court that suggests otherwise. there is a lot of people throwing around the words unconstitutional in this debate. and yet i don't think there is any court that has found the way in which 702 is used is in any way a violation of the constitution. >> because these are foreign nationals from overseas? dir. wray: correct. >> thank you. we will recess until 10 minutes after the last vote and we will text out that exact time once we have it. thank you.

>> we will start back in order and i think we completed the first session this morning and we will now hear from the chairman of the subcommittee on transportation from florida. for five minutes. >> my first question is to secretary mayorkas. when president biden first came into office, one of the first things he did is he changed all of the trump era policies related to the southern border. did you agree with those? that is a yes or no answer.

do you agree with him or not? >> he did change some of the policies and i do agree with those changes. >> subsequent to that have you had a number of conversations with the president making sensitive changes or implementing new policies at the border and did you relay that to the president and the president as he said he is in agreement with the recommendations, or has he made recommendations to you or given you an order and said i want to do this and you agree with everything or all the policies that have been implemented since you have been the secretary of homeland security? >> i will get into the specifics of my conversation with president. >> that is fair enough. i reclaim my time. thank you very much so i don't know if you talked to the president or not. either you do things on your own or in consultation with the president and you are still part of his administration. there is a lot of concern about

the funding of dhs. in fiscal year 2020, there were 458,000 encounters at the border and in fiscal year 2021, there was 1,000,700 at the border which is a 400% increase and there was really no significant change in the funding so this whole narrative that funding is the issue, it is not. the issue is policy. the policies that have been implemented by this administration and in your department particularly, have led to this catastrophic failure of our immigration in the united states where you do have a 400% increase in the number of encounters at the border with the same amount of money both in fiscal year 20 and 2021. in fiscal year 2022, things got

worse with 2.378 million encounters at the border. we also know there has been a significant increase in the number of got aways to the point of almost 2 million people in this country with the faintest idea of who they are and we don't know where they came from or where they are or why they are here. again, director wray, does that pose a threat to the security of the united states, the fact that there are 2 million people here that we don't know who they are or why they are here or what they are doing? do have worries about that? >> certainly the population you're talking about is a source of concern for us. >> one and a question -- other question. you say the fbi, you work on detecting threats, et cetera, to the united states and the homeland. why are you doing that exactly?

what is the purpose of detecting threats and mitigating those to the homeland? >> our mission is to protect the american people. >> very good. exactly right. do you know -- the number one terrorist organization that has killed the most people in the united states, do you know what that is? >> that would be al qaeda. >> how many americans have they killed? >> in the neighborhood of 3000. >> across the border there is the mexican cartels and they are pumping fentanyl into the united states and you know how many people they have killed ? >> i don't have that number but it is eye-popping. >> it is eye-popping. again, the failure of the border and the failure of us taking significant action not only to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and a lot of them we don't even know who they are that imposes the threat to the united states,

the actual threat of the cartels that aren't 7000 miles away. they are 20 miles away or 5 miles away on the other side of the border and they are killing tens of thousands of americans every year. and we do nothing about it. nothing. they are right there and we know who they are and where they are operating and we do nothing about it. that is a dereliction of duty, mr. chairman. and i do have one more if you give me one more thing. really quickly, guns and planes and missiles, personnel, ships, boats and assassins all have one thing in common and you know what that is? it is money. money is what they have in common. i would like to know why secretary blinken signed off on a waiver for iraq to purchase

electricity from iran which would give them $10 billion in revenue. that is a rhetorical question. >> i recognize mr. theodore from michigan the ranking member of the subcommittee on transportation. >> thank you. i think -- thank ranking member thompson, both of you for having this hearing today and i also wanted to express a profound thanks to the most honorable witnesses for your valuable efforts to give the people of this great country the safety they needed it to have prosperous lives. as we discussed threats to the homeland here today, it looks like we will more than likely avoid a shutdown this time. but for the second time this year, the dysfunctional coal --

republican majority has brought our government on the brink of shutdown after weeks of infighting. funding our government 45 days at a time has consequences and at the transportation security administration thanks to funding the democrats provided in the last year's omnibus spending bill, workers are finally receiving the pay they have long deserved. however, this was only funded for the final quarter of fiscal year 2023. so continuing at fy23 levels instead of passing a full year spending bill could have increasingly dire consequences for the agency. and secretary mayorkas, thank you for working with congress to provide these for tsa

workers and what benefits are they seeing so far from pay raises and what consequences would you expect to see if congress doesn't provide funding to increase tsa's budget for fiscal 2024? >> thank you very much for your concern for the men and women of tsa. i want to thank the ranking member thompson for championing fair pay for that workforce for many years. i am grateful to congress for achieving fair pay finally. it has made a significant difference in the recruitment and retention of personnel who are vital to the security of the traveling public. if we lose that funding, we will return to recruiting and retention challenges precisely when travel is booming once

again in a post-covid-19 world. >> thank you, secretary. and i as a former business owner, i do understand the importance of making sure the employees get paid fairly and they have the benefits that they need because we are competing for these employees with the private sector. they can always walk. we have seen a high level of turnover in the past. that will continue and in danger our safety. but, more broadly, for all witnesses, how does continuously or continually funding the government with the continuing resolution affect your agency's ability to execute your missions? i ran businesses and i never planned for a 45 day budget and usually it is a year or two year-long plan and that is how most businesses operate.

how does this funding affect how you run your agencies, and how does that affect her national security? >> it is very difficult to plan in the implementation of important security related and focused initiatives when one doesn't know with certainty whether the funding for this initiative will actually come through and i should also add a different element of this. it creates worry and instability within the workforce and, for example, encountering weapons of mass destruction office we had a town hall with them for all employees because they were uncertain about their future employment and that isn't a situation we can afford at a time when we need to advance the security of the american people. thank you. >> i would add to secretaries

comments that the funding you are describing is incredibly disruptive to our operations as you say and planning is an essential part of any well functioning organization. it is very hard to do that and i would second the concerns of our workforces and more and more you have federal employees who are a couple for example and in a lot of places they are living paycheck to paycheck. so even with the law passed that makes sure they will eventually get paid, which is a welcome development, in the short run, that is stressful for people who are battling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their family's heads. >> i would add and what we have described is a pretty

unpredictable global environment and the national security world we do need a study baseline from which we can operate and respond to crises so the added stress on the workforce of just being able to understand when and where that paycheck is coming from i think is one that we don't want to really put on their shoulders. >> inc. you very much. i yield back. >> the gentleman yields. and i recognize the gentleman from texas and the chairman of the subcommittee of counterterrorism for five minutes. >> thank you for your service, director and i won't have questions for you but we did start this by listening to the secretary talk about climate change as a threat to our country and obscure policies that need reauthorization but not one mention of the southwest border on the 169+ owner suspected terrorists that have been in this country. i think it shows you where the mindset is and the american people know that and, you said

in front of the senate committee last weekend you said again today that reality has been elevated throughout 2023 but the ongoing war in the middle east has raised the threat of an attack against americans in the united states to a whole other level and you stand by that? >> absolutely. >> if somebody is listed as a special interest alien and by the way this is trump era and this is may orcas biden era and if somebody is listed, is that a concern of somebody could be in the united states? >> to be on the watch list it means they have met the standard to be of concern. >> so they are concerning for the fbi and you are looking for them? >> yes. >> other people listed in this number and i think the number was 169 and they may have amended that, but are there people that you are searching for that we don't know where they are in the united states?'s >> of the known apprehensions?

match list to the terror watch list? are you still searching for people in the united states that we know matched the terror watch list? >> i am not sure i can answer that here because it is a constantly moving -- >> other people who matched the terror watch list that the fbi and other agencies are searching for in the united states? >> there individuals who are the subject of terrorism investigations that we are searching for and whether or not they -- i guess the distinction is obviously there is a lot of focus on the watch list itself and one of the things that i have tried to be clear in my testimony on and one of the areas we have is that individuals who have information coming in.

