great courage in terms of what they are doing, but i do think we have to acknowledge that as the Peace Process and negotiations have developed over the last four years, one part of the policy that has not been maintained at the previous level is counter narcotics and eradication. I want to move onto the next person out of respect for everyone on the committee. On the next round i want to focus on the tremendous increase in production in afghanistan and the highly lucrative production of sentinel that is occurring in china that is so much easier to do, so much cheaper to make and yet so much more lucrative. Is probably our next challenge as a nation. I want to follow up on your point. We appreciate your service. We know the work that you did in colombia and we appreciate that very much. We need to see how we can deal with a more holistic approach of drugs coming into america. I just want to concentrate one minute on heroin because ive been throughout my state and i have seen the impact of heroin addiction in maryland and its every part of my state. There is no part of maryland that has been a meat immune. No community has been spared. My understanding is this has been true throughout america and this is impacting all of our communities. I am pleased to hear your report that from the governmental sector, you are confident that our relationship with mexico is productive and that we are working on that issue but you also acknowledged a hundred increase in the production in mexico. Clearly, we have to be more effective in our policies in mexico to stop the production. There are a lot of other issues. We need a multiple approach but from your experiences in colombia i would hope that we would have a more aggressive expectations on the source of production in mexico. Thats a very fair hope on your part senator. I want to feed into that hole. I am optimistic, but by the same token, ive been in this business long enough to know that you have an impact, you have to think in terms of years, not in terms of months. I would use colombia as an example. Until the year 2007, no one in this institution of the United States congress would have been prepared to say we are making serious impacts on cocaine production in colombia. By 2007, 2008, after the most Aggressive Program we began to see the impact. I lay that out as a concern as we deal with mexico. As we are working with mexico, we have to remember we have our own part to play in this and its a serious part. The office of the National Drug control policy director has developed a heroin use objective plan and the objective is to reduce the demand for the product in the United States. This has been very good about Law Enforcement efforts focused on attacking and taking down laboratories. What we have now is going after the tens if not thousands of acres in mexico that are currently under cultivation for opium poppy. Thats the challenge of what im trying to work with the government. Obviously thats extremely important and we want to help anyway we can. Could you just share with us, a better better understanding of the criminal elements that are bringing heroin into the United States. Its relationship to traffickers in regard to humans. Are we talking about Mexican Cartel type operations or are we talking about American Connections or are we talking about other parts of our hemisphere or outside of our hemisphere that are involved in these syndicates that are effectively bringing the drugs or people into the United States . I will offer you my views and obviously u. S. Law enforcement has the right to correct, adjust or finetune anything you are about to hear from me. First, it is my opinion that the mexican Drug Trafficking organization have developed, in the last ten or 15 years in a way that basically sub planted the colombian Drug Trafficking organization which dominated the movement of product, particularly cocaine from south america to the United States. They are, overwhelmingly mexican organizations that are comprised of mexicans. Do they also take advantage of other forms of trafficking . Yes, they do, whether that is trafficking in person or firearms, whether its trafficking in contraband or other forms. The usual approaches to manage the process from within mexico and get the product across the United States border. That is done by the organizations themselves and their personnel. Once they have delivered, to the ultimate destination, in the United States, by which i mean the city, at that point that have a local partner in that partner may or may not be mexico it may be an allamerican gang, it may be a mix, but that is the point. As. As they shift from transportation and wholesale into retail where the product then moves from the criminal organization, the Mexican Cartel to some other american version. Just so i understand, you are confident that the leadership in mexico fully understands this and is working with us in order to root out these criminal elements within mexico . I am senator, although i do say that this has taken a number of years. The reason is that it is a change of perspective of mexico to how they address these. We have a harrowing crisis in the United States. In because of geography, they were located in between the producer states further down to the south in south america. The consumer states located to the north in the United States or in canada or western europe. As it shifted from cocaine to harrowing, they have had to confront the reality that the entire problem is centered there. It has taken time, i believe were moving in the right direction continue to offer optimism with a careful dose of please dont hold me to resolve this problem by friday standard. I will follow up on the second round. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chairman. I represent the state of georgia, the capital of which is atlanta which is ground zero for mexican drugs coming into the United States. That is where comes to get distributed. My impression is that as an operational control of the border between the United States and mexico in the land therein is controlled by the mexican drug cartel. Am i right . Youre talking to a native texan. I wouldnt go that far. I would say however on the south side of the border there is a tremendous amount of influence including several of the major Mexican Border cities. The increase in the trafficking is because of the increased demand, is that not right . It is right but you would not have nearly the amount of harrowing crossing the border if there were not demand, although although i would suggest to you that much of this demand was artificial which is to say the original demand was caused by overprescribing pain opioids is pain medication which developed some demand and then the cartel substituted what you had to do with the hit to get a prescription drug. They then created a market for heroin. Do you think the Human Trafficking in the Drug Trafficking in the United States are tied to each other . I do in very many instances. The human traffickers are used to give the drugs in the United States and over the border. I do believe that. How much cooperation are we getting from the Mexican Government to try to stop . I believe we get good cooperation on a casebycase basis and in specific locations. I believe across the board its good with mexican authorities along the border i think theyre so skilled and so wellinformed that they can identify and spot the weak points so that in a sense, even if we had 99. 9 of the tightly controlled border they would find that 110th of 1 . Thats the problem. Thats the challenge that we are dealing with. I get the impression that the enforcement, the cooperation, the cooperation that foreign governments give us is less than helpful. Is that correct . It depends on the country but i would not disagree that in a lot of cases there is a reluctance to acknowledge that they have a trafficking in persons problem. Theyve done a great job on the Human Trafficking issue which is a real tragedy and i go back to my seated george in atlanta in particular. We are ground zero for a lot of those places and they think theyre going going to be brought to america and then end up being sex slaves, Domestic Service it servants or whatever, i dont get the impression internationally or within this hemisphere that we get the cooperations we should to stop Human Trafficking. It appears to be growing rather than diminishing. I dont disagree with that. Youre going to accuse me of pampering but im in a make one additional statement. I have signed a memorandum of understanding and i signed at the first time about two years ago. Its called the Atlanta Police department and they have a division that does hate crimes as well as Crimes Involving persons which are usually sexual or genderbased crimes and they are the best trainers that we have anywhere in the world for many of the reasons that you yourself have just laid out. Part of the challenge and therefore part of the solution is how we can project the way we deal with these problems here in the United States, in a realworld way with police that are overseas in countries that have the same problem. Dont ever apologize, we do it all time. On the subjects, you and ii dont weve ever met so i want to thank you for teeing up what was going to be my last comment in terms of Human Trafficking and drugs are the enablers in the United States. It can be the best mechanism that we can do to stop this distribution. Thats my impression. You agree . I do agree. In fact ive tried to set as often as i can. We have signed 110 memorandum of understanding with state and local lawenforcement institutions throughout the country. My messages this is not just in our interest but it is in their interest because as they engage overseas in Training Missions they are developing the contacts with form police, they are developing the intelligence sources that can in turn be played back to help them do their job on the streets of america cities and communities, whether its gangs or Trafficking Organizations or others that are involved in international transnational organized crime. On that point, Law Enforcement, particularly in the southeastern United States has felt such a database but the tracking of these gang members is becoming very traceable in a very instantaneous report through a database thats been assembled and its really helping us begin to get our arms around this. I appreciate you bringing this up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you mr. Secretary for your service. In 2011 the administration released a strategy on combating organized crime with a stated end goal of reducing, from a National