Of the Homeland Security Committee Chairman michael mccaul. Chairman mccaul son of a world war ii veteran is currently serving his sixth term representing texas tenth district which covers from austin to houston. In january hell enter his fourth year as the chairman of the house Homeland Security committee. This committee has oversight of the department of Homeland Security ensuring its able to carry out its core mission of protecting the American People from terrorist attack. He also serves on the committee of Foreign Affairs working to our National Security abroad. Under the chairmans leadership, the committee has made quite the mark during the 114th congress. This year the committee has passed 55 bills, 25 of which came from freshman members. 40 bills have passed the house, almost half from freshmen. And seven bills have become law. All told, it accounts for 10 of public law this year. This is the result of the leadership and teamwork of chairman mccaul and his committee. He also established a Bipartisan Congressional Task force on combatting terrorists and foreign fighter travel. The findings of which have helped bring improvements to our National Security and those of our allies. Congressman mccaul is also the cofounder and cochair of the congressional hightech kau tca and Cyber Security caucus. They have led the way of policies between government and industry as we face the problem of our adversaries. He is responsible for creating the hope act which was signed by the president and became law in october of 2012. Creating incentives for pharmaceutical companies. Chairman mccaul cochairs the Childhood Cancer kau kiss which he founded shortly after he was elected to congress. Chairman mccaul is well versed in terror operations. He served as the chief of counterterrorism and National Security in the u. S. Attorneys office for the Western District of texas. He also led the joint Terrorism Task force charged with preventing terrorist activity. Hes also served as the texas deputy general and in the department of justices integrity section in washington, d. C. Chairman mccaul earned his business and history majors from trinity university. And he holds a j. D. From st. Marys University School of law. He has s also a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at harvard university. Chairman and mrs. Linda mccaul are proud parents of five teenagers including triplets. Thank you again for joining us today. Ladies and gentlemen, chairman michael mccaul. [ applause ] thank you, andrea. Thank you, colonel thompson. I want to thank you for your service to the committee and to our country. And you serve me well. And i want to thank you for that. Thank you for mentioning my five teenagers at home. We mrs. Mccaul and i have some domestic terrorism issues of our own. I want to thank a few people here today. I dont have the list in front of me. But i know we have former attorney general ed meese here today. I want to thank you for your service and being here. [ applause ] as he was leaving the justice department, i was actually coming in as a young prosecutor and you served us well. Thanks for being here. I want to recognize john catco from my committee who chaired the Foreign Fighter Task force. Did great work. Nick palrino who served with distinction in vietnam and served me and my committee very well over the years. And there are others. I want to thank the National Defense university for hosting us. And the national war college. I cant think of a better place to give these remarks. Theyre sobering and its a state of the Homeland Security. I picked this day for several reasons. Its the anniversary of pearl harbor. And my father was a world war ii veteran serving in the european theater as a bomber on a b17 as was part of the air campaign for the dday invasion. 74 years ago today Japanese Forces struck the United States naval base at pearl harbor described by president roechlt as a day that will live in infamy. That gave rise to the greatest generation and inspired Young Americans like my father to serve our country in uniform. The long struggle between the forces of freedom and oppression followed. Punctuated by many pivotal years. Today were engaged in another generational struggle. And this year was a turning point. Just last week terror struck again on american soil atatackig our nation from within and in the name of isis the new standard bearer of evil. Make no mistake, we are a nation at war. 14 years after 9 11, the fight against islamist terror rages on. And our adversaries have opened up new battle grounds across the world. Our own city streets are now the front lines. Indeed San Bernardino was not an isolated event. Terrorists are on the offensive working to deploy operatives to our shores and radicalize our citizens to commit acts of violence. So i was disappointed last night when the president failed to lay out any new steps to fight this threat. Instead he doubled down on a strategy of hesitancy and half measures. This should not just be a wakeup call, it should be a call to action. For far too long, we have allowed ek treemists to reclaim their momentum surging from the full fledged terrorist armies. As a result, i believe the state of our homeland is not secured. And i believe 2015 will be seen as a watershed year in this long war. The year when our enemies gained an upper hand and when the spread of terror walks the west. This september, my Committee Held the first ever congressional hearing about the 9 11 memorial at ground zero. It sits on hallowed ground. Consecrated by the loss of thousand of innocent americans and by the sacrifice of those who worked to save their lives. And in their honor, we vow to never forget. Never forget that day. But we are beginning to repeat the mistakes of the past. We are not acting early enough to keep the terrorist groups from spreading and there are some in washington who are in denial about the threat that we face. In 2013, president obama anountsed the global war on terror was over. Al baghdadi announced the formation of isis n. January 2014, only days after isis invaded falluja, the president dismissed the group as a jv