>> other people that you don't know that the fbi is searching for today? >> yes. >> is there a policy at dhs that requires cdp or any other agency involved with the vetting of individuals that match the list that requires the the visuals to be detained? do they have a policy of detainment for anybody that matches that? >> on september 30 of 2021 i promulgated a policy that articulated clearly and expressly that individuals who pose a threat to the public's safety -- >> is there a policy that requires detainment of people who match this? >> that individuals who pose a threat to public safety or national security are a priority for enforcement and if, in fact -- >> is every person detained right now? >> if they pose a threat they

are to be detained. >> why did you release people into the united states that match the terror watch list? >> we don't release individuals. >> so you have detained every person that you apprehended at the southern border? 100%? >> please answer it quickly. i don't need a filibuster. >> if we believe the detention of an individual is necessary to safeguard the safety of the american people, we continue -- >> i will reclaim my time. if you and any other agency labels somebody is a match to the watchlist, due immediately detained them? >> if you are referring to the terrorist screening dataset, we make a determination in the execution of our law enforcement responsibilities to detain an individual if that -- >> i believe based on the testimony that there are people

you are still searching for that you should have detained. i want to find out more information on that and furthermore in 2023, your agency reported that there were over 24,000 chinese nationals who have entered the united states illegally and that is 1000% increase from 2022. are there people that you are searching for, director wray , secretary mayorkas, that have entered this country, and is there intelligence to suggest that they are trying to use or direct the flow of ccp or chinese nationals into the united states? >> certainly there are individuals who are affiliated with the chinese government who are the subject of investigations that we have here and some of those are people we are searching for. whether they came in illegally or not is a different question and i am not sure i can speak to that here. but what i can

tell you is that i have been very consistent in saying there is no country that presents a broader or more comprehensive threat to the economic security or national security or innovation in the chinese government. and they use nontraditional collectors and not just nontraditional cooperatives to cause that. >> based on the testimony that he believes this threat is at a whole other level and you are not detaining people immediately, i am very concerned about the security of this nation and the fact that you have been derelict in your duty and security. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> i know recognize mr. carter. you went already. okay. i now recognize the ranking member for counterterrorism, the gentleman from rhode island. >> thank you and thank you to your witnesses for your leadership and for the men and women who work under you to keep her nation safe every day. you have her gratitude and to ranking member thompson and

chairman green as well for calling this hearing. the director of national intelligence has assessed that racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists prevent the greatest terror threats to our country. and i do believe in your opening statements, there are witnesses that verified that assessment. racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists prevent the greatest threats to our country. yet as i have been listening, one member from the other side of the aisle has focused any of their remarks or questions on what the dni and our witnesses have identified as the greatest threat. i will spend my time today talking about this and asking you. we do know that over the last five years, more americans have been killed on our soil by racially motivated extremists than any other type of terror

and we did see it in el paso, texas, where a racially motivated extremist killed 23 people in an attack explicitly targeting latino and immigrant communities and in buffalo, new york, racially motivated extremists targeted the black community killing 10 people and in texas where an extremist espousing anti-semitic and neo- nazi ideology shot up a mall killing eight people and over the past decade 145 americans killed on united states soil and attacks primarily racially and ethnically motivated and the fbi currently has 2700 open domestic terrorism cases and government extremism poses a threat as well. we did just learn the horrifying news that an associate of a january 6 defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring and plotting to murder 37 fbi employees in chattanooga for the admitted

purpose to retaliate against government conduct. of course, in the wake of the october 7 hamas terrorist attack in israel, we see a significant rise in anti- semitic and islamophobia violence across the country and the antidefamation league reports that anti-semitic incidents of harassment and vandalism and assault have increased by 388% over the same period last year and just this week a michigan man pleaded guilty to threatening to commit a mass shooting against the jewish community and the council on american islamic relations has similarly reported 216% increase and of course we are familiar with the tragic death of a six-year-old palestinian american who was terrifically killed in a hate crime a few weeks ago. so given that this has been identified as the greatest terror threat facing our country, i would like to give each of you an opportunity, starting with the director to talk about, specifically,

racial -- racially and ethnically motivated extremism and what is the nature of this threat and what is the fbi need from congress to meet it? >> first a point of clarification. when we talk about the greatest threat to the homeland, it is actors that are loan actors or small groups typically radicalized online using easily accessible weapons to attack soft targets and that group includes both domestic violent extremists as well as homegrown violent extremists who are individuals here inspired by foreign terrorist organization so that is what we call the highest threat level. second, when it comes specifically to the domestic extremist side, it is the case that over the last several years the most lethal activity has been conducted here in the homeland by racially motivated violent extremists.

and then there is a second category which you also noted in your question which is antigovernment, antiauthority violent extremists which is distinct and sometimes overlaps but distinct from the racially motivated. >> is that what we saw with the antigovernment or government inspired by -- >> that would be one variation but so is the violence we saw in the summer of 2020 and it's all in the category of antigovernment and antiauthority violent extremism and we have seen a lot of both. the volume of that category is probably the greatest and the lasalle eddie is probably the greatest as well. >> let me share with you some of the work we are doing to combat this threat and working closely with our federal partners and notably the fbi

who are working at a state and local tribal and territorial and campus law enforcement and front-line personnel. we are engaging with communities in developing best practices for prevention models to be able to intervene when individuals see somebody to send down a path of rattle legalization of violence and congress has distributed grant funding to nonprofit organizations and in fact we have fun increase in that critically needed program. and this is to enable nonprofit organizations including places of worship, religious schools to secure themselves and we have pretty active security advisors in every state providing advice as to how facilities and places of gathering could best secure themselves and those are some of the steps we are taking to combat this threat in an

environment of critically needed partnership. >> if i may, mr. chairman. racially and ethnically violent extremism over the past five years as you noted has created the most legality -- lethality for americans especially here in the homeland but it is a threat and we are focusing on those issues that have a foreign nexus and we would say this does as well and when you look at the motivation behind a shooter in new york who goes to a supermarket and kills black americans, that is motivated by manifestoes that we see from new zealand and from norway and actually inspired attacks that we saw in slovakia so understanding the global dynamics around this type of terrorism is an important piece

of what we do to keep up with an evolving threat dynamic that is affecting many countries. >> thank you for your work in this area. i yield back. >> i recognize the gentleman from new york and the chairman of the subcommittee. >> thank you. a few weeks ago we had somebody come in and testify about iranian threats and i want to ask director ray that you said recently you expect iranian cyber threats to worsen if the conflict expands and can you expand on that and what should we watch out for quite >> i think sometimes people overlook the fact that iran is only one of two countries that committed a destructive cyber attack against the united states and it is been a few years since that happened. they have already shown a propensity for that. we saw not that long ago and attempted to cyber attack

against a children's hospital in new england. this is an adversary that is engaged in conduct that is brazen and aggressive and very comparable in my view to what we see in terms of lethal targeting that i described in my opening statement and to this committee last year which is a country that has attempted to assassinate an american journalist, a human rights activist, right smack in new york city and tried to assassinate current and former u.s. officials here on u.s. soil. the cyber threat they pose in some ways shows a similar level of aggressiveness. >> so specific targets and not industries as a whole and i know other countries focus specifically on possibly industries taking down an entire sector and would you expect the iranians to focus on the hospital's specific targets? >> i think critical

infrastructure is where we are most concerned and am not sure i can tell you which of the 16 sectors but critical infrastructure is where we are most concerned about their potential. >> what is dhs doing to prepare for these cyber attacks coming up? i know when russia invaded ukraine, we did a shields up program. have you done anything specific since there been -- has been a war in israel? what are they doing? >> day-to-day we work with private sector partners and we have a joint collaborative and we are working with our partners in israel and we are sharing information and best practices with them and we work closely with them because they are in fact experiencing an increase in cyber attacks and taking a page out of the

playbook that you mentioned and are incredible work with the campaign and ukraine and shields up and we have lines of effort we do employ on a day-to- day basis to protect critical infrastructure. >> i think one of those things is the workforce focus and you said even if all of the fbi's cyber agents focus exclusively on chinese threats, chinese hackers would still outnumber 50 to 1 and is that still the case? what is the fbi doing to deal with that? >> that is still my assessment of the numerical disadvantage we are at and china has a bigger hacking program than that of every other nation combined and has stolen more of americans personal data than that of every nation big or small. it is a scale that is significant and in terms of what we are doing, in addition to trying to focus on