Security threatto a manageable look safety problem. The strategy outlined five key objectives and identifies five objectives of the strategy. Protecting u. S. Citizens and interest, supporting, protecting the u. S. Financial system from exploitation, targeting criminal organizations that pose a threat to u. S. Organization in building multinational operation. In your testimony, however, you noted that iml has recalibrated its work and focus on two mutually supported objectives, helping them build and reform an institution that improves the capacity of their system and improving the architecture necessary to prevent corruption in lawenforcement. Does that represent a strategic shift by the administration . I know you noted that you are not ready to declare victory, but did circumstances for ten defeat . I would like to understand what the recalibration means for you u. S. Policy. Has our end goal changed on the ways to achieve it . Senator, here is how i would answer that perfectly legitimate question. I would say. I only ask for perfectly legitimate. [laughter] i would say that iml is part of a larger group of institutions. We obviously have the federal Law Enforcement organizations. We have the department of justice and homeland security. We have those that are involved in the counterterrorism efforts as well. We therefore have a piece of the National Strategy on transnational organized crime. This is about the time, you may vaguely recall since you chaired the hearing that foolishly recommended eventually my confirmation in this position that this was about the time i came into this position. My decision at that time was, as iml, let us not do all of this strategy, let us pick those elements where we have the greatest ability to influence in a positive way. We picked Institution Building because in a sense, its what we do across the board around the world in developing the global architecture which is a code for the convention of the international agreements, the International Organizations and mechanisms that allow governments to coordinate and cooperate around the world. We are actually working in other issues as well but my guidance to my people five years ago was lets pick those areas where we can have the most impact and were other parts of the United States government would not actually be doing as much. I asked the question and i want to follow up with a Different Party your testimony because certainly protecting the u. S. Financial system from exploitation, and certainly targeting Transnational Criminal Networks that pose a threat to you would be essential elements of any such plan that we would want to pursue so the two stated goals that you described that you had narrowed it down to may help that but im not sure it directly does let me ask you this. You say iml support for Capacity Building is now, directed by the request of our international partners. Host governments and their citizens, it cant be driven by the desire of the United States or other donors. Again it may be more than semantics, but where you say this cant be driven by the desire of the United States, i absolutely think it should be driven by pursuing our own National Security interests and projecting our own valleys. No one else is going to do that for us. So i asked these questions because many of us here are trying to give this some whatever future Administration Needs to accomplish the goals that they say they have set. I hope the administration has not reset goals to only work within the confines of relationships that arent adversarial. What happens in many countries, certainly there are several in the 90 or so that fall within imls orbit for others are in control but want to help because it would interfere with their profit taken are profiting or other personal interests. Are we seeing ourselves then as barred from working with other institutions in those countries that could move toward creating the type of systems that we would want to see . Senator i think in a sense you and i are reaching the same conclusion but were sang in different ways. Of course we want to cooperate with those governments and in those countries that represent the greatest transnational organized crime threat to the United States of america. My point in my statement was, if we do not have buyin or genuine commitment by the host government, we probably are not going to succeed. That is one of those lessons i have learned over the last 37 years. Now we certainly could encourage the buyin, we can nudge the buyin and we can try to direct and guide the buyin, but i have, if you recall, i had the dubious pleasure of being the United States investor for three years to a country whose government was determined to have an adversarial relationship with us. I will not identified other than to say its capital is located in caracas. I could not have delivered one single Successful Program in terms of institutional building in those three years, in that country because the government would not cooperate. Thats the point im trying to make. With some country our strategy has to be a periphery strategy, what can we do around the edges to address those issues that represent a threat to the United States. What we want to do his work with the government with its commitment and buyin for these programs so they themselves are supporting what we are trying to accomplish, what what we are putting resources into and what we are doing the training and capacity of. In countries like venezuela and others where they are operating in a way for which there is significant operations of transnational crime, then we must find other ways, if we cannot induce them to participate and have them institutionally decide to move in a direction that is both good for their people and other ways to pursue actions that will get the map. I look forward to working with the chair. Otherwise we authorize countries in which we are undermine in our overall goal. I appreciate that. As a matter fact i would say based on my last trip to venezuela that took place not long ago, i cant imagine anything constructive that they would be willing to work with us on under the existing government. I agree with you. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chair, sec. Brownfield. I want to ask you some questions about cyber and i make it to one about fennel. When we talk about cyber, so so often in this body, and this committee we so often talk about it as us date, they come from state actors. Im intrigued by your position at the state, talk talk to us a little bit about the cyber activities you see from criminal organizations rather than direct state. What is the magnitude of this threat. What are the trends in terms of cyber activity that we need to be aware of . I think you verity put your finger on the three areas were cyber, and misuse or unlawful use of the cyber constitutes a to the United States. One is state to state. It is a matter of intelligence for all intensive purposes. Either intelligence collection or manipulation. The second is terrorist which is connected to, but we have treated it as a different issue from the rest of transnational organized crime. That is the the use of cyber for the purpose of supporting, in some way shape or form terrorist activities and terrorist operations. The third is peter seminal activity which is to say that the use of cyber for the purpose of stealing or in some way illegally enriching oneself or ones organization, and my suggestion at the end of my oral statement was, as we look at transnational organized crime into the 21st century, we had better be careful because as we make progress on other elements we may discover that it winds up being the greatest, not just lawenforcement but even security challenge to the United States of america. That is the challenge that we have before us. The challenge that i have is dealing with two different communities as well is my own kind of Law Enforcement and criminal Justice Community and figure how we can mutually support or borrow from one another in terms of technologies, techniques and systems that we have developed for dealing with these issues. They are similar but they are different. As you well no, based upon other committees that you sit on, if you are working and intelligence issue or a terrorism issue, you you are not necessarily thinking about developing a case or prosecution in a court of law. If you are dealing in my area of criminal justice, that that is exactly what youre dealing with. Then the question is, how much can we borrow from one another for four we contaminated the product. Either we have contaminated the product or they have can tame an 80 hours. Those are the source of challenges that i am dealing with every day on the matter of cyber. You mention in your written testimony, the council for Cyber Security provides a platform for increased cooperation in cyber crime investigations. Is the United States actively engaged without counsel or similar multinational efforts to specifically focus on cooperation . Senator, we have adopted the convention or the council of europe. We did it not because we are members of the council of europe or that we were a european nation, we did it because as we looked at the entire International Convention on the matter of cyber crime, about five or ten years ago we thought this was the best product out there. Our view was, rather than reinvent the wheel, rather than creating Something Else from scratch and bringing in 196 different governments, all of whom will have their own particular point of focus or interest or concern, lets use the existing document. There are some additional disagree. The government of china tells me on a regular basis that they would like there to be a new International Convention on cybercrime. My own view is lets not throw away a working vehicle if in fact with minor modifications it can be made to run well for the next 50 or 60 years. One last question if i could. If you were to give, that was in or what international corporation, inside the u. S. Family if you were to grade the level of cooperation between the different agencies that touch this, the three kind of cyber areas whether it state to state or terrorism or preor criminal activity, youre talking dhs and state and other organizations. What would you say about the coordination. Thats an unfair question but ive been in this business long enough to im to be willing to take risks and say things im shouldnt say. We have probably moved from a c up to a b in the last five years. That is to say we are moving in the right direction. What we are pushing against our institutional, decades long institutional bias and approaches from