team of terror. That same month, his own secretary of Homeland Security, a man i deeply respect, agreed with me that the jihadists in syria were becoming the largest, most significant threat to the homeland. And earlier this year, in a state of the union address, the president touted his drawdown of American Forces overseas and declared quote, the shadow of crisis has passed. Only a month later, the director of National Intelligence announced that the Previous Year had been the deadliest in the history of global terrorism. Indeed, the president s words came only weeks after the shocking Charlie Hebdo attacks in paris. And when i cently met with french counterterrorism officials overseas, i assure you, they did not think the shadow of crisis has passed or that the global war on terror was over. Last month, the president claimed isis was contained. Only days before its operatives launched the deadliest attack on french soil since world war ii. And last week, the president said america was safe from isis and safe from an isis attack. The same morning, the San Bernardino terrorists conducted their massacre. Ive had enough. We cannot be blind to the threat before us. Isis is not contained. It is expanding at great cost to the free world. In november, the group managed to conduct three major terrorist attacks on three separate continents in just three weeks. This is not a terrorist group on the run. It is a terrorist group on the march. And their ability to conduct external operations is growing. Isis has been linked to more than 60 terror plots or attacks against western targets. It has established a presence in is the countries and it has recruited operatives from more than 100 nation, creating the Largest Global convergence of jihadists in world history. Isis is now more dangerous than al qaeda ever was under osama bin laden. And its tentacles have spread into the west includes into the United States. Yet the president s National Security strategy released this year outlines a doctrine of strategic patience for confronting threats. This is reckless. America cannot adopt a wait and see approach while the world burns and while terrorists plot within our borders. We are called upon to lead. It was president reagan who said that weakness invites aggression. And it was president kennedy before him that declared america would pay any price, bear any burden to secure our free society. But today, our allies believe we are uncertain, reluctant to lead and eager to place the burdens on someone es. This kind of indecision is a edition itself. If the greatest generation had sat on its hands while fascism and communism spread, the world would not be recognizable today. In the same way, if we let islamist terrorism gain further ground, we will be talking about a struggle that lasts more than just a generation. From the streets paris to the skies of egypt, we have been reminded of the destructive powe of this movement and the insidious ideology that fuels it. We have also been reminded that delay can be deadly. When we see terror in more western cities, when isis declares new provinces, when millions of additional refugees flood the shores of our allies, it will be further proof that in action has serious consequences. In fact, i believe this Leadership Void has put the United States homeland in the highest threat environment since 9 11. The fbi is investigating nearly 1,000 home grown terror cases. Most of which are isis related across all 50 states. Already, federal authorities have arrested over 70 isis supporters from our country. Thats more than one per week over the last year. And if you add San Bernardino to the list, there have been now been 19 isis connected terror plots or attacks here at home. These include plans to murder tourists on florida beaches, to set off pipe bombs on capitol hill, to detonate explosives at new york city landmarks and to live stream an attack at an American College campus. The overall uptick in extremist activity has made 2015 is single most active year nor home yofor terror we have ever seen. In fact, there were more home grown terror cases the First Six Months of 2015 than any full year since 9 11. Our intelligence and Law Enforcement professionals have stopped many attacks. However, in a world where terror has gown rye vie cal, we are struggling to monitor every threat. And as we saw in garland, texas, the first sign of a hatched plot might be an internet hash tag tweeted obl minutes before an i tacattack. As we saw in San Bernardino, it might be a Facebook Status pledging allegiance to terrorists, posted online with little notice. Or it might be like the chattanooga terrorist ram percenta page where the shooter gave no hints before taking the lives of the United States service members. This is why we need to focus on preventing radicalization as much we need to focus on stopping terrorists themselves. The message of groups like isis is either come to syria to join the fight or kill where you are. Yet, the administration is not doing enough to keep americans from being brainwashed by groups like isis. There is too little outreach to vulnerable communities. Theres virtually no effort here at home to combat terrorist propaganda directed at our citizens and there are few credible off ramps to peel radicalized young people away from the path to terrorist violence. This is unacceptable. Americans are being recruited by terrorist groups at the speed of broadband while we are responding at the speed of bureaucracy. Our committee unanimously approved Bipartisan Legislation to accelerate prevention efforts in the homeland. In the wake of the shooting in california, im working to get this bill quickly passed. We also need to do everything we can to block terrorist pathways into our country and to keep americans away from terrorist safe havens. That is why this year, ive launched a Bipartisan Congressional Task force on combatting terrorists and foreign fighter travel. In their final report, the task force concluded that the United States government has largely failed to stop americans from going overseas to join extremists. And the identified gaping security