recruiting and cyber talent both among agents but also computer scientists and data analysts and data scientists, we also focus heavily and some of this is in the budget request out before congress, focused on advanced training for existing workforce. one of the things that i do hear consistently from our agents who work in this area is that while people who know the ones and zeros are important, if you have a good agent who has good agent skills, if you get the right training, you can teach them a lot of the cyber stuff they need. we are trying to raise the median cyber efficiency and not just get out of the problem. >> i appreciate that and we did meet some of your agents when we went overseas and they are doing a good job there especially when they share information and i want to focus on the rise of anti-semitism especially on college campuses. there are college campuses

around that have student groups that don't seem to be promoting anti-semitism but don't seem to be getting funding from the universities and there is one here in dc. and have you been focused on where they get their funding from? is it coming from outside sources are overseas? specifically for the student groups that have caused a lot of rise in anti-semitism on campuses? >> when we investigate funding issues, it is on the context where we properly predicated investigations and we are not funding anything against first amendment activity to be clear but we have looked at funding of hamas and going in the other direction and funding including direction, including the use of cryptocurrency and things like that. when it comes to groups here, if they are engaged in activity that is properly predicated as

criminal or national security investigation, then funding is part of what we are looking at. >> and i know i'm out of time, but i think the focus on these two groups, they are well prepared, they are well governed. the money has to be coming from somewhere, if it's not coming from the university. i think it's coming from somewhere. but i am out of time. >> i now recognize the gentleman from maryland, the braking member on oversight. your five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i wanted to follow-up on a couple of questions. one was to the director. at the end of congressman higgins is testimony, he had a photo with two buses on it. and i wasn't able to, we try to figure out what he was getting at. but it sounded like he was

suggesting that they were fbi operatives that were infiltrated the, like two bus loads of fbi operatives who had infiltrated the january 6th raid . and i wanted to get, give you a chance to clarify on that. >> i haven't seen the photo before, so i can't speak to the specifics of his photo what it does or does not show. but what i can say, what i tried to say in response to his questions, is that somebody asking or suggesting whether the violence of the capital on january 6th was part of some operation orchestrated by fbi sources or fbi agents, or both, the answer is emphatically not. and to suggest to the contrary i think is a disservice to the hard-working men and women of the fbi who bust their tails every day to keep americans, including everybody of on capitol hill, safe. >> and i want to add, i used to be in this office here in washington, and was actually

handling cases against them while the prosecutions were taking place. i do want to commend your office and the department of justice prosecutors for putting together like 700 cases at this point. the vast majority of which have been successful. so i commend you for that. i am on judiciary, you testified about 702. as you know, the time is coming up for reauthorization on that. questions about whether the reauthorization should contain some statutory changes that put additional restrictions on your office. i know you had some objections to that, and said that your office has made some internal changes. i want to get a sense of hearing what those are before i made a final decision on what i want to do with respect to that bill. there are two, actually. >> i would say two things.

first, on the impact of the changes, then with the changes where themselves. the most important thing for this committee and for congress to take away on the changes we have made is the results of those changes, which have now been found. you don't have to take my word for it, the same judge who rightly criticized as earlier found our reforms that we put in place have resulted -- >> yes, but if you tell us what they are. >> the changes include all sorts of changes to training, oversight, internal oversight, preapprovals. >> let me stop you on that one. what of the preapproval requirements that have been put in place now? >> there are a whole slew of them. some have to do with like when you have a batch query, when there are large number of query terms. certain types of sensitive query terms have to get run up to the level of deputy director. i'd be happy to arrange a more

detailed briefing, because it is quite detailed. one of the changes we put in place as i created an entirely new office of internal audit at the at he either did not exist four. >> if you could supplement your testimony with the written, if you could send me whatever it is that lays out the details of the changes we made i would appreciate it. okay, i got close. you mentioned 702, but you didn't have any in your written testimony about it. if you can answer the same kind of question, what sort of changes? do you think the reforms that have been made are sufficient? what is your position on that? >> i know the department of justice is engage in a robust conversation about what kind of reforms should be considered. i would only reinforce what i said in my oral testimony, which is that 702 is a vital authority for the ct community, and agility is key to that authority.

so anything we do that re- authorizes and preserves that agility. >> fair enough, if you have additional reforms you would like to suggest, please send those in writing. we run out of time with respect to a couple of things here. but i wanted to end with this. mr. mccall had a chance to respond to mr. coleman, but the aiding and abetting allegation that was directed at you, secretary mayorkas, i thought was inappropriate and incorrect. i just want to register that on the record. i know there've been some disagreements about the way you have run the office and that sort of in, but i just don't see how that is productive. >> i now recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. gonzales, for his five minutes. >> thank you for being here. i represent the largest border district in congress. this border crisis is very real to us, not only for all americans, but we are at the forefront of it. i want to start with secretary

mayorkas. in april you told 60 minutes the migrant surge across our border are resulting from this information by cartels. i would go a step further and say that these cartels are terrorizing america and it is long time that we labeled these cartels as terrorist organizations. i have a few questions for you, if you could be either yes or no or brief in your response. my first question is this. i'm looking for solutions. would raising the credible fear standards improve? >> congressman, the asylum system and the immigration system as a whole is in desperate need of reform, and i look forward to working with congress on achieving that reform. it is long overdue. >> do you think that would help? >> i think it is very difficult to take one element of an expansive system and say that is -- >> and let's talk about a couple of other elements. everyone i talk to is saying raise the credible fear standards as a good start. i hope you would consider also being vocal on that. the second part, would increasing repatriation flights

improve our border? >> congressman, we work with our international partners every day to increase the number of repatriation flights. in fact, our supplemental funding request seeks additional funds to achieve -- >> to these repatriation flights work? >> yes. >> i would agree. i've seen it firsthand. as soon as we turn on repatriation flights the numbers go down. my third question. would increasing penalties to smugglers improve our border? >> congressman, i would like to analyze whether or not the severity of the penalties available are sufficient. i can tell you from my experience in the courthouse, in the courtroom as a federal prosecutor, that the delivery of consequences achieves -- >> what i'm seeing is that the consequences don't match the

crime. americans are dying, and it is one time for us to match the crime to what is occurring. my last question for you, do you agree we have a crisis at the southern border? >> congressman, i've been asked this question many times. let me assure you we do not minimize the significance of the challenge of the border. >> i'd like to now ask director brave. i agree with your stance on china, i firmly believe china is a grave threat to our nation on all different fronts. i appreciate your stance on that. the question is, how substantial are the chinese state ties to entities sending fentanyl ingredients to the mexican cartels. >> well, i'm not sure what i can share in the setting on that, but let me try it this way. when it comes to questions about state ties and china i think it is important for americans to understand the distinctions that we draw in this country between the government and, say, the private sector.

the sanctions that in the chinese country, in chinese government and chinese state are distinctions that are blurry at best, if not nonexistent. so we have certainly seen that entities in china, unscrupulous actors and china are the primary source, not just of fentanyl precursors, but of pill presses, which are used to press the fentanyl, and precursors for meth in the labs of mexico, as well. whether or not that traces back directly, i cannot speak to. >> going back to my 20 years in the military, the chinese communist party is interacted in every aspect of the government. very briefly, if you could respond. do you think he is critical to turning these precursors on or off? >> there is not a doubt in my mind that if the chinese government wanted to be more aggressive and serious about clamping down on precursors for fentanyl and meth and pill

presses, there are all sorts of things they could do and we would welcome their contribution to that. >> i agree with you. i want to move on to the terrorist attack that happened in israel. following hamas's attack on israel october 7, there is been a rise of anti-semitism and anti-muslim sentiment in the united states, would you agree? if someone here is in the united states on a visa and they actively support terrorism, what happens to them? >> well, i'm not an expert on visa revocation, but if they meet the appropriate visa revocation standard, then actions taken administratively. >> right now it is illegal. if you are here on aviva and actively supporting a terrorist organization it is illegal and you need to be deported. the question i have is how many cases has the f ei pursued in this route? >> well, visa revocation is not within our authorities. we work with our partners and

share information when we have evidence about somebody. >> have there been cases? >> i have a number, but certainly visa revocation is an important tool. >> have any occurred this year? >> have any visa revocations? >> where you work with other partners. that you have worked with other entities in the government to determine if these visas stay is are indeed supporting terrorism. >> i mean, i know we have heard all sorts of cases the result in visa revocation. whether or not they fit the exact criteria. >> there are active cases? >> we view visa revocation as an important tool in the toolbox. it is not our tool, but it is a tool we contribute to. >> you do contribute, thank you. >> the gentleman's time is expired. i now recognize mr. garcia from california for his five minutes of questioning. >> you very much, mr. chairman.