specific communities. We are pushing against some degree of stone piping which is to say each organization has its own capability and are not particularly anxious to relinquish control and mix it in with somebody else. And, we are dealing with different desired outcomes or objectives. Its a tough challenge. This is not just, i know the easy answer would be to tell you or say you guys are just stupid and you cant figure it out, its a bit more than that. It is complicated. This is an issue that we are bringing together different communities that have traditionally, over the last three or four years not worked very closely together. In some ways, may offer one ground for help from the state department side, part of the solution is the embassies, at least those embassies in the middle of the particularly dangerous zones, there you have, if the United States government were in microcosmic, you would have a mini president with president ial authorities called the ambassador and when you boil it down to a Smaller Group of people, their they actually are able to work through some solutions which we then find, you flip them back to headquarters and we try to use the same solution here. Its actually one of the reasons why i have some optimism. Thank you. If you would mr. Brownfield, would you expand a little bit on whats occurring in china as you did in our office . China today, mr. Chairman, and this is not evil, this is not bad, china is perhaps the Worlds Largest pharmaceutical industry. I read a figure recently that there are 160,000 pharmaceutical companies in china. That struck me as high but i read the figure. Dont ask me where i read it but i can find it at some point if i have to. China confronts the situation where they have an incredible diverse, extremely energetic pharmaceutical industry that is not anxious to being regulated. The Chinese Government has moved in the right direction in a number of areas within the last six months they have moved to register 116 new psychoactive substances. This is the stuff that the pharmaceutical industries of the world can cough out at a rate of several hundred per year. Theres a registration rate in the United Nations system of somewhere between 20 and 30 per year. You can do the math in terms of what the impact in that regard is. One of the areas which we have consistently discussed with Chinese Government, is fun and all. We have noted that sentinel is produced in many different forms or analogs in china. They have moved to register or to control or require a license for the production of many forms of fennel, but not all. explain to those that are watching the difference in profitability. It is phenomenal. If you assume that the cost of producing fentanyl is not significantly different from the cost of producing heroin, and that is from a rough estimate perspective, thats not a bad assumption, mr. Chairman. A gram of heroin, gram of fentanyl would be about the same. A gram of fentanyl will produce a buzz, a high, whatever the 100 times as powerful as morphine and 40 to 50 times as powerful as heroin. So you just do the simple math. Add to that the fact that the transport of fentanyl can be as simple as taking an envelope and putting several thousand doses of fentanyl in the envelope, sealing it, putting stamps on and it putting it in the mail. The deliveris much simpler than the delivery for heroin. If you will, to explain to those that are listening to this, the size of an equivalent cocaine delivery, if you will, with the same potency, youre talking about half a shoebox. Yep. That is basically right. And i would say that a half a shoebox of fentanyl would provide you the same amount of buzz in purely psychic and drugrelated terms, as 25 full shoe bcss of heroin. Shoe boxes of heroin. Thats why an1 2 produces as much as a substantial. Like multikilo shipment of heroin, and fentanyl in and if office, properly used, doesnt kill you. Its still used in the American Medical Community under obviously tight control by an anesthesiologist. The problem is when the fentanyl is mixed with heroin and the user doesnt know he hat fentanyl or has miscalculated given the potency how much he can absorb, that is what it killing americans these days. I look forward to another round of questions where we can talk about authority you might like to have to do your job better, but with that, senator cardin. Just to underscore the point, in my meeting ive had in maryland, the fentanyl issue has been highlighted as the growing problem and where we get most of our overdose fatilities. So it is a very, very serious problem today in maryland and around the nation, and i dont think well have time today to understand this, but i think youre suggesting the supports, china the source, china, is one of the largest sources of what is coming into the United States. The overwhelming majority. Although much of it comes in via mexico the criminal elements bringing it into the yates are similar to heroin trafficking. They are and in fact more often than not theyre the exact same criminal organizations. But using as their source, rather than home grown poppy in mexico, theyre doing the synthetic drug in china. Yep. My view as of right now, as to how this is happening, is that the heroin itself is grown and produced in mexico. That which is consumed in the United States. The fentanyl is produced in china, much of it, probably most of it, is then processed, shipped, through mexico, writ is then put into the pipeline, the same pipeline that moves heroin into the United States. Here i hope your relationship with the mexican authorities are helping us with our capacities to try to stop that flow from china to mexico to the United States. Yep. And in fact, again, senator, the government of mexico has done has worked with us. Fentanyl is a controlled substance in mexico. It is not openly available so that it can only move through mexico through criminal means. So, we are starting from a positive starting point. We still obviously have a lot of work to do. So, you said in your oral presentation you have it in your written presentation, the direct relationship between corruption and transnational organizationed crime. You talk about governments that are corrupted at the senior level are rife for this type of activity, and you talked about the impact it has on within the country itself. So, i want to hone down just for a moment on the corruption issues we have in regards to heroin, or the synthetic drugs coming into the United States. The problems of mexico and the United States, can you just tell us the degree which corruption is entering into this and what we should be aware of . Sure. Senator, corruption is the great enabler for Drug Trafficking, quite frankly, for any kind of criminal trafficking in the world. To such an extent i would say if you did not have corruption, the Trafficking Networks would not work. They could not operate. And the corruption literally is corruption of individuals might be customs officials, border officials, they might by police or airport or seaport officials. In other words the corruption that allows them to move their physical product through the choke points, because any Trafficking Network will have chokepointses. Usually at borders. They might be at airport borders or at seaport borders but they have to modify the product through there as the move into Money Laundering they have to deal with bankers and others in Financial Institutions institutl be aware of what is moving through and willing to participate or look the other way. Those are corrupted officials. At the end of the day if a Trafficking Organization does not have a network of corrupted officials, it will not succeed. Do we see them in mexico . Yes, of course we do. As you well know, youll find them perhaps in different numbers but youll find them in the United States of america as well. Were not immune to corruption. And in countries with a lower income level than in the United States, the possibility of a multibillion dollar company, or cartel, offering a sum of money that might equal 100 years salary to a belief or customs official a Police Officer or customs official solely to look the other way is a tremendous inducement and why corruption in my opinion, has to be one of our highest priorities, as we address transnational organized crime, perhaps for the rest of this century. Let me just point out that secretary kerry recently announced aed a 70 million prom in regards to fighting corruption. Just urge, may need to look at Additional Resources here and i thank you very much for highlighting that point. Thank you mr. Chairman and thank you for being here today and your testimony. Wanted to follow up perhaps talking about mexico as well itch had the opportunity to visit with many in their government this past november. We talked a little bit about the initiative and some of the efforts taking place there. How effective do you think initiative has been since 2008, we spent 12. 5 billion in taxpayer money . I know theyre make something changes as well in mexico on their judicial reform. Cue make talk about the effectiveness of the initiative and how theyre changes in journal prosecutions will affect transnationallal Drug Trafficking . Nor, ill answer your question in two parts. First, the four socalled pillars the initiative and offer my views how successful we have been. One pillar was a modern 21st 21st century border between the u. S. And mexico. I think we made tremendous progress limit think they have equipment, capabilities, people, that hey did not have before. We reached a point now where were focusing much more effort on mexicos southern border, will belize, trying to manage the flow of people and drugs. Second its taking down criminal organizations. Theyve done a very good job of taking down the leadership of a number of cart els. A critic or skeptic would push back and say, yep, put they seem to be replaced. The cartels have not disappeared. Some have, some have not. I give them at least a passing grade. Third is building stronger institutions. I do believe that the federal government of mexico today has far better, more professional, better trained and equipped institutions than they did at the start of the initiative seven or eight years ago. The challenge now in my opinion is trying to take that capacity and expand it into the 32 states, well as the Federal District of mexico city, since mexico, like the United States, is a federal state. And finally, building stronger communities particularly near the northern their Northern Frontier with the United States. The truth is, the mexican economy is what drives that. When the economy is going well