weaknesses which allow terrorists to cross borders undetected. More than 30,000 individuals from around the world have become foreign fighters in syria. And over 5,000 of them have western passports, which make it easier to get into the United States. And as we saw in paris, some are being sent back to conduct attacks. More than 250 americans have sought to join the fight. And close to 50 have come home. Some have been arrested on terrorism charges. While others could be ticking time bombs. We must do more urgently to shut down the jihadist superhighway to and from the conflict zone. It is just simply too easy to get there. One american, you fought on the front lines said, quote, i just went online and bought a ticket. It was that easy. It was like booking a flight to miami beach. Also disturbingly easy to get back. The master mind of the paris attacks bragged in isis online magazine saying quote, i was able to leave and come despite being chased after so many intelligence services. I led a congressional delegation to the mideast in europe and saw those security loopholes firsthand in places like the istanbul airport, the transit hub for foreign fighters and throughout western europe. We found widespread failures. Many countries were not scre screening travelers against terrorist watch lists. They were not checking passports for fraud. And didnt have access to the intelligence they needed to stop the, our task force issued over 50 recommendations for fixing these vulnerabilities in america and overseas and today, im pleased to announce we are turning these recommendations into law. We are start iing with the bill this week to tighten the visa waiver program. Which allows travelers from 38 countries to come to the United States for 90 days without getting a visa. And think about that. The majority of the paris attackers had western passports. With those western passports, they could get into the United States without a visa. This bill has strong bipartisan support and i believe will address the problems identified. This people will also a force high risk individuals who have been to terrorist hot spots to go through a more rigorous screening process before coming to america. It will strenten intelligence information sharing with our allies, which is lacking and crack down on passport fraud. It will also force visa waiver countries to ramp up counterterrorism screening of travelers. But this is just the beginning. Over the coming weeks, we will introduce a slate of new bills passed on the findings of the task force to keep terrorists from crossing our borders. This will include enhancing the security of the visa process. Developing a National Strategy to combat terrorist traveling, improving information sharing here at home and helping foreign partners address security weaknesses. We will push forward as well for legislation to enhance airport security, industry minded Homeland Security into a more focused counterterrorism organization. Our government must also move swiftly to improve the screening of syrian and iraqi refugees. Isis has said in their obserwn s they want to exploit the refugee process to infiltrate the west. They did exactly that to attack paris. I can reveal today that the United States government has information to indicate that individuals tied to terrorist groups in syria have already attempted to gain ak tesz to our country through the u. S. Refugee program. I drafted legislation to create the most robust National Security vetting process in u. S. History to screen syrian and iraqi refugees. And a it passed the house with a bipart an san veto proof majority. In light of the threats we face, i urge is senate to act on our legislation and for the president to sign it. Extremists are not only disguising their travel to evade detection, theyre also concealing their communication. No longer do terrorists plot by using couriers and caves. Today, they hide their messages in whats called dark space. Using encrypted applications and other secure platforms to evade Law Enforcement and intelligence services. This is one of the greatest counterterrorism challenges of the 21st century. And it is one of the biggest fears that keeps me up at night. When the Administration Says there are no known Credible Threats to the homeland, it means less today than it once did. Because we cannot stop what we cannot see. Paris was the perfect example. The terrorist reportedly used secure communications and they managed to stay under the radar. We should be careful not to vilify encryption it, which is essential, but ive been briefed on cases where terrorism communicateded a darkness where we couldnt see the communications, we couldnt shine a light on these communications, even with a lawful warrant. Unfortunately, there are no simple answers to this complex problem. And this is more than a privacy versus security challenge. It is a security versus security challenge. A knee jerk reaction could weaken internet protections and privacy for every day americans, but doing nothing puts american lives at risk and makes it easier for terrorists and criminals to escape justice. It is time for congress to act because the white house has failed to bring all parties together to find solutions. That is why today, i am calling for the creation of a National Commission on security and Technology Challenges in the digital age. I plan to unveil legislation soon that would establish this commission under a congressional authorization and would bring together the technology sector, privacy and civil liberty groups, academics and the Law Enforcement community to find common ground. This will not be like other blue ribbon panels. Established and forgotten. The threats are real. So, this legislation will require the commission to develop a range of action rule recommendations that protect privacy and Public Safety at the same time. Finally, most importantly, we must recognize that the best Homeland Defense is a good offense. We will not win the war against islamist terror until we take the fight to the enemy and deprive them of their safe havens. This was not the top, this was the top recommendation