thank you to all of our witnesses here today and for your service. mr. secretary, i know that this last tuesday night one of our colleagues on this committee really decided to waste our time with a very political stunt which made some deeply unfair and untrue allegations against you, sir. and while i am glad that eight republicans joined us in defeating that resolution, i would like to take a moment to correct the record for the public and the american people. mr. secretary, yes or no. is there a country currently being invaded? >> congressman, that is a term that i find to be offensive. >> i do, as well. is invasion, excuse me, this is my time. is invasion a responsible way to characterize people who come to the u.s. to seek asylum? >> congressman, i have been asked very often in many hearings now, i heard one congressman actually sites that i have attended 27,

participated in 27 hearings. i did not realize the number was that large. i am not focused on language, i'm focused on the challenges that we face and making sure that we meet those challenges on behalf of the american people. >> thank you, sir. is your agency working every day to stop fentanyl from coming into our country? >> most certainly, yes. >> and is it true that the overwhelming majority of fentanyl is in fact carried through ports of entry by american citizens in this country? >> it is. >> is it fair to say that an orderly border actually requires competence of immigration reform which would require congressional action rather than just executive actions? >> congressman, immigration reform is vitally necessary to advancing the security of our border. >> thank you. those were simple questions, but i think that your record keeps being distorted unfairly, so i wanted to give you a chance to clear that up. i think it is also important to hear how, we are talking about

security and threats to the homeland, how the current head of the republican party spent veterans day just recently. i want to review this first sentence. in honor of our great veterans on veterans day, we pledge to you that we will root out the communist, marxist, fascist, and radical left to live like vermin within the confines of our country, lie, steal, and cheat on elections, and will do whatever possible, legally or illegally, to destroy america and the american dream. here we see donald trump calling his fellow americans vermin and training to real people based on their political beliefs. this is the kind of rhetoric that reminds me of the worst type of dictators in history, and it is not his first time using this kind of rhetoric. he told an audience in iowa that immigrants were poisoning the blood of our country. that's a quote. his promise to violate federal laws in order to build mass deportation camps, and promised to restore his muslim ban.

donald trump, of course, has had dinner and hosted open holocaust deniers and white nationalists. we all remember when he prays the white nationalists charlottesville marchers who chanted jews will not replace us. mr. secretary, i'm not going to ask you to respond directly to donald trump statements. i think we can all agree that they are not worthy of anybody running for president. and as we move into this election year, i am deeply concerned about donald trump, particularly as he faces more more pressure from his supporters, that we try to invoke additional violence that we might see from fringe supporters of his. i will see you ahead of donald trump's first indictment, about his inability to provoke violent attacks. i would like to thank you for your ongoing attention to this matter, and for taking on the challenges that we have around white supremacy, around the huge actions happening across this country that in fact a lot

of people. we also know that donald trump is not the only politician who has used, or has a history of violent rhetoric in this country. we need to call it out. finally, i want to raise one final issue with you. the anti-defamation league found that in 2022 mass shootings in the u.s. accounted for most extremism related fatalities last year. about 80% of those murders committed by white supremacists . we saw in the dallas mall case, the dollar general store in jacksonville. there have been shootings after shootings. what would you need from congress to help you better tackle this threat? >> well, our budget request went up in fiscal 24, it includes a number of resources for counterterrorism, including that would speak to this threat. that is important, because as you heard in my testimony

today, the foreign terrorist threat is not only not abating, but it is intensifying. so we certainly can't be put in a position where we are having to rob peter to pay paul, to protect the american people from all forms of terrorist attack. also, i should say come on the issue of massive acts of violence, mass shootings, putting ideology aside or anything for motivation, i think there are also parts of the appropriation request that go to our ability to do background checks in a timely way and process, obviously make sure the guns are not purchased by people who are prohibited under existing law from having them. >> thank you, sir. >> the gentleman yields. i now recognize the lady from georgia, miss greene. >> i we'll look these innocent americans. do you see them?

>> i do, congressman. >> they are dead. they are from dalton, georgia. they are dead because a 17-year- old, likely affiliated with the cartels, was smuggling illegal aliens into our country in texas, breaking our laws. and this happens every single day in our country. earlier this week eight republicans joined the democrats and protected your job. but i want you to know you have a short time coming. you can honorably resign or we are going to impeach you. and it is happening very, very soon. mr. wray, do your member on october 18 when the capital complex was illegally occupied, breaking the same laws that you have hunted down americans were from january 6? are you familiar with this? >> i don't recognize the picture you are holding.

>> maybe because your agents are not doing a good job in investigating the organizers that broke the law, illegally occupied this very building we are sitting in right now, and over 300 of them were arrested. some of them attacked police officers. i have seen on the news where the fbi is hunting them down with helicopters, tanks in the streets, raiding their homes with flash bangs, targeting these people, watching these people, throwing them in jail for them to stay in pretrial in solitary confinement for years before they ever face trial. you want to know what this is? i'll tell you. this is one of the organizers phones. and this is a chat. and it says of the top. while we are talking about terrorism, are you familiar with the term? do you know the definition? >> i'm not going to try to define it. >> it means arab uprising. or jihad.

are you concerned about jihad? >> i am, i have testified. >> that are you interested in using the fbi? you are the director of the fbi. do you hunt down terrorists in our country? those would be responsible for transport? >> absolutely. that is why we have had terrorism that our highest national thread priority levels since the day i started as fbi director. >> do you still use the southern poverty law center as the source? the fbi used the southern poverty law center as a source when targeting catholics. are you still using the southern policy mall center as a source? >> i think what you are referring to is the so-called richmond intelligence product, which is soon as i learned about it i was horrified. withdrew it. we had an inspection done, and part of the problem we found with that particular product, that particular office, is precisely what you are talking about. the reliance on the southern poverty law center and the way in which they relied on it.

>> you relied on the southern poverty law center, but i would have you know that this one right here, this person involved in the global group that broke the law, came in and occupied the office housebuilding, interrupted congress, interrupted hearings. right here, katrina bleakley is the lead attorney for the southern poverty law center. were you aware of this? >> councilwoman, as i said, i have not seen the photos you are holding up before. >> well, i posted them on my twitter account, it's public. >> i don't spend a lot of time on twitter. >> i'm sure you do, because the department of homeland security organized with other offices has censored many americans including myself. >> i'm not part of the department of homeland security. >> you should be interested in investigating terrorism. this right here is proof that we have terrorists in our own office building.

eddie rely on the southern poverty law center's. katrina bleakley is one of the organizers. i'll send this over to your office so maybe perhaps you could stop targeting innocent grandmothers and veterans who walk to the capital on january 6th and might actually go after people tied to hamas and likely iran. are you interested in members of congress that are organized and participating in a facebook group that has ties to hamas? >> we are not investigating people for participating in a facebook group. >> a facebook group that is tied to hamas? >> we have multiple investigations into individuals affiliated with hamas. and they are active investigations. >> you're going to tell me as fbi director, you will not investigate americans or united states members of congress that are linked to known terrorists? >> that's not what i said. >> are you going to investigate

or not? >> we are going to investigate individuals that are in affiliated with hamas, if they meet our standards for predication, which a long- standing method set by this department and the department before that. >> i would hope to god that jihad and it terrorists in our very country would be something that you would prioritize instead of a three-hour event that happened at the capital nearly four years ago, mr. wray. >> i yelled back my time. >> the gentle lady yields. i now recognize mr. menendez, the gentleman from new jersey, for five minutes. >> earlier in your testimony, did you say the defining the fbi would be quote a gift to the chinese communist party, more power to the cartels, and more damage to critical infrastructure?