the communities are better. When the economy is down the communes are less strong. That is taking the four things we described at our initiatives and giving them a report card. Where are we across the board . First, the realities are changing. Were dealing today more with traps national organized crime. When we started the initiative we were focused largely on cocaine and to a lesser extent heroin. We have to adjust to reflect the reality. Second, we were dealing with a different Mexican Government. That government left office at the end of 2012. The nowsch not so new government has a right to determine its own priorities. Think we are making progress there but we have to continue to work that. At the end of the day, my assessment is, we are substantially better in our bilateral relationship with mexico today than we were at the start of the initiative, and that in and of itself gives good value to the United States of america. One concern i picked up on, particularly when it comes to Drug Trafficking, was concern from some that decriminalization efforts of marijuana in the United States was hurting our efforts to stop Drug Trafficking out of mexico. Can you talk about that. I will do it carefully itch am aware of who i am speaking to right now. It is impossible for me to go to mexico and talk to the Mexican Government without hearing from virtually everyone i talk to, the seeming contradiction between us seeking to cooperate with them in terms of controlling dangerous drugs while in our own nation, four states of the union have now proceeded to legalize by which i mean the State Government has a direct financial interest in the cultivation, production, sale, purchase, of cannabis. Understand their concerns. I do not seek to tell the states what they will decide to do. Do think i understand that United States constitution and the federal system of government. I say that it complicates my life internationally, and im going to leave it at that. I do acknowledge that people of colorado have every right in the world to determine the laws that they wish to be governed by. And i have run out of time. Perhaps we can have another conversation about burma. I visit thread and we spent a tremendous amount of time talking about the drug situation there. The 2016 report, international nark ticks control strategy, talks about burma continuing to be a major source of opium and perhaps we could submit a question for the record for you in terms of burma, collaboration, what is happening with the new democratic government in burma, in terms of production and eradication efforts and trafficking, and then would like further and get more detail on the trafficking of drugs in burma by the Burmese Military and the role in this effort. I welcome the questions because the timing is very good. My read of burma right now is this new government actually is ready to do some serious things on drugs and counternarcotics they have not been willing to do for 30 years. Great. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. You have been a great witness and we thank you for the commitment and time and knowledge on this topic. Let me just wrap up by asking i want to go back to colombia for a second. When the president was here, everyone was spiking the ball, if you will, negotiations on farc were progressing and people were happy and all of that, but i guess as i prepare for this hearing today, it feels to me like the reason things are progressing politically is theyre easing up on the very thing we began working on so hard, and that was production within their own country. Just want to make sure i leave here with a proper understanding from a witness who has lived and breathed this. Yep. Mr. Chairman, i am going to give you an honest answer but a careful answer, and i want to be careful because i said it before and i say it again. I admire and respect tremendously the government of colombia. Until he became president , i would have called the current approximate of colombia a friend of mine you obviously cannot be a friend to a president. Theyre far too distinguished to permit something as low and common as common friendship, but i know and admire Juan Manuel Santos immensely. He is trying to bring to conclusion a 50 year Armed Conflict that has killed tens of thousands of colombian citizens. Non not only respect that. I support and it endorse it. It is my view it should be possible to pursue those negotiations, to reach that conclusion, without having to walk the clock back to where we were eight or nine years ago in terms of drug cultivation and production in colombia. It is my view that it should be possible to continue to eradicate or have the threat of eradication so that thousands of many of them encouraged, perhaps, by the farc guerrillas dont believe its open season on planting as much coca that amight wish wimp have opened a discussion with them. Its a good discussion because these guys are our friends. We have been partners and allies with them now for more than 16 years under plan colombia. Dont mean to be critical of them. I mean to state an obvious fact. The amount of cocaine being produced in colombia has doubled in the last twoplus years. Thats kind of a disturbing fact. Since most colombian cocaine, traditionally and historically, is transported to the United States. We need to Work Together to figure how to deal with eradication, which is the toe say to stop the which is is to stay to stop cultivation to deal with taking down the laboratories which convert the raw coca into cocaine. To go after the criminal organizations, those organizations not necessarily the farc guerrillas but the criminal organizations trafficking the product, and then finally, how to interdict the product as it is moving from colombia to north america, and how to attack their financial networks. It should be possible to do that. I intend to do that. You have my absolute word of honor that there will not be an opportunity of mine when im talking to the government of colombia when i dont make this point, and have this discussion with them. My sense is, for what its worth, we milled that opportunity when e we missed that opportunity when he was here last, and a lot of happy talk here about plan colombia. What i hear you saying, and with all your niceties regarding the government and your friendship with the existing president , is that he is not pursuing both tracks in the way that he could be; that he is pursuing the relationship with farc and ending what has been certainly a blight on their country for a long time, but he is not pursuing as heavily the issue that is at the core of this, and that is production of cocaine in their country that is coming to the United States in the way that he could. Mr. Chairman, im not going to walk that far down this road. We are talking, moving in the right direction. How we got there im going to leave that to the historians and to people far smarter than me but i will say is i believe there is now a realization, we have a serious problem and were now talking to our friends and partners and allies in the colombian government as to how to solve this problem. And on that, i feel pretty good. We are all entitled to our own views how we got into this situation. The only point i am making is, i believe were working on a route out of it. We know how to do it. For the love of pete we its what we were doing from the year 2000 until the year 2012, 2013, very, very effectively. And i am determined that were going to do it again. That the way i would respond to your valid comment. We are the authorizing committee for the work that you do. Are there some authorities we could provide to you that would cause your job to be easier to be successful . Mr. Chairman, im going to answer that question this way. Obviously as one assistant secretary among several, and one department among a bunch in the federal government, i will not express a view as to what the executive branch believes it needs in terms of new authorities. I will state the following, however. This last authorization inl received was more than 20 years ago. Since that time the United States has moved from a cocaine crisis to a heroin crisis, from a drug focused International Crime effort to a larger transnational organized crime effort. We have moved from app an overwhelming focus on the western hemisphere to have thing to deal with places like afghanistan and myanmar. There are areas that were not addressed in the early 1990s . Yes, undoubtedly there are, and i would welcome a discussion with this committee and n the months ahead. Thank you. Senator flay. Thank you. Your testimony is talk about subsaharan africa, many characteristics that make it prone to transnational terrorism and financing and criminal networks operating. Let talk about east africa for a minute with alshabaab. What evidence do we see there of Transnational Criminal Networks operating . Boy, huge evidence, senator, and in fact i would i mentioned in my oral statement and would say it again right now, africa is one of from my perspective one of my three principal focuses foci. As i look out of the western hemisphere in terms of direct criminal networks with direct impact on the United States. And the reason is that two specific parts of africa, west africa, and east or central to what die want to say southeast africa has become transit points for trafficking flows that are moving either eastwest from asia in route to markets in europe or north america, or northsouth, which is to say from, say, south america, into west africa, and then seeking market in western europe, if not flipping back across. We need to have focus on both of these from a pure trafficking perspective. The problem is weak institutions a number of countries in africa, which makes them very attractive for multibillion dollar Trafficking Organizations. We also have organizations like alshabaab or boko haram or further up north, al qaeda or the Islamic State, which are able to corrupt and then use government institutions as well. Africa, from my perspective, is a very important point of focus, without even going into the wildlife trafficking area which we have been more engauged in over the last three or four years. What are some of our strategies in east africa . Take it with alshabaab. Concerns that its a transit point. A lot of along the coast there obviously we have concerns. What are we doing . First, you have correctly summarized the nature of the threat and the nature of the threat is product and criminal activity that originates for the most part in south asia, although the product may be further up in central asia, and then is transported from south asia to east