of the 9 11 commission. Yet, we have failed to live up to it. We need to drain the swamp in syria and iraq or the swamp will come to us. Unfortunately, the president lacks a coherent military strategy. And he is tied our generals hands behind their backs. Indeed, right now, we have a policy of containment. A Winning Strategy is to defeat and destroy isis and to provide the resources to do exactly that. These are the immediate steps we need to take to turn the tide. First, we must remove the limitations that have kept us from hitting isis as hard as we can. This means a loosening the rules of engagement from air. Letting our special Operations Forces get directly involved in the fight. And arming opposition groups more quickly and completely. Second, we must carve out the space needed to protect the moderate opposition and to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. Ive spoken with the ambassadors from turkey, iraq, jordan and saudi arabia. And they agree with me that we need a no fly zone over parts of syria to provide safe zones where refugees can be relocated and protected. Third, the United States must lead a broader Global Coalition on the ground to destroy isis and syria. And one that includes nato and features deeper involve m from regional allies. This includes our sunni air partners, who must help build a ground force to clean up their own backyard and to protect their own religion from these fanatics. We must also deal with russia. After the downing of russian airlin airliner, i hope mr. Putin chooses to engage more constructively. He has serious Homeland Security issues of his own. And we have a shared interest in fighting islamist terror. But before we think about working more closely with the russians, strict conditions must be met. Mr. Putin needs to push aside towards the exit door. Cease military operations against moderate rebels and bring an end to russias provocations against nato allies. Only then can moscow become a potential partner in destroying isis. In the end, though, our military strategy must be combined with a political strategy to end this conflict. Last month, negotiators in vienna brokered an 18month timeline for free elections in syria. While i am skeptical about whether this plan will succeed, we cant give up. This crisis only ends when the Syrian People have retaken their country and can provide the level of security needed to clear extremists from their territory. Sadly, we will still need to go further. Since the president failed to develop an on the ground plan to confront isis, we now need an around the globe strategy to defeat them. This is no longer just about syria and iraq. Its about stopping the march of isis across northern aftrica. Keeping it from getting a foothold in south asia and preventing countries like afghanistan from falling back into darkness. Yet, in all these places, president obamas more inclined to tell us what he wont do rather than what he will. That is why we need a global strategy to win the war against islamist terror. And a president prepared to commit the resources and political will to make it a reality. Terrorist and the targets of our people cannot stand. In return for barbaric violence, we must be prepared to deliver justy. It has been said that who we are is who we were. Everyone in this room is tied to the greatest generation. And era of americans who showed unflappable courage while staring down evil as it spread across the globe. We cannot forget their courage is our heritage. It is a distinlgt element of the american spirit. It is not enough though for us to have inherited their valor. As we embark on another long generational struggle, we must also summon their resolve. And that means we cannot be satisfied with quick vktryes and temporary safety in the war against islamist terror. We must be prepared to keep radicals on the run and stop them from passing the torch to a new generation of terrorists. My father was a bomb deere in world war ii and flew missions. I had the honor to visit normandy last may with a congressional delegation and lay a wreath as they played taps among the white crosses as we went to omaha beach to see where 3,000 american soldiers were killed to see point de hawk, where we claimed the cliffs to defeat the nazis, one of the most inspiring, powerful, emotional moments of my lifetime. And while i know it was bravery of men like him that won that war, he taught me that it was our nations fortitude that won the peace. Last month, the president said that he was quote, not interested in pursuing some notion of American Leadership or america winning in this long war. He thinks these are mere slogans. Why differ with the commander in chief because what i do know, what i do believe in deeply, is that the security of our homeland and the free world depends on our determination to lead. For in this idea logical battle, i know we will prevail because in the final analysis, our ideas prevail. Thank you so much for having me here today. At this time, wed like to take some questions. From the audience. If you have a question, for the chairman and well address them. Thank you. Yes. I wonder if i can ask you to address more of the commission. It seems like youre portraying the problem as problem of smart people not talking, but most of the smart people involved in making encryption say theres nothing to talk about, that maybe weakening of it will be exploited by hackers, so really no further debate worth having. Resond to that. Thats a great yes. I have sort of played the role of settle diplomacy, if you will, between federal Law Enforcement, the Intelligence Community and silicon valley. Its a very complex issue. I think one that initially lawmakers thought there was an easy legislative fix, where we amend a a statute until we found out that providing a back door on everybodys iphone was not going to be a very good strategy. Not only would it provide a back door for the government, but also for hackers. So, youve noticed that the language of the fbi director and the language of the secretary of Homeland Security has shifted to trying to find a Technology Solution to this