>> i believe i said words to that effect. >> i appreciate that, not everybody was in the room during that part of your testimony. i want to follow-up all of my colleague, mr. higgins, said about our depression as one of the primary threats to the homeland. i agree that arm depression is a massive threat to our homeland, but we need to be clear about what actually constitutes armed oppression. in this country, minority groups are routinely targeted to weapon nice oppression. armed oppression is when black men cannot go safely for a run in georgia. armed oppression is when black youth cannot wear hoodies and four. armed oppression is being lgbtq in this country and not being able to safely go to a nightclub in florida. armed oppression is living in a hispanic community and being targeted while going to walmart in el paso. armed oppression is being black in this country and not being able to go grocery shopping in buffalo without being targeted because of the color of your skin. armed oppression is not being able to go safely to a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or any place of worship to practice your faith. domestic terrorists have targeted each of these locations, and each of these groups in acts of armed oppression.

yet, when we in the house committee on homeland security established our committee oversight plan for the 118th congress, my republican colleagues refused to include d domestic terrorism in our plan. that is where the committee is failing when you consider threats to the homeland. the eighth congressional district is home to what homeland security experts call the most dangerous two miles in america, containing ports, major airlines, densely populated cities, and chemical plants. the new jersey congressional delegation has improved the safely and reliability of critical infrastructure in north jersey. the biden administration has aggressively protected our infrastructure from foreign adversaries, with president biden admonishing russian president vladimir putin and having structures off-limits. a stark contract to president trump, who proposed a joint cyber unit with russia. when considering the threat landscape, how does the department take into account

the risk posed by having multiple critical infrastructure sectors in close geographical proximity? >> congressman, the proximity of elements of our critical infrastructure only increase the challenge that we confront. but we work very closely with our critical infrastructure partners, the great majority of this country's critical infrastructure rest in the hands of the private sector. we work very closely with the private sector to ensure the security of our critical infrastructure. the remarkable men and women of the cyber security infrastructure security agency do a tremendous job. >> and on the issue of cyber security, i want to address a threat landscape. when we talk about cybersecurity, we are talking about threats that don't just come from a nationstate like iran, but from a network of proxies in affiliated groups. how is the current conflict in israel giving us additional insight about iranian backed

cyber threat? >> i think what we are seeing, congressman, and i will defer to my colleagues as well. the use of cyber as a tool in the repertoire of our adversaries. we are seeing that play out in the middle east conflict, just as we have seen it in the context of the unprovoked russian aggression against ukraine. >> i appreciate that. one more question. in your testimony you mentioned how critical it is that the program is reauthorized. i am particularly invested in the program because there are four facilities covered by the program injure these at congressional district. how does the program help keep our critical infrastructure safe? >> congressman, the program, the chemical facilities antiterrorism standards allow us to inspect facilities to ensure adherence with the security and safety precautions

that are necessary to protect the surrounding communities. that is one aspect. we must achieve the reauthorization of that program. >> i agree. i just want to quickly address some of the ways that my colleagues have attacked secretary mayorkas here and another hearings. you have and i have had our disagreements on policies, including recently on the detention center in my district. i'm looking forward to your department's response to my letter on that. i have two quick questions for you. during your long career in public service including 30 years as a law enforcement official and senior official to the department of homeland security under the obama administration, did you take your responsibility to the american public seriously? >> i have, and i continue to do so. >> president biden asked you to serve as secretary of the department of homeland security, did you except to keep the american people safe? is that we focus on every civil day when you wake up to take this office? >> indeed it is. >> thank you so much for your

service, i yelled back. >> the gentleman yields, i now recognize mr. esposito, the gentleman from the great state of new york. >> thank you, mr. chairman. secretary mayorkas , the crisis of the southwest border not only impacts the border states such as texas and arizona, but now every state is truly a border state. state and local leaders from sanctuary cities such as new york and chicago are starting to feel the strain of effects of the border crisis. over the last month we have seen dozens of arrests at the roosevelt hotel, which is housing migrants, including crimes against children, assaults, traumatic beatings using no parking signs, and assaults against my fellow members of the nypd. there was a migrant that came into new york city, that in his first 45 days in new york was arrested six times on 14 different charges. but there was no charges,

because the great district attorney, one of my colleagues in new york, mr. goldman, has supported. the great district attorney alvin bragg declined prosecution. governor hobo has said there is no room left at the end. there is, and as recently as 25 minutes go i've spoken to commissioners of police on long island who said there is zero communication from homeland security about the individuals that are coming into our communities. less than two years into his tenure, mayor adams has faced challenges finding housing and feeding millions of migrants that have come from the border. mayor adams at one point during a public speech said, and i quote, the influx of migrants along the southwest border will destroy new york city.". illinois governor, another democrat, recently sent a letter to president biden calling the influx quote untenable.

new york city is facing a potential 15% cut across the board to city agencies over the next nine months. why? to deal with migrants, because of your failed policies. my question, and these are yes or no. no time to answer differently. do you agree with what mayor adams when he said that the influx of migrants along the southwest border will destroy new york city? yes or no? >> congressman -- >> yes or no. >> congressman, i will answer your question, that we do not underestimate the challenges. >> with all due respect, it's a yes or no question. >> have answered that question, and let me also add -- >> do you agree with the illinois governor who sent the letter to resident biting calling the influx untenable? yes or no. >> we work very closely with the city. >> with all due respect, it's a yes or no question. yes or no. >> i'm going to answer you.

>> is a concern you that mayor adams office asked the judge to stop a decades-old right to shelter mandate which requires new york to give a place to sleep to anyone who needs one? yes or no? >> congressman, i can't speak to it. >> doesn't concern you that the surgeon of illegal aliens crossing the southwest border has overwhelmed our big cities like new york with approximately 60,000 occupying beds in traditional city shelters, and in over 20 emergency sites? yes or no. >> congressman, i am incredibly proud of the men and women of the department. >> doesn't concern you that mayor adams stated, and i quote, we, the city of new york, getting no support on this national crisis, yes or no? >> congressman, we are very proud. >> doesn't concern you that as of august 2023, new york city was paying almost $10 million, $10 million per day to provide services for illegal aliens? yes or no?

>> to have a chance to answer your question? >> short, if the answer is yes or no, you have the opportunity to answer every one of my questions. he refused to answer the questions whether they are yes or no. these are not trick questions. the answers should unequivocally be yes. every state is a border state. every city is a border city. especially when it comes to bearing the cost of you and president biden's failed policies at the border. i agree with my colleagues. you should be impeached. and that is why we are doing the work that this committee is doing. because you have failed. as someone who has taken oath's, probably the one most important, besides being a member of congress, as a new york city police detective, i live that oath every single day. and to answer the question that you are asked, do you wake up every morning, you clearly don't. because from every moment, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, your focus should be securing this border. and there has never ever been

such a disaster at our southern border as it is now. and that is because of your failed leadership. it is a dereliction of duty, and quite frankly, the questions i answer should have been unequivocally yes. but you sat there and you decided to answer in another fashion. and that speaks volumes. that is why this committee will continue working to put the facts together, to make sure that we find a new secretary of homeland security. one that holds this country and this nation as most important. mr. chairman, i yelled back. >> the gentleman yields. i will recognize mr. goldman, the gentleman from new york, for five minutes of questioning. >> i appreciate my colleague from the fourth district of new york, which does not include any part of new york city, has spent time as an nypd detective and is now an expert on our border policy and the history of it, as he leaves this room. secretary mayorkas, you are not allowed to answer a number of