africa for in a sense, transshipment. That becomes a point writ is introduce ted a northsouth access, moving either to europe or slipping across the continent and moving into north america. What we are trying to do is builden constitutions that are better capable of addressing the problem, providing direct support, operational support, to existing Law Enforcement organizations, and using vetted units or specialized units in whom we have great a create deal of confidence are and able to shell intelligence and information with, and i sure that their regional coordination and cooperation is such that permits them to actually pass off or hand off movements or organizations that are moving across borders and frontiers so that crossing a frontier doesnt completely lift all of the threat, the danger to the criminal Trafficking Organization. And i would say that in east africa, we are better today than five years ago. We are still miles away from being able to say that we are comfortable with and confident that these countries and these governments can control their own borders. Do we have any successes we can point to specifically in terms of cooperation with local officials that has yielded benefits that are tangible . We have had several major drug seizures. Mostly heroin. Coming in from southwest asia. That have been picked up either for the most part, as seaports, some cases at airports, and ill shoot you, if you wish get you a written summary of some of those Success Stories. We have also taken down several what i would call midsize Trafficking Organizations in east africa, although not the international or global organizations. And we have had some success, some of which has made the newspapers, in terms of reducing, if not shutting down, the flow of what is one of africas great criminal exports and that is illegally trafficked ivory and rhino horns. So i suggest we have some Success Stories but nose as many as i would like to be able to report. Thank you, mr. Secretary. You have been an outstanding witness. We thank you for your years of commitment to this issue and look forward to following up with you relative to updates that may occur that give you greater freedom flexibility do your job. You have a hard stop and a meeting you need to attend. So thank you for your time here and also in preparation for the meeting, and we look forward to seeing you again. There will be other questions that people will have in writing and well keep the record open until the close of business on monday, and if you could get to those fairly promptly, we would appreciate that. With that the meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Coming upthe annual congressional correspondents awards dinner. After that, Senate Leaders make remarks on senator Chris Murphys 15 hour debate on gun control. And alert senator ted cruz makes remarks on the orlando mass shootings. Cspans washington journal live with news and policy issues that impact you, and coming up friday morning, larry craft, executive director of gun owners of america will be on to excuse this groups position on new gun control measures in the wake of the orlando nightclub afashion the Government Affairs director for the Human Rights Campaign, will talk about the orlando gay nightclub shooting and the concerns of his ores when it comes to hate crimes and the afghan ambassador to the will join us and share business perspective on the shooting in orlando, the future of afghanistan and the war against the taliban. Watch washington journal on friday night. Friday, discussion on Guantanamo Bay prison detainees. Former chief prosecutor for Guantanamo Military commissions, morris davis, speaks at the National Press club live at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. The referendum vote on the u. K. s membership in the European Union is next wednesday. Heritage Foundation Hosts a discussion live at 11 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. Booktv has 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend and heres some programs this weekend. On saturday night at 8 eastern, from book expo america, the public industrys trade show in chicago, former nba player and author, Kareem Abduljabbar discuss his book about the current and political and social landscape. On sunday at 2 30 eastern, roundtable discussion about Donald Trumps book the art of the deal by pressured in 1987. And then at 9 00 p. M. Eastern, after words. Employ employ a talk about the book isis a history which looks at the history and rise of isis. Interviewed. So, the spectacular surge of isis was a direct result of the creeping sectarianism, the deepenle sectarianism, the civil wars in al nusra, the security vacuum that exists, and the perception that somehow the arar arab spring could not change the order. The radio and Television Correspondents association held its annual awards dinner wednesday in washington, dc. Former republican president ial candidate governor john kashich of ohio delivered the keynote address. This is 90 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the podium, tonights chair, john parkinson. [applause] having spent the last 12 years at abc news, many colleagues become like family. We spend long hours together, we travel around the world together, we spend friday nights together on stakeouts outside of the speakers office, we even work holidays together. When life events bring reason to celebrate, were often celebrating together. But when a member of our broadcast familiesen taken away our industry also grieves together. Since our last dinner last month, several colleagues who have dedicated their professional careers to broadcasted journalism have passed away. Tonight with pay tribute to them. Im morally morely safer. Ive led a charmedlight. A lot of blood, sweat, toil, tears and a lot of it is pure luck and ive been a very lucky guy. Community members and Business Leaders are vined to come out and discuss some ideas they have to celebrate. Allison parker. [applause] [music] the david bloom award celebrates exceptional enterprise, investigative reporting from the past year. With a particular eye toward journalism that is fresh, daring, or undertaken in difficult circumstances. Here to present tonights award are davids daughters, kristine and nicole bloom. [applause] good evening. Its such pleasure to be here tonight. We really love coming to this event every area. Our little sister, ava, is 16 now and couldnt be here because she is at summer camp. Very cute. Its really special to be here every year and to remember our dad in this way. Its hard to believe we lost him 13 years ago. We knew him as the dad who sang somewhere over the rainbow but you now his am the hard driving journalist him had sump a passion for what he did and tonight we honor an equally passionate journalists. Columbia is the world residents largest producer of cocaine and has been on the front line in the global war on drugs for the past 30 years flint. No 201515 ian pin knell went deep inside the drug war, speaking to the actor yo fuel and it traveling with special force trying to stop the contribution of distribution in cocaine. In a package, pin knell put a face to the war on drugs by focusing on one of the most violent cities in south america, this piece served as a reminder that the war against cocaine still has not ended and may be impossible to end. The enterprising, fresh, courageous, and daring reporting, exemplifies the work and legacy of david bloom and what this award is all about. Congratulations. [applause] one of the most violent cities in south america. Dont come here. Its notorious for chop houses where gangs dismember their rivals and body parts float in the water. Also where much of the cocaine that reaches britain comes from. The trade that shatters the community and forces children into a world of violence and abuse. So much blood has been spilled in a war thats gone on for so long that few realize it has not ended. We traveled with elite jungle forces in search of the crop that spawn this billion dollar industry. And despite huge changes here, colombia is again the worlds leading producer of cocaine. Americans involvement here is well known. Now for the first time british officers have agreed to emerge from the shadows and talk to the bbc about their role in the war on drugs. [applause] [applause] thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much to the rtca, to nbc news, to david and his family. It is a huge honor to receive this award. Id also like to thank kathy kay for the work they do on bbc world news america. Continuing to take foreign news seriously, disapproving the bite size theory that people arent interested and dont have the attention span. Id like to thank my beautiful wife, lou, who is here tonight. And my three boys for putting up with my long absences and restlessness. I can only think its because generally im a pain in the ass and theyre glad to see me get oust the door, but irrespective, thank you very much. Cant do it without you. Like so many of you here tonight thoughts with the victims and families and friends in the horrific shooting in orlando we watched the story unfold with familiarity. Breaking news, sirenses, s. W. A. T. Teams, rise of casualty figures, the mourning, the candles and the tears. We now know the person but that doesnt stop us taking notice and reporting on these terrible matters. However form, nor should it. I guess what we try to do in colombia was to focus on another wellknown story but in this case one that has perhaps become so familiar that many of us have stopped paying attention and reporting it. People say, afghanistan is americas longest war. Well, it isnt. The war on drugs is. A trillion dollar mission, 45 years old, and at best with a dubious record of success. Colombia is once again the world residents top producer of cocaine. Its also growing more and more opium as is mexico. Today more Young Americans are dying from narcotics both legal and illegal, than president nixon could have imagined 45 years ago. Drugs kill more people in the u. S. Than car accidents, terrorism, or even gun crime. So we felt this is one familiar story worthy of a second look, which makes this award even more special. So on behalf of my best mates and genius cameraman, dc, who is at a wedding in ireland. My producer at campbell, thank you so much. Huge, huge honor. Thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] the joan award recognizes excellence in washington based congressional or political report neglect past year. Here to present tonights award, cbs news, white house correspondent, bill plant. [applause] john, thank you very much. You know, ive