problem. I will not tell you its an easy solution. But ive had very in depth discussions that i believe there a are alternatives, there are some solution to this problem and i think the inherent problem and the reason why im advocating the formation of this commission is because of the reluctance of both parties to sit in the same room together. And so, what this legislation provides in fact, it will mandate that the parties all relevant parties sit in the same room together and in a very short period of time, provide the congress with solutions and recommendations to deal with what i considered in my remark, one of the most difficult challenges in this century in dealing with counterterrorism and basically criminal behavior. If we dont do anything, title three wiretaps and devices will become a thing of the past. When we saw the encrypted apps to be paris attackers iphones, telegram, when eight attackers and numerous cospon spir tor, foreign fighters from syria can do Something Like that and its completely under the ray car screen, we know why it went undete undetected. Because they were communicating in a dark space. In a space that we cant shine a light on to see these commune cases, even if we have a court order. We must solve this problem. I agree with you. Its not an easy one to solve. I sit now with top experts like keith alexander, one of the brightest minds on this issue. But i do believe that if first step is getting them, forcing them to get together in the same room to work out these differences and find a solution. I cant say that i have the solutions to the problem, but i know that the experts know how to get there and thats what that legislature will provide. David smith of the guardians. Just a couple of questions. You mentioned new evidence about people with ties to isis. Trying to enter the u. S. Through the refugee program. Do you have any sort of detail on that and the second question is would you categoringly rule out sending ground troops. The refugee crisis is a symptom of a larger problem. The root cause of the problem is the civil war in siri and the creation of isis after the lack of leadership and having the status of forces agreement and failure to engage maliki in any political dialogue and there by, disenfranchising the sunni tribes anymore. Most chose isis and we saw them drop their weapons in mosul because they didnt want to fight isis. The refugee problem is just a symptom of that. We were briefed earlier this week. By the Intelligence Community and i dont want to get into specifics. To protect my sources, but by the intelligencesyrians, isis s isis members in syria, have attempted to exploit it to get into the United States. That was very courageous for them to come forward with this. To tell me about this personally. Given the political debate on the hill. With the syrian refugee bill. But i think it demonstrates why that bill is so important. If we now have direct evidence and intelligence, they not only to infiltrate europe, which is easier to do, but to infiltrate to get into the United States. To me, thats very disturbing. We wont resolve the problem of the refugee crisis until we dole diehl with you know, when i talked to the sunni arab nations and ambassadors, they want to know that we have a strategy. They say, mr. Chairman, well put a ground force in, the turks, jordanians, saudi, but they want assurances we have the military objective and that assad has to be part of the solution and the political situation has to be resolved on the ground and until we have that strategy, were going to continue to have this problem. I also urge the gulf states to take these refugees. So, all these ambassadors agreed that a protected zone if you will in syria through a no fly was the best way to deal with the refugee, so they dont leave syria. A refugee by definition is somebody that wants to go back to their country. If they go to europe or the United States, theyll never return. I also implored the saudis in the gulf states to take these refugees. They have the where with all, these are sunni arabs fleeing from isis primarily. They claim they have taken refugees, but its a bit of a political spin on their part because in fact, what theyve taken in are really guest workers. Not in fact refugees. Coming out of syria. And so, whats happened, turkey has over 2 million, jordan has over a million. Jordan cant absorb this. And now, europe has half a million unvetted refugees pouring into europe. We know that two of the paris attackers exploited those routes to get into back into europe and how many more are out there, you dont know what you dont know. I wanted to ask a little bit more, you said you were going to zras some future bills with financing the task force. You have a refugee bill that passed the house, the possibility of more vetting with the visa waiver program. Any of those you want to talk about . Yeah, you know, basically, i think one of the biggest highlights and i want to thank the chairman here for working on it. Theres no National Strategy to deal with combatting terrorism in foreign fighters. We dont have a strategy. So, i think youre going to see a bill in the near future that deals with that issue. Combatting violent extremism. Another bill we passed unanimously out of our committee. It is not a priority. Or focus within the administration. To basically combat violent extremism, so, what am i talking about . The warning signs. The boston bomber was so radical that he was kicked out of his mosque by his imam and yet, we didnt know about that. There are always the, every one of these cases when you go back and look at them, there are early signs and flags and warning signs of radicalization. So, we need Greater Community outreach. May not be the government itself. When i was a federal prosecutor, id walk into a mosque with the fbi. Its a chilling effect. What we need is our Community Leaders engaged working with the Public Private partnership to engage these communities in the muslim communities to identify early signs of a radicalization. There is no priority. To do this. Right now in this country. In fact, when we looked at the total