the questions that my colleague just ask you. i would like to give you some time to respond if you would like. >> congressman, i would only say this. that we do not minimize the significance of the challenge of the southern border. we also understand the challenge at the southern border. and the fact that it is reflective of a challenge that is gripping our entire hemisphere, and in fact, the world. yesterday i spent time with my counterparts from the european union, who spoke of the challenges that they are suffering, by reason of a historic displacement of people around the world. we work day and night, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to advance the security of our southwest border, to advance the security of the northern order. and to achieve our highest and most important mission, the safety and security of the american people. >> i appreciate that, and i

also appreciate very much that policy disputes are not impeachable offenses. and we can wax poetic and make big political pronouncements about whether you should be impeached or not, but impeachments is high crimes and misdemeanors, bribery and treason. a policy dispute in a distant event about how we are managing the border is not impeachable. i do want to give you an opportunity, because i know the administration under your leadership has actually taken numerous measures to address what you rightly point out to be a dramatic increase in the influx of immigrants to this country, in large part because of the collapsing governments in central and south america, as well as climate disruptions. can you just describe briefly some of the measures that you have taken to address this influx of immigration at our

southern border? >> congressman, the foundational point is the following, and it is a point about which everyone agrees that we are working with a broken immigration system that has been in deference -- desperate need of reform for many years. number one. within the confines of that broken immigration system we are implementing a model that does work. and that is to build a safe, lawful, and orderly pathway for individuals to obtain the relief that the law, that congress has passed and provides them. and to deliver consequences for those individuals that do not avail themselves of those pathways. that is the model that has proven effective in the context of a broken immigration system, and also in the context of a phenomenon of migration of displaced people that is

incredibly dynamic and changes month-to-month. >> and i appreciate very much your point, which my republican colleagues do not seem to accept, which is that our immigration system can only be fixed by us. it requires legislation, passed by congress, they cannot be managed separately and individually by the executive branch. in my short time left, i want to focus on the testimony you gave a couple weeks ago, noting the tremendous uptick in anti- semitic hate crimes. i believe you testified that even though jews makeup just 2.4% of the u.s. population, anti-semitic a crimes account for nearly 60% of all religious-based hate crimes. and you indicated that this comes from across the spectrum, from the left, from the right, foreign terrorist organizations, homegrown violent extremists, domestic violent extremists. can you expand a little bit on those heightened threats to the jewish community, now two weeks later? and how the increase of anti-

semitic hate speech has impacted or affected, increased the threats of violence that the fbi has noticed since october 7th? >> well, as you said, i have tried to be very clear. one of the things that jumps out at me, which is why we work so closely with the fbi both nationally and locally with the jewish communities, the jewish community is uniquely targeted by terrorism and hate across the spectrum. not that there should ever be a proportion for hate, but the idea that a group that makes up only 2.4% of the american public should be targeted with something close to 60% of all religious-based hate crimes is important, and should be important to everyone. we have seen, over the last two years, an increase not just in hate crimes overall, but an

increase, a market increase in anti-semitic hate crimes. that is all with the recognition that hate crimes are, as we all know, chronically underreported. we have had, just in the past two years, attacks on synagogues in colorado, ohio, and nevada. we have made arrestor attacks against the jewish community in california, michigan, new jersey. we have helped rescue the hostages, and that is all before october 7th. since october 7th, as i testified, we have seen an increase in threats and reported threats, which covered across the spectrum. we are very purposely and intensely doubling down on engagement with the jewish community,

which needs our help. i think it is incumbent on all americans to stand together on this. >> i appreciate that. i appreciate the chairman for indulging. i would just add, i do hope that the fbi makes a much more concerted effort to pressure local law enforcement agencies to participate in the collection of data on hate crimes, which is woefully deficient. even that information that you have only includes about 21% of law enforcement agencies in the country. >> the gentleman yields. i now recognize the gentle lady from florida for her five minutes of questioning. >> thank you, mr. chairman. earlier this year i sponsored the bill to reauthorize the chemical facility antiterrorism standards program, which passed the house 409 to 1. but unfortunately has stalled in the senate, and the program has since expired. secretary mayorkas, i know you share my concern about the lapse in this program, and i would like to return to your testimony about the potential

impact of the lapse in the program. specifically, would you speak to the role that dhs has in the inspection of local facilities and how that changes when the program is allowed to lapse? >> thank you very much for your support, congresswoman, of the program. it is vitally necessary to have a section not only of the communities that surround the particular facility, but america as a whole. without the authority we are unable to inspect facilities, and ensure they are compliant with standards that protect us against very dangerous chemicals. we are fortunate that we have not had an incident that has been a dramatic example of why this authority is so vitally needed. >> do you believe the likelihood or the threat of such an incident, potentially occurring greater when the program is allowed to lapse? >> absolutely. what we are able to do is

ensure that the standards are being enforced and that best security practices are being followed. and when we are not able to inspect and enforce those standards, we see a facility not employing them and creating significant vulnerabilities. >> thank you, secretary mayorkas. director wray, i appreciate the testimony of given any information you have shared about your internal efforts at the f vi to address reform and address taking steps to address abuses to the 702 program within the fisk. and i would like to discuss that issue with you. the house committee on judiciary and intelligence have worked to come up with reform ideas. and legislation that would protect american civil liberties while still ensuring that law enforcement has the ability to conduct lawful and necessary surveillance. with

the expiration living at the end of 2023 and the threats that you have described ever- increasing to our homeland, i would like to touch on how the program itself and the 702 program assist in preventing plots to harm americans and potential threats to the homeland. would you please elaborate on why 702 is an important part of your work? >> so, 702 is critical to protecting americans from foreign terrorist threats. if you take about why 702 was enacted in the first place, even though the focus on foreign adversaries overseas presenting national security threats, the whole reason we have it is to protect americans here in the homeland from those threats. and that part is the fbi's part in running person queries among other things. if you have a foreign terrorist organization, overseas, any one

of those ones that i listed off in my opening statement who decides to task an operative here or to direct an attack here , it is more likely than not that 702 is going to be the thing that would allow us to anticipate or detect that. if we were to deliberately blind ourselves to that information, we are taking a wildly irresponsible risk in my view. to give you an example, something like 100% of our technically sourced intelligence about hamas comes from 702. that is just one terrorist organization. so why we would line ourselves to that when it is not constitutionally required, somebody needs to be able to explain to the families of terrorist victims in the future why something that we were not constitutionally required to do, we just decided to do that made them and their family members less safe.

>> in your written testimony, you specifically catch on the concept of a warrant requirement related to u.s. person queries in the 702 database. and your assessment that that would hamper law-enforcement ability, the intelligence community's ability to do their work and utilize the database. would you explain why it is, as you believe, that a warrant requirement for u.s. persons queries would be a challenge or a hurdle for you all to continue to do that work? >> well, the first thing i would say is that it is quite clear under the case law that a warrant is not required constitutionally to run a u.s. person query. this is information that is already lawfully collected, and it is our ability to run queries of the information that is already lawfully collected. the second thing is that the time, the stage of an investigation where 702 is really used is at the front end, to quickly figure out what are we dealing with here? do we have a threat that we have to pursue?

so agility and speed are of the essence. i'm trying to get a warrant requirement at the front and in that stage is really a nonstarter. the delay that it would cause in allowing us to connect the dots, which is what is happening when our people are running u.s. person queries, would basically make the tool largely useless. the other thing that i think people tend to forget when they talk about a warrant requirement is that the vast majority of our u.s. person querying is to identify victim, particularly of cyber attacks. there is no warrant that anybody would be getting to run a query of a victim term. so we would essentially be putting ourselves in a position where we wouldn't be able to protect american infrastructure from iranian cyber attacks, chinese cyber attacks, russian cyber size, north korean cyber attacks. i think there is, i understand the mind-set. we take it very seriously, our role as stewards

of these important authorities. that is why i am so committed to the reforms we have made. that is why i am so gratified by the findings by other outside entities about the effectiveness of those reforms. but please, please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> i now recognize misses clark for her five minutes of testimony. >> thank you, chairman. and i thank you, ranking member. i sincerely thank our panel of witnesses both for their service and their testimony here today. and i would like to extend the gratitude to the women and men in the federal enterprise under your leadership. last congress i partnered with my colleagues in the senate and across the aisle to enact the cyber incident reporting for critical infrastructure act. which would give the federal government the visibility it needs to identify malicious cyber campaigns early and better understand the tactics of our adversaries, to prioritize risk reduction investments. incident reporting is a critical tool in our ability to defend ourselves.