done this for a long time because bob sheaveert and i are the only people in the bureau who knew joan, and this award honors the memory of a woman who started as researcher just before watergate remember watergate . Youve heard about it became executive producer of face the nation just six years later, then she was cut down by cancer at the age of 38. This award celebrates what joan did so brilliantly, excellence in washington, dcbased reporting on National Affairs and public policy. She accomplished this as a woman, more than three decades ago, when this business was still pretty hustle to the double x chromosome. She was a colleague and a friend. Its been a long time so its hard this long after to make her real to you. But think of someone smart and tough and funny, funny as hell. The kind of person you would have enjoyed being with at your table this evening. That was joan. In short, for the judges to say that the work of tonights winner equals the quality of joans work is high praise indeed. So, it is with great pleasure that the Radio Television Correspondents Association announces the winner of this years award, Jonathan Carl of abc. [applause] came before the committee, she accused of being on a partisan witchhunt with huge crowds lining the hallways from the start the republican chairman was defensive. Madam secretary, i understand there are people frankly in both parties who have suggestled this investigation is about you. Let me assure you it is not, and let me assure you why it is not. This investigation is about four people who were killed representing our country on foreign soil. The top democrat on the attack. Republicans are squandering millions of taxpayer dollars on this abusive effort to derail secretary clintons president ial campaign. Republicans released a never seen before email mrs. Clinton wrote on the very night of the deadly attack at benghazi. Addressed to diane reynolds, the name she used for emails sent to her daughter chelsea. Two of our officers were killed in benghazi by an Al Qaeda Linked group. That quite different than what the Obama Administration said in the days of the attack that killed four americans, including ambassador christy fence. Chris stevens, it was protest over a video that grew vial vent. Tell the American People one thing, tell your family an entirely different story. John boehner, e the altar , turned speak are of the house, couldnt hold back his tears as pope francis came too capitol hill. This morning he seemed like a new man. My, oh, my what a wonderful day. And stunned the capitol by announcing he is stepping down. Last night i started thinking about the and is the morning i woke up and said my prayers, as i always do, and i decided, you know, today is the day im going to do this. Let me tell you, before we get john here, what the judges had to say about his work this. Correspondents reporting, they said, on the house hearing of benghazi was a perfect distillation of the days sounds in three minutes compiled and reported by the abc team as the hearing was ongoing. The story on downboehners sudden resignation captured the essence of the more so clearly visible on the outgoing house speakers face and audible in his visit. It was broadcasted story telling under deadline pressure at its best to congratulations. [applause] thank you. Phil you mentioned a key word there, which is team. I am so blessed to work with one of the best teams in journalism, so i want to try to just thank people responsible for that work. Its far more than me. Devin dui, leader of the pennsylvania avenue unit. Cover everything, and it is a Phenomenal Team. Mts, rob begin, work rob yip, john park coinson. Ben siegel, we have a Phenomenal Team and gary west, im truly blessed so the thank you for this award and thank you for honoring their work thank you to the folks at action that make it possible. Our bureau chief, jonathan greenberger, the leadership team, James Goldsten in new york and i want to thank people at the table pack here, my family. My wife, maria, who has put up with so much over all these years. Anna, emily. My dad who wanted to be here, her with me and my mom as well. And thank you so much. And i wanted to do one last thing. I see olga here, i see mike. You guys have bailed me out of so many jams in congress when ive gotten in trouble. Governor kashich, josh ernest. I want to thank the people who we cover, who understand that when we ask hard questions, when we try hold them accountable, that we are doing our jobs, and it is [applause] and lord knows both of you, governor kashich, josh, many people in this room, you have tangled with, we have had tense moments and asked hard questions and you have never tried to cut off our access, revoke credentials, never tried to deny us the ability to do our jobs, so i appreciate it. Thank you very much. [applause] here to present the Jerry Thompson award, the 2011 chairman of the rtca, cfn ns senior photojournalist, jay mcmichael. [applause] i new john carl when he started at cnn and he was our generation x reporter. So i take partial credit for that award he just got. Im here to present the Jerry Thompson award. The Jerry Thompson memorial award was created five years ago by the rtca to honor a camera person, photo journalist engineer oar other behind the scenes broadcasted employee that embodied the unforgettable qualities of our friend and colleague, Jerry Thompson, who we lost six years ago from brain cancer. Jerry was a photo journalist for cnn for more than two decades. A guy that every producer and reporter would request, because he was by far the most talent photographer we had. But they also asked for him for other reasons the main reason is was that jerry was just a great guy. Everyone want teed work with him. Wanted to work with him. Jerry always did what was right. The was kind, thoughtful, inciteful, and a prepared person. He solved things in a way that the rest of us couldnt and he knew how to capture them visually simply because he was quiet observer of the world and the people around him. He was a devoted family man, guy we could all look at as an example and say, wow, that guy really loves his life, or, hey, man, did you hear that jerry said no to that assignment and it was a big assignment, because he had something to do with his kids. I can without hesitation say that i never heard jerry cuss. In this city, thats an accomplishment on its own. In this business thats an accomplishment of its own. But thats true. He never spoke badly about other people. And he never missed an opportunity to help his colleagues, be it journalists from other networks or camera guys from other networks, always willing to help, always willing to do what needed to be done to get the job done. He even saved wounded animals. Thats what a great person jerry was. He saved a wounded bird. A long story. Wont get into it here. Anyway, the winner of this years Jerry Thompson award, while not a photojournalist, elm bodies the same great qualities jerry do and he follows in now what is become ang impressive list of individuals honored before him. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to present the 2016 Jerry Thompson memorial award to a man ive known for a very long time, Peter Daugherty of abc. Not only been a witness to history, he has brought that history to viewers and listeners in this country and around the world. You can send Peter Daugherty anywhere in the city and he will get you on the air. The architect of probably every live location in this town and all of the outlying locations, the white house, pentagon, state department, Justice Department, without him, there would be a lot fewer of those live locations. He has produced coverage of every major event that has occurred near washington. Inaugurations, state funerals, papal visits. Mr. Speaker. The pope of the holy see. [applause] you name it, peter has done it. You good to him and say, can we do this live . He never said, i dont think so. He always said, lets see if it will work. This must have started with the first toy telephone set you received as a child. If you had a problem you called peter, get its solved and not surprisingly because he is wired and set up everything we use. He is one of the best colleagues anybody could ever hope to work with. Congratulations on this wonderful award and for all you have done to improve our industry. I just want to say, congratulations on the award. I think you oh, well, maybe you shouldnt get the award after all. We have another problem here. Can you get these lights fixed for us, please . Congratulations. [applause] when youre at a moment like this, a lot of thoughts flood through your mind, especially after seeing that wonderful, wonderful tribute. All of the people who throughout my career have helped me, have worked with me, have become good friends in addition to great colleagues. No one person can do this alone, and there are just so many names, you saw a lot of them in that video and there are hundreds more in this room and not with us tonight. The one thing that has always struck me about every piece of this is how quickly your colleagues come together with you and solve problems. It really is truly remarkable to see what this industry does, especially in the background, when things have to get done. It doesnt really matter what the situation is. It could be something as sudden as the announcement about Osama Bin Laden that had one of our crew members show up in his capitals jersey from watching the game, and shot the headon camera of the president , assisted by his colleague from fox who just got there as the second person on scene and made it all work. To the great cooperation we have had from the leadership of congress, and especially the staffs of the senate and house galleries. Mike and olga and their people have been absolutely terrific over the years. [applause] its also been astonishing to see some of the things ive seen over the years. And seeing the video of the pop remind me of two images in particular that have stuck with me in recent years. One was the courage of the pope standing in front of that audience, and delivering a speech that he had rehearsed for weeks and weeks and weeks, knowing how hard he struggled to speak english. And at that same event, we had been tipped off that he was going to discuss certain themes and one of them was the work of dr. King. And thanks again to the wonderful colleagues ive had a privilege to work with, we had a shot of representative lewis, and when the pope got to that point a tear crossed his eyes and another member hugged him, and i will never forget that, especially when you think that when i was a kid