manpower within the department of Homeland Security, we have less than two dozen federal employees even working on the issue. Now, in fairness to jay johnson, he has started to elevate this program. But i think this bill whether we passed it on the floor or put it in the omnibus, i think the dark space issue is one of the most complex, dangerous issues out there. When i would look at their communications, when they radicalize somebody and get a hook on to them. On the internet, they say lets go to another messaging box and then lets go into tour. Or lets go into these dark platforms. At that point, even if we have a wiretap, which i used to do, we cant see the communications at all. All we see is encrypted space, so, point o point, we may know someone in rocket is talking to someone in paris or belgium or washington, d. C. Or new york, but we cant see what theyre saying and if you cant see what theyre saying, we cant stop it. So, when they say theres no specific and credible threat, thats what we dont know and what is communicated in the dark space that we dont know right now as i speak that could be plotting a terrorist attack like a paris style attack. I have been a critic of this administration for down playing the threat. I think the Campaign Narrative has been all along, you get out of iraq and afghanistan and shut down guantanamo and when isis reared its ugly head, he couldnt get his head wrapped around it because it wasnt supposed to happen, it was supposed to go away. But you have to confront evil where it exists. And thats where we have failed i think as a nation to lead in a post world war ii superpower, lead as a superpower. Lead as a superpower to get Coalition Forces to defeat one of the greatest evils in my lifetime. On the right, in the center. Hi, good afternoon. Im with the center for complex operations here. When you were actually placed nicely off your comments about foreign fighters, you mentioned that foreign fighters going back and americans coming back to the u. S. Are either being arrested or ticking time bombs. Is there anything to look at those individuals differently as assets, people that come back disillusioned, maybe use them as interrogation platforms. Yeah, without getting into too much with the fbi does investigatively, obviously, and in my career, we would follow people. You know, you get to a certain point where you have to take down the individual. But prior to the takedown, theres certain intelligence value to monitor and follow them. So, with the 50 that have returned, the ones we can charge with due process under the constitution, we do and for the ones we cant, we monitor them. And in monitoring them, we do gain great intelligence value in doing that, but once they get to a certain point, we have to take them down. Which is why you see again over 70 isis related arrests. Over the past year because the fbi and homeland have decided to go in and take out the threat before it could you know, they could attack americans. And so, its a delicate ambulance. A lot of my constituents say why arent you rolling all them up and throwing them in jail. But we have the constitution, cant just arrest people without evidence. And you know, in some of these people are not quite sure what they were doing over there. You know, were they working with Doctors Without Borders are doing something nor nefarious, and since we dont have the intelligence on the ground at quad to know what they were doing, this is the whole problem. You dont know what you dont know. With the syrian refugees, we dont know anything about these people because we have no databases in syria, no sb intelligence on the ground. Were Getting Better intelligence, unfortunately, the russians are blowing it up. They dont have rules of engagement, but to answer your question, a very good intelligence value to monitoring an individual without the proper predicate to arrest. But enough to monitor them with predication to monitor their commune cases. But again, if theyre going to sboo a dark flat form with an app, you cant see what theyre saying. This is a new phenomena. We used to think about couriers, looking at foreign fighters who can do more sophisticated attack like paris, but what do you do about the guy thats radicalizes over the internet in the United States in a dark platform that you cant see what theyre saying. Its very pervasive. Theyre in their 20s. Theyre young, sophisticated social Media Organization that have gone viral. Janed hussein was only 23 years old. The one that did the attacks, the new york plots. The one sending out all the directives to kill, come to syria or kill where you are, kill military. He was taken out by an air strike. But his wife is still alive. And there are others that have replaced him that form sort of cyber jihadists army if you will, out of internet cafes. And you look at 200,000 isis tweets per day. That are going around the world. This is not just european u. S. Problem. Its a global phenomenon and its spreading at broad band speed. One last question. Take a few more. Dealing with cybersecurity issue, talk about official threat and honestly, concentrations on isis, but theres a much broader challenge and often people talk about avoiding the next cyber so, thank you for your leadership on cybersecurity. Would you want to expand a little bit about some of the challenges there. I focused on islamists terror, but the cyber threat, you know, terrorists, San Bernardino, some of these could be one man two toman operations. A cyber attack if done right as an act of cyber warfare, could be devastates and the con quenss far more severe in terms of the capability to bring things down, so we have the criminal theft of i. P, the espionage, we know that china attacked opm and stole 20 million security clearances. Greatest act of espionage by a nation state against the United States in the cyber space. No response. To that. Other than a couple of meetings with them to work things out. But the power grids, its the stock exchange, financial sector, energy sector, all tied to the internet, we are tied more to the internet than any other nation and therefore, we