but it is not the only place we need to invest time and resources. completing incident reporting framework will undermine security, not enhance it. it forces a disproportionate focus. the cyber security reporting counsel has a knowledge as much. secretary mayorkas, the cyber security reporting counsel has identified duplicative federal cyber security reporting requirements. the national cyber security strategy continues to task with harmonizing the federal cyber incident reporting requirements. how willing are dhs federal partners, including independent agencies, to do the work of harmonizing incident reporting requirements? and are you concerned that multiple inconsistent reporting requirements could frustrate the security value of incident

reporting? >> congresswoman, this is a very important test subject in a domain that is only becoming of increasing significance to the security of our critical infrastructure in our country at large. one, we are receiving excellent cooperation from our federal partners with respect to the cyber incident reporting counsel. and its effort to harmonize reporting requirements. it is a challenge, because there are also independent agencies that have particular mandates, and they receive those mandates requiring a different process, a different timeline than other departments and agencies do. we are all driving towards the same outcome of a cyber secure america, but there are some tensions with respect to particular jurisdictions. and everyone is demonstrated

impeccable motive. >> very well. director wray , what do you make of the fact that persons primarily responsible for threats our homeland. i'm sorry, let me back up here. i am struck by an unclassified product for our terrorism inspired attacks since 9/11, as of february 2023, that identified 47 attacks and concludes that of the 47, 41 involved u.s. persons.

i hope that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are paying attention, and recognize that their fixation solely on threats coming over the southwestern border is dangerous. we cannot lose sight of the threats right here at home, and it is urgent that we work to counter radicalization of u.s. persons. so again, my question is, you know, what do you make of the fact that u.s.-based persons are primarily responsible for terrorism threats here in our homeland? and how difficult does this make it for the fbi to detect and thwart possible attacks? and are you having to shift your counterterrorism approach to accomplish this? >> thank you for the question. it goes in line with my testimony here today, which is that the heightened threat environment in the united states is being driven by individuals that are inspired to act. i think you've rightly outlined the number of foreign terrorists inspired, enabled, or directed attacks since 9/11

here on u.s. soil. and most of those have been inspired attacks. some of that enabled, some have been, only three i think have been directed by foreign terrorist organizations. so that history, i think, is an important context for the height threat environment we are dealing with here today. that said, part of the reason that we have had that level of success is because of the very clear priority we have placed on screening, vetting, watch listing terrorist identities, known and suspected terrorists databases on the classified side , that really support border security efforts. >> my time is up, mr. chairman, as we moved to thanksgiving next week i give thanks for you and the work that you do, and all of those families the

sacrifice on behalf of the american people, happy things giving to all my colleagues. i yelled back. >> well said, ms. clark. thank you for that. i now recognize the gentleman from texas for his five minutes of questions. >> afternoon. 19 terrorists in september of 2001 killed our citizens. then last months hamas fighters came in israel. we have around number on how many? >> i don't have a number for you. >> do you know? >> i don't. >> we don't have good account ability on what those numbers look like? >> i'm sure we can get those for you. i don't have them for you today. but it was a sizable number into a shocking degree. >> so how many death in israel last month? total civilian? >> we have seen the israeli government revise their casualty estimates down to around 1200. again, a shocking number of deaths. >> how many hostages remain?

>> over 200 is my understanding. >> mr. wray, do you believe that in america or globally there is a war on fentanyl? >> do i believe there is a war on fentanyl? i think there is a whole of government effort to combat the scourge. >> just the sheer number of deaths we see weekly, monthly, and yearly. i would just say sheer numbers that we are losing to fentanyl, and as a military man, i would think that loss would calculate a shear conflict. my question is, do you consider our challenge against the fentanyl crisis a war? is that too bold of a statement? >> look, i think the language is appropriate when it comes to fentanyl. i will tell you that on the fbi and, when we are making gang arrests, we have seen over and over again violent gang arrests

, more often than not, include fentanyl seizures. all over the country. that is just one metric, but it shows the degree along with the case that i mentioned in boston in my opening statement, it just shows that it is a routine thing now for our people working with our partners to be making seizures of fentanyl, that one seizure would be enough to wipe out an entire state. >> i would add trafficking to the war, as well. given the sheer numbers of individuals that are being held across the globe. how many known groups or individuals in the united states are we monitoring for terroristic activity that we need to be concerned on? and mr. mayorkas, i know he asked you these questions with that chart. i'm concerned, we are concerned that is there a substantial amount? again, 19 for 9/11. let's say 200 maybe hamas fighters in israel. those are very small numbers compared to the damages that they inflicted. so are we actively engaged on

any terroristic watch list inside the united states that provides an absolute risk or threat right now? >> let me try to answer the question this way. we had the fbi has, through our 56 joint terrorism task forces, have active investigations that relate to hamas, that relate to al qaeda. >> you said that very eloquently earlier. you don't have to repeat yourself. my concern is, i want to know can i go home and tell my people in texas that we are in a safe place. there is no viable risk that we need to be concerned about right now, given the numbers that have come across the border. these numbers, you get hit in the face of this every day. so i'm sure you know them well. but in 18 we had six known registered, then it goes down to three, this year it is 172. and already and 24 fiscal year we are at 13. again, this is a worldwide

threat to the homeland. my concern is are we missing something? where is our blindside? is there one? and are we addressing it? >> either one of you. >> as an intelligence professional, we are always concerned about the gas we have, about the global terrorism environment. for my part, we are very focused on foreign terrorist organizations overseas, what we can learn about their plans and intentions, and the degree to which they have tried to see operatives here in the united states. >> are you seeing them selling those threads here in the united states? >> we do not have credible or corroborated indications that they are trying to cede operatives into the united states for terrorist purposes through the southwest border or other borders. that does not mean we are complacent, and it is a risk that we monitor and evaluate every day. >> okay. mr. mayor, as you mentioned in your opening statements, about

past the house. it is sitting in the senate. and in your opening statement you mentioned sheppard, texas. do you know where sheppard, texas is? >> not precisely, congressman. >> i was hoping you would say yes. that is my district. i want to thank you for coming to my office. and you did. thank you very much. >> i'm aware of the fact of the explosion. >> human error is how it inevitably happened. i'm not sure if you're aware regulation. if you're aware i want to bring it to your attention. that facility does not, even

though we support, that does not live in that space. thank you for coming to my office like you said you would do. the gentleman yields, titus has asked to devote to strong. the gentleman from alabama is recognized for his five minutes of testimony. secretary alejandro mayorkas , want to follow-up on a question. in august, seen and reported that a human smuggling ring containing at least one individual with no ties to isis was responsible for bringing a number of migrants to the border that were subsequently released into the country. i do have that document. i would like to add that to the record. you have my consent to add this. >> thank you. after learning of the isis

connection, the administration has been scrambling to determine the whereabouts of these individuals. secretary alejandro mayorkas , the by administration determine the whereabouts of all of these individuals ? have they all been detained? have they all been vetted? >> we vet and screen individuals whom we encounter at the southwest border, number one. number two, individuals that pose a threat to the safety of the american people, that pose a public safety or national security threat, and whose release would advance that threat are in fact detained. they are in immigration enforcement proceedings and they will be removed if they do not have a basis to remain in the united dates. >> have they been detained? >> are those that have been detained. in fact, we cannot be assured of the safety of the public. i would be pleased to provide

you with greater details in a different setting. think you mr. secretary. >> the nonintrusive inspection system program is critical for detecting illegal drugs like fentanyl, and other listed contraband hidden inside of cars, trucks, and cargo entering the u.s. through ports of entry. you have stated in recent testimony for the senate homeland security and government affairs committee that dhs has surged resources to our ports of entry as relates to the systems. dhs numbers tell us that with that system, only approximately 2% of pasture vehicles and 17% of cargo vehicles are even inspected for the detection of fentanyl and other contraband. do you really consider that a surge of resources? >> we have surge not only the deployment of technology the nonintrusive inspection technology, known by its acronym , nii.