growing up, there he was, out in the streets, being arrested, water being hosed at him, dogs, the whole nine yards, and there he was, on that historic day, a member of congress, a distinguished member, and it just reminded me of how far we have come and how much of that was because of the work that your predecessors and all of you did and continue to do every day, and i would echo the words of just about Everything Else. Its important work that we have to keep going. Shouldnt matter to a candidate who says it. The facts are the facts, and thats what we deal with. And the work that i do along with all of the hundreds of people that have helped me and guided me and gotten me through this, really transcend that to say, its not about the politics. Its about the truth. And thats what our jobs are. [applause] so thank you very much. [applause] ive been blessed with a wonderful family and wonderful colleagues. My wife couldnt be here tonight, and my sons, one is on the west coast and the other one is out working. But they are, as everybody has said, an important part of your life, and the sacrifices theyve made for all the late nights and all of the saturdays and weekends and times we have to do what we do all of you in this room have gone through this so to all of our families, thank you. Couldnt do it without you ask thank you for this honor. Esters who benefit from this work. Here to present this career achievement award, abc news Vice President. [applause] it is my great honor tonight to present the award to Dennis Donley of abc news. [applause] dennis has had his hand on abc news content for four decades. He sat across the desk from Peter Jennings for many years jousting with him over script, grammar, fax, editorial relevance and the like, making world news tonight a much better broadcast for his presence. For much of his career he has been the lone star of the washington bureau, directing Network Coverage of all d. C. Stories. He has befriended, supported, meant toward and challenged his colleagues in the bureau. We all stood with him when he suffered a stroke and we all cheered his courageous fight to take up the helm of the ship again. He has been a treasured colleague. Doctor Martin Luther king jr. Said the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The ultimate professional compliment i can give my great friends is that wherever he is standing in times of challenge and controversy, those of us at abc news have to be right to beside him. Here is a video about him. Dennis started as a parttime desk assistant in 1974. Two days later, Richard Nixon resigned. Not that dennis had anything to do with that but it was a start of one hell of a career. For more than 40 years he has been our guru. Hes a writer, producer, editor and steady hand and the control room. Sitting on the world news tonight rim on new york with Peter Jennings, he earned a reputation for being fair and objective. He has help shape the careers of so many of us. He has been a calm on rattle presence even when the world around us seem to be falling apart. He was at that network through september 11. They have shut down the entire air traffic system. The gulf war, and so much more. They swear he cut his teeth on stories well before the nixon era. You were there for some, you were embedded with George Washington and did a lot of radio back then. As dennis once put it, his beard is older than some of his bosses he has spent a halfcentury in television and is always been something of a newspaper guy. This was his office after housecleaning. He his renowned objectivity broke down when it came to sports but i was there on that dreadful october night. The Washington Post capturing his expression after he blew game five. Fittingly enough, it was at abc news where dennis met his wife pat. Pat, anna and emmett becoming part of the family. He doesnt talk much about this but his real passion is irish music. Singing, playing playing guitar with his brother tom in the band patty goes wes. Congratulations on the Lifetime Achievement awards. Maybe they can finally bring a champion back to the nations capital. Thank you very much, my old pal and longtime boston partner in crime through so much of washington coverage over the past years. Thank you John Carlin Avery Miller for the video that wasnt anywhere near as embarrassing as it mightve been. So ive been asking people what i should say tonight and the best advice was from my daughter anna who said just be like kanye west, just ramble on for 20 minutes and then announce your running for president. [laughter] what do you think about that . [laughter] i would like to take a moment to thank my family who is here tonight who not only put up with all the hours of midnight phone call but set aside her own career to raise our two children anna, who is teaching and france and emmett who just graduated from the autism school. Way to go emmett. Of course i would like to thank my colleagues at abc and for the choice, im sure there are many other people who are at least as deserving if not more. I would like to accept this on behalf of all the people who work on assignment us in the off hours, people who work in edit rooms control rooms and tape rooms and people who haul the cables and the cameras and make the electronics do what we need them to do. All the people that ive sent out to Early Morning live shots and latenight stakeouts. The people i have asked to stay a little longer, ask another question, adaline, change another shot, the people that we rely on to do the real hard work of our business of making it make air and making it make sense and making it important. I want to accept this on their behalf. I relied on them for 40 years and i realize now as i mostly retired that im going to rely on them even more. Im going to rely on all of you like all of america is going to rely on you to make sense of this peculiar election campaign, to navigate the challenges that we are all talking about in newsrooms across the city and across the country and to make sense of it all. Its going to be a Long Campaign and were counting on you not to grow weary of separating fact from fiction. Not to become immune to outrage. Its going to be a long five and a half months. Dont get tired of Holding People accountable who dont think they need to be held at countable. We need to count on you to figure out the limits and the changes, when does objectivity require a little less equivalence and a little more truth . You dont need me to tell you how important the decision is that america will make in november. You dont need me to tell you how important your role in it is. I do think its worth reflecting for a moment, on the line from the musical hamilton where they say, history has its eyes on you, because it does. Thank you. [applause] thats give it up one more time for all of our Award Winners tonight. Congratulations everybody. I know you heard a little bit about this from some of our Award Winners, but this Committee Really owes a debt of gratitude to the directors of the gallery, olga and mike and all their staff. Kinsey harvey, ryan doll, anthony cal harr, andy and ogle appeared on the senate side charles and jason and erin. Ellen akers. Thank you for all you do. Youre not only a liaison between congress and the capital, keeping us in line and advocating for our coverage, but we ou this debt of gratitude for the work you are doing preparing this summer for the convention. Im sure you are all looking forward to getting over that so you can move on to the inauguration. Now it is my distinct privilege to introduce our keynote speaker tonight. The honorable john kasich, governor of ohio. Governor kasich is serving in the second term as governor and had previously served nine terms representing the 12th Congressional District in ohio. He spent 12 years in the house. Most recently he sought the 2016 republican nominee for president. Governor kasich. [applause] you know, i want to tell you, it is so great to be at the abc award show tonight. So much for fair and balanced. I dont know whos on that committee, but you did a great job. You even conned me into coming here tonight. What can i say. By the way, you mentioned press credentials and everybody gets upset. In my campaign, we paid people to take press credentials so somebody would show up every once in a while. Now what we couldnt figure out is how to get you to show up and then put something on the air. We will do that the next time. I want to tell you it really is an honor to be here with all of you. I rarely come into this town but john asked me to come and i thought it would be great to be with the group as distinguished as as all of you. I want to tell you that early on in my president ial campaign, i knew i was in trouble. There was a news report that i was the medias favorite republican. Thats like being Mitch Mcconnells favorite kardashian, kardashian, to be honest with you. You know, they say say the reporters are really, really smart people and just a couple weeks ago i ran into one. He was complaining to me because he had wanted to meet and interview el chapo, but he didnt have an opportunity to do it any hung his head and said you know im not really depressed because im angling for a great interview with el nino. Come on, thats thats the best i can do tonight. [laughter] you know i ate myself all across the great state of new york. I no, pizza with new york. Youd think i wouldnt know what i was doing, but it was widely covered. But my eating was front and center. When i got back to ohio, people were excited to see me. A lot of groups were very excited, but, but the group that was the most excited to know that i was back was the ohio restaurant association. So finally, we had some people there that covered me, they worked hard, theyre terrific and they set things up and they will tell you that i had experience many wrenching stories in the town halls and on the campaign trail. There was a guy in particular that i met that really hit home for me. He seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. He seemed to be sort of losing control. He walked around the press not really certain of what his future was and whether he was really control in control of any events. Since i have left the campaign trail, i still think about him and i think he is still confused and walking in circles and frustrated and i just want to say, hang in there. Now listen, there are some things i would like to talk to all of you about tonight. Im very interested and how many young people are playing major rolls in the media and others here who are bigtime decisionmakers. I wanted to come to talk to about a couple things. First first of