are most vulnerable to a cyber attack because of that. We are in a conference with the senate as i speak to pass an information sharing bill that will allow both the federal government and private sector to share these malicious codes with liability protection, which is a key and its a voluntary program, but to share these codes in a safe harbor within the civilian portal within the department of Homeland Security. Were hopeful, this may be a biggest, most significant cyber legislation ever passed by the congress and it needs to be done now because the threat is so severe. If we dont pass it now, we are going to get hit. Sony attack was very destructive. Russian organized criminal activity, target, home depot attacks. Its finally getting the taen s attention of the American People and again, the is that the, were trying to get to a middle ground between house and senate right now as i speak and im oth mystic well get there. But its absolutely critical we pass it and the white house, you know, ive been critical. Of them in my speech, but on this issue, i must say, the white house has been very, a very good partner this trying to get this accomplished. The other question. You talk about how this is on our streets and the directive attack where you are. Make it abroad. As weve seen with San Bernardino and throughout the last few years with attacks on u. S. Military bases and paris, thats sometimes been done with guns. The white house as you know has proposed using watch lists or the no fly list to try to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and you know about the way these watch lists work. Is there some version of some watch list that you think you could use. Let me say first. Terrorist groups like that, when someone purchases a firearm, theres a background check and the fbi will know if this persons on the list and they factor that in, and if theres some reason under the current they do. This is a very complicated issue because sometimes, people are put on the watch list just based on suspicious and youre talking about denying your fundamental constitutional right based on that. If theres insufficient evidence to issue a warrant for their arrest, to me, theres not enough evidence to deny a basic Second Amendment constitutional right. Having said that, make no mistake that the fbi sees somebody on one of thiz lists and they cant they cant current law, the purchase cannot be denied, they will obviously be monitored to prevent any f further potential terrorist attack from occurring. One bill that im a cosponsor of, all these cases, theyre either Mental Illness orris is related, i know congressman tim murphy has Mental Health legislation. Martha mcsally has a bill that simply says if you have been adjudicated mentally defected under current law, you cannot purchase a firearm. When i was up in new york a month ago, after one of the shootings and they you know, they have a training to deal with active shooters, there are so many of these cases that are not put into the system. For instance, the Navy Yard Shooter has been adjudicated mentally deficient or defective under the law and yet, was able to purchase a firearm because his information was not put in the system. This bill and senator cornyn has a companion in the senate, would provide funding to help ramp up the process to make sure anybody that has been found by a judge, not just someone who goes to a doctor because they want counseling, you can see the fine line. If wrou get denied a Second Amendment right because you went to seek counseling for an issue, which there are probably people in this room that have done that, this, the standard is the judge who has kdeclared that person. Anybody thats found to be judged as mentally defective is put into the system and i fully support that. I think we have time for one more, then close it up. Take these two at the end. Thanks for being here today. Im a student here. As we expand our antiisis efforts, both domestically and internationally, how do you see us prevent thg from becoming a christian versus muslim crusade. Well, i think thats a very good point. You probably have been to the region. As have i. We are the infidel. Our presence many times, provokes it. Bin laden looked at the infidel on muslim holy ground. So, we have to be careful of that. I dont think were going to put 100,000 u. S. Combat into the region. But what i am calling for are the special forces embedded with indigenous forces and having a strategy that can work in dealing with assad. And having the people that can guide the targets and not doing this zero collateral damage. 75 of our shortage were termed without firing their rockets. You know, we were dropping leaf to the drivers of these oil tankers, warning them in advance were going to strike them. I think if youre driving an oil tanker, youre not really a civili civilian, youre working for isis. And i think changing the rules of engagement would go a long ways. We havent dealt with the terrorist financing. Theyre making a Million Dollars a day with the oil in Eastern Syria and theyre taking it into turkey and weve done nothing to stop that. Now, just recently, weve started to take out those targets, but the idea that we have to send a leaflet warning in advance is not in my judgment, youre either all in or not. The doctrine applies, but i think we have to be very careful with religious rhetoric. Its incumbent upon the sunni arab nations to stand up and weve carried their water for too long and its imperative for them to stand up. Its their backyard. And they need to, they need to protect their own religion from the perversion thats taking place by isis and theyre allowing 50,000 isis to dictate a worldwide religion. And its incumbent upon them to deal with this as well. And they have a lot, they need to have a lot more skin in the game f you will, than they currently do because i think they have a lot more at stake. Than anybody. But i do think youre right. I think we have to be careful about this rhetoric and you k w know, people in my business are guilty of doing that. And i think that just enflames and provokes it even more. You look at president bush, i thought tried to handle that pretty well. Were not condemning all muslims. Its a perversion of their relation. He was very careful in his verbiage and how he dealt with that issue and i would say that some politicians out there are irresponsible in that rhetoric, which just enflames it and enflames the conflict and gets further recruits for the movement of isis. Theres a reason why theyre pouring in from 100 different nations right now. And they want us, they want the heavy combat presence there because they know theyre going to get more recruits coming in. In fact, thats their goal. Where was that last one . Yeah. This is really the last one. A quick point about the syrian refugees, the Intel Community had told you there had been people trying to come boot u. S. That are associated with isis, does that speak to the current vetting process then . And also, i mean, this morning, secretary johnson said theres an incredibly thorough process for vetting these refugees and i know weve had the director to have fbi saying theres things we dont know, 100 , the process is not 100 advocate for, would you say added to the process. What we, i mean, i introduced this legislature not for my own edification or my own thinking. I based it, introduced it based on upon testimony from the fbi director and quite frankly, the secretary of Homeland Security and the dni who said we cant, we dont have a proper vetting system in place that we dont know who these people are, that we dont have systems in place, that we dont have intelligence, proper databases and all were seeing is just like with the iraqi refugee, we put a hold on it for six months so we could get a system right, we are call frg a more robust vetting process and assurances from them that they can vet them and most significantly, hold them responsible and accountable by having the three sign and certify that theyre not a risk to National Security. That would be the secretary of Homeland Security, the fbi director and director of National Bell where she knows. Its amazing how they maybe have somehow backed off, but i can pull the transcriptions. Its real. I think the American People want and deserve this. I think its why you saw 50, there would have been 10 democrats joining us if miss pelosi hadnt whipped so hard against it, but we had almost 50 democrats and part of it was because the presentation for their conference was not purr swasive. They asked the secretary, why wont you sign off and the answer was its a lot of paperwork and staff. Its not workable situation. I think youre dealing with a very unique population here. And were not talking about all refugees, were talking about a very unique population. Is isis is headquartered, we know isis has said this their own words they want to exploit it, infiltrate the west. We have intelligence now recently indicating they want to exploit coming into the United States and i think in light of all that, its a responsible thing to do. Were not, this legislature could have been a lot more draconian. It was very measured, very well balanced. Which is why i think thats why we made it bipartisan and got a super majority to withstand a veto because it just makes common sense and the American People want to make sure we can properly vet them. Obviously, the mothers and children, again, get through a vetting process, but the military aged male has to go through a more robust vetting before you bring him in the United States. I dont want that on my head. Bringing someone in who conducts a terrorist attack like two of the iraqi refugees did. We just want to make sure were doing this in a safe, responsible. Were a compassionate nation, but have a duty to protect them and do this in the safest, mosr. Well, thanks so much for being here. Appreciate it. On our next washington journal, well get your reaction to tuesday nights gop debate. And talk to Michigan Congress the federal budget and discuss domestic terrorism. On the spending bill and federal budget. The fight against isis and the 2016 president ial race. Washington journal is live, you can join the conversation. Narrative of a lightweight grade b actor, which is what ford said about himful. Turning prematurely orange. Even with the successes, historians have consistently raided reagan law. I believe out of idea logical bias. Sunday night, historian Craig Shirley discusses his book, last act, a look at reagans life after leaving the white house. I like to write about reagan because i grew up in the 80s. The house in time for us. But i also write about the facts. I dont make things up. And i dont believe that ed niece or luke canter makes things up. I think, too, that weve succeeded in repositioning peoples thinking about reagan so it was the picture that emerges is of a very serious, deep thinking, considerate solistous. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on q and ark. Abigail fillmor was the first first lady to work outside the home, teaching in a private school. He created the First White House library. She was marketed as a color and stores sold clip on bangs to women eager to replicate our style. And nancy reagan as a young actress saw her name mistakenly on the blacklist of communist sympathize sympathizers. She appealed to Ronald Reagan for help and later became his wife. These stories and amore are featured in first lady, president ial historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women. The book makes a great gift for the holidays. Giving readers a look into the personal lives of every first lady in american history. Stories of fascinating women and how their legacies resognate today. Share the stories of americas first ladies for the holidays. Cspans book first ladies is available as a hard cover or an ebook from your favorite bookstore or online book seller. Order your copy today. Earlier today, attorney general Loretta Lynch and other officials talked about gender bias and Law Enforcement response to sexual assault. Lynch announced new gloouidelin to help Law Enforcement agencies prevent gender bias. This is about an hour and a half
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