all, as ian pointed out, lets just think about orlando for a second. I once got a phone call just before midnight the terrible things have happened to my mother and father. I remember that call. Frankly i dont remember much of that phone call, but when you go through an experience like that that sears your soul, you can, to some degree relate to people who go through somewhat of a similar experience. The attacks in orlando were clearly aimed at our friends in the gay community. No question about it. Secondly, it was a crime but it was also an attack that is branded now a terrorist act which we all agree with. Its an attack on all of us. When people in that nightclub bled and as they lay in the hospital, a little piece of us is with them, is in it. A little bit of us leads. A little bit of us mourns. Its such an overwhelming event to us living in the United States of america that somebody could do that to people who were gathered together as a Community Just having a great, great time. So our thoughts and words and prayers are needed. Sometimes people wonder about prayer. You say them because it will reach somebody and you think about those moms and those siblings and the children who got those calls or techs at two or 3 00 oclock in the morning and then the concern about wood my loved one survive. In fact, are they still alive. Lets remember them and make a commitment that we all need to be together. I know you all agree with that. [applause] i came here tonight, and i dont want to talk about the campaign. I dont really want to talk to you about the candidates. Im not particularly interested in discussing that with you, but i would just like to make a couple observations. One of the things that i learned, and we are seeing it all over the world is when there is economic insecurity, when the economy is really performing terribly, you have to understand that that puts people in a place where it so difficult for them to wake up in the morning and have a good spirit about them. They dont know if somebodys going to walk in and tell them if they are out of work. Particularly when they are older. Or they dont know what theyre going to do when their bills keep going higher and their wages are frozen or, worse than all of that, for the moms and dads that are here tonight, big hopes and dreams, you send your kids off to college, they ring up bills, they come home and theyre living in the basement and they cant find a job. We are seeing at all over the world. A lot of disruptions. We just saw a very close election in austria where they are also experiencing economic interest insecurity. What we are seeing in france, its a fact. It is wrong for politicians, wrong for politicians or Public Officials to exploit the insecurity and anxiety of the American People or of anybody who faces these kinds of economic hard times. Frankly, both parties are doing it. You cant blame somebody else for the problems you have and scapegoat somebody else, like my mother used to say, she would say you know what, your dad and i, we dont dont go out for dinner, we dont smoke or drink and people that we know, they live high on the hog but the fact of the matter is, tomorrow will be a better day and we will push through this. But but when politicians create this anxiety, its sometimes hard for people to push through. Let me just tell you, plain and simple the politicians are doing a terrible job. They are failing us. I dont care whether youre republican or whether youre a democrat, a liberal, a conservative or democrat. All politicians should adopt an entrepreneurial attitude. What i mean by that . With all the young people here with the smart phones in the way we communicate, we know the 21stcentury is a century of a century of speed. Its a century of innovation. In all the things that are innovating are doing fine. Think about your newsroom and radio. How much change because you have to change. The politicians, because because of fear of special Interest Groups and politicians because of fear of losing reelection driven to some degree by Interest Groups are failing to do their job. They are failing to put the public first and it is wrong. When i say that leaders today are weak im actually complementing them in my mind. Now i have to also tell you that i dont believe that its only the politicians that have put people in a funk. Sports, if youve picked up the paper their doping. Your favorite athlete, youre disappointed. What the heck happened to them. Religion, we are constantly amazed by the news that leaked out about the Catholic Church and the problem of the abuse victims. Businesses, i read a story yesterday that when people lose their jobs because they are teaching a Foreign Worker to teach take their job, they get a severance package but theyre not allowed to talk well what happened or they lose their severance package. Thats just outrageous. Or entertainment. Violence, ive got got 216yearold daughters. I worry sometimes about what they watch. Im not a prude or just an old guy. I worry about the constant pounding of violence and how about the news media 2 billion in pension, one to our candidate, one executive says donald trump may not be good for the country but he is sure good for our profits. Think about it. Particularly you young people. But i want to tell you that the people in the elite have sometimes forgotten their values. They had good values when they got there but somehow when they climbed the mountain they left some of them behind. Look, i have to tell you that Elections Come in elections go. I will also tell you that at some point this economy is going to improve. I believe the real crisis of our country is not rooted in money. The beatles were right. Money cant buy you love. The real crisis we have in this country is the crisis of the spirit. I saw it as i traveled all across this country. Many of our citizens feel powerless, outofcontrol and many of them feel that their lives simply doesnt matter. You can walk into a town hall with a thousand people and you can drive them into a ditch based on their anxiety where you can go into that same room with the same thousand people and you can give them hope. The all new that young man that hugs me. That was not anything out of the ordinary. It happens everywhere were people felt a safe harbor. What i learned is we need to slow down. We need to slow down, we need to Pay Attention to other people. We need to cry with them, we need to laugh with them, frankly we need to live life a little bigger than ourselves. Just people that sometimes you go past that 100 miles per hour, we all do it. We need to slow down. I want to tell you, i was never afraid to talk about my personal faith. Look, im just trying to make it through, but i have until tomorrow to try to get it better and try to get it right. I was across the country telling people that were all made special. I want you to think about this. Each one of you, tonight. This is my personal philosophy and my belief. I think the lord made us all special. If you dont happen to think that way im cool with that, but i want to tell you that i think we were all made special. No one ever like this before and no one will ever be like us again. I was in utah and i told the young woman behind me, did you know youre special. Do do you know theres never been anybody like you and you are here for a purpose. I looked at her and she was crying. I went home from utah and told my wife the story and i said what you think she thought. She said john, youre probably scared her. The fact of the matter, i believe in. I believe that the key to life is our ability to dig down deep, to figure out our purpose and to act on that purpose. When we all do it together, were part of a beautiful mosaic. You matter. You matter so much and not just the people who run the tube but the people who do the digital so much, people get their news in different ways. I ask you not to be cynical or roll your eyes out what i think, but what is your purpose . Who are you supposed to live . Maybe its an intern or somebody was after your job, you cant be cynical. You have to figure out what it means. You see hate, speak against it. You see discrimination, call it out. You see injustice, see injustice, dont just complain, do something about it. You folks in the media dont do tabloid. The country needs depth, the country needs education and dont do eyeballs and process because nobody will ever remember you if you do that. [applause] so, im not suggesting that you once looked for sainthood but if you look at all the presentations tonight and talking about the working columbia where they put their lives at risk for a big purpose, john has been invested in the future since i known him for 30 years. The two gentlemen that came up and put everything on the air, did you notice what they talked about, purpose, integrity, family none of us are going to reach sainthood, but as we keep in mind and do our job and find our purpose, we will leave this purpose so much better. We will improve this country, we will improve our families and communities and we will pull together. This anxiety and frustration and fear, we can banish it. We need all of us to Work Together. Thank you and god bless. [applause] [applause] thank you for those remarks governor. Hes a comedian, an actor and on the daily show and he is tonights headline entertainer. He has covered pope francis visits to the u. S. , labor issues with iran and the 2016 president ial campaign. His oneman show titled homecoming king premiered offbroadway and is the story of the new Brown America based on true events from the firstgeneration Indian American experience. Ladies and gentlemen please welcome our guest. Thank you so much. Thank you everyone. Wow, one more time for mr. John kasich. Everybody give it up for him. [applause] wow, john, we have so much in common. You know, were both both from small towns, people cant pronounce our names and neither of us will ever become president it is amazing. Its great because john, you are a rational sane even keel, well thought out seasoned politician. You thought you could be the gop nominee. You crazy john, you crazy for this one jay. Ladies and gentlemen it is such an honor to be speaking at the Correspondent Dinner that nobody cares about. Wow. I mean tonight is definitive proof that we all definitely havent made it. Thank you so much for going back to back with your browns. You guys are killing it. I love it. Next years event event my lala and student refugees hosting it. I like that. Tonights event is brought to you by cspan. Cspan, yes. For the eight people now watching, cspan is now in hd. Now you can see all that legislation not getting passed