we are looking at analyzed substances that are interdicted. if we identify them as fentanyl, we take the appropriate process serial action, specific to the attempted importation of this incredibly fatal opioid. >> director christopher wray, appreciated your candor when you said the border represents significant concerns to the fbi. since then, the number of illegal border crossings, those on the terrorist watchlist attempting to cross into the u.s. has continued to balloon. would it be safe to say that the situation at our border is still up significant concern? >> certainly, the concerns articulated last year remain top of mind for us. >> director christopher wray, i know it is not your border policies that have gotten us here, but i would be remiss not to mention the strain that the

open border puts on your workforce, and the ability to carry out the fbi's primary mission. that is not what i want to talk you about today. in your testimony, you mentioned the threat posed by criminal syndicates and nationstates as it relates to cyber comments is typically, he spoke to the threat posed by the chinese communist party in this arena. i was glad you briefly mentioned earlier, the impact of advanced training in cyber. can you speak to the capabilities at the fbi, redstone, and huntsville, alabama, and the role that huntsville is in combating the unique, and involving cyber threats posed by our adversaries? >> thank you, congressman, i am incredibly excited about everything going on in huntsville, including, in particular, we view that as where we will have the center of gravity for our advanced

training, especially high-tech and cyber, with innovation. we have been down there numerous times to check on the expansion . we are now up to 1900 employees down there. we have 19 different headquarter divisions with people down there . it is a hub of activity on the cyber side. i think it will be a very important part of the f guys feature. >> i do appreciate that information. we are very proud of how it has worked at redstone. >> gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes ms. titus for her five minutes of questioning. >> think you mr. chairman. thank you to the witnesses, especially secretary alejandro mayorkas for being here today. it is one year ago today that we sat in this hearing with these exact same witnesses, the exact same issues, the exact same questions, and here we are in this midi has done very little other than talk about the border. i don't think you first, mr.

secretary, for working with me on this year's decision. this week is the week of the big race in las vegas. we were to my office with your office, hard to get the security level raised to a level ii. that has been done. we appreciate that kind of cooperation. i've introduced a bill to codify that program called the special events program, and support act. it is bipartisan. i hope we can continue to work together on that. that will be a good next step. we listened to the story of the threads and who is threatening us and how they are threatening us, where they are, and where they came from. you know, right now, we are talking about what is happening in the middle east, and how it has been translated to threats or violence in this country. before we talked about it in the wake of the spring board decision on abortion issues. it seems like the methods are the same, but the motives

change back to whatever is politically on the agenda. it must be like playing whack a mole, how you deal with the threats. will you tell us what you have in place to adapt or adjust to what the current news is that is bringing out a new group of these homegrown terrorists? >> is that a question directed here likes >> either one. >> i would say, the two leaders seated with me, and their colleagues in the intelligence and law enforcement enterprise are the best in the world. that gives us visibility, in terms of the threat landscape. it allows us to operationalize the measures to meet that challenge. >> that we rely heavily on partnerships, state, local, not just with the federal agencies here, but with state and local

law enforcement and the community and the private sector in order to try to anticipate where the threat is going. that way we go to where the threat will be, not waiting to be in a reactive posture. the goal is to be ahead of the threat. partnerships are the critical ingredient in that. is not just within the federal government, but with all of the other, very important stakeholders. they make we have a fusion center in las vegas, where you have a strong presence, and the private sector. nobody has more security than gaming does. i think they are valuable partners. >> out just at what my colleague said, we have a workforce, combined across different agencies that is full of tenacity. their job is to not sleep on threats. their job is to understand, be curious, and evaluate every single report that comes in, and take it seriously. we are understanding whether it

is a real and credible threat, or a changing trend in the kind of dynamic we are facing here in the country, and globally. we are really proud of that tenacious workforce. >> if i can just add, director christopher wray using incredible term , the term of partnership. he is indeed correct, such as across the federal enterprise, but with our state, local, and tribal territory with campus law enforcement, and very portly, with the international partners, it really does require a community of action. >> i would ask you, director christopher wray on something you asked landed on in this report, or your statement today from a year ago. that is the international organized crime, the retail crime that we see, we will see more pictures of that as we go into the holiday season, the smash and grab, the shoplifting

, and the money is turned into human trafficking, drugs, guns, or whatever. and you tell us about how that is a priority for you? >> we are in a number of states, supporting state and local law enforcement partners that are the first line of defense on that. to the extent that there are national connections, national networks to the extent that the crime you are describing contributes to broader organized criminal activity, we are actively engaged in some states, we have dedicated tasks force teams focus is on that issue. this is something that is heavily concentrated in a few geographies in particular. it is becoming a more national trend. >> it is not just big-box stores. i was in a drug store 70 came in and raked all the eyelashes and a backpack and walked out. it is a problem at all levels. i do appreciate you keeping an

eye on that. >> the gentle lady has yielded back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oklahoma for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. our decaying national security is on full display. we know the southern border is open. i think colleagues across the aisle know the southern border is open. the policies are what is causing millions to come to the border. under the trump administration, we saw a 45 year low of illegal aliens coming to the border in 2019. things have completely reversed. we are seeing the highest numbers in our nations history. president biden, secretary alejandro mayorkas , leadership matters. there has not been a federal law change that has provoked this, it is the leadership from the top. since february 2021, customer border protection reported 6.5 million alien encounters at the

southern border under this administration, 1.7 million got away. that is 8.2 million total since the administration took office. that is three times the population of oklahoma. that means a 3 years, almost every year, the population of oklahoma is coming illegally across the southern border. customer border protection reports apprehended 294 known or suspected terrorist between ports of entry under president biden's timeframe. only 14 suspected terrorist were caught trying to get across the border for the entire trump administration. there is a passage in the bible that i find interesting. i think it is appropriate, this is when the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. it remains and it has been lawlessness to cross the border, it would undermine the rule of law. lawlessness is contagious. lawlessness of an open border

encourages lawlessness of the federal drug trade and human smuggling. it encourages illegal aliens to drive without a drivers license once they get here, or go on for illegal aliens here to commit additional crimes because they remain hidden in under your leadership, secretary alejandro mayorkas , we are not deporting them to the levels that we were. the former ambassador, john richmond was before the committee yesterday saying that criminal convictions by the department of justice against human trafficking is also down 40% since 2019. it is amazing. i have a couple of pictures here, it is amazing what leadership can do here, to hold these out. this is a customer border patrol agent, putting barb wire with the texas farm in a public safety put this in place. this administration, leadership, is bringing this about. i have another picture here, this is a loader, tractor. it is lifting up barb wire also

put in place by the texas department of public safety. those images are pointing to the fact that a secure border is lacking in the border patrol agents, following the leadership, the culture of leadership are doing with a can to undermine the rule of law. we know that as of last june, the legal immigrant living in ohio was charged with plotting to kill former president bush by smuggling iraq he citizens across the southern border. he applied for asylum the year prior in march 2021. an assassination plot against a former president of the united states that has ties at the southern border. director christopher wray, you testified that protecting the american people from terrorism remains the fbi's number one priority. you also said this money to the chairman, greater fidelity regarding who comes out of the

country makes us safer. director christopher wray, i know you're walking a fine line. i know you serve this president . i know your position is something you think about in what you say. there is a statement in our culture that says, what on our hands. if you're interested where comes from, comes from the torah . i thought it was interesting that secretary alejandro mayorkas , you started talking about what is happening in israel over the last three days. in the torah, in ezekiel 33, israel is faced with an invasion. how they defended themselves from that invasion. in the torah, it says this, says , speak your people and say, destruction is about to come on the land, the people of the land, take a man among them and make him their watchman. think about the platform you been given by this nation. he sees the sort of danger and destruction coming to the land, and he blows the trumpet and warns people. he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, his blood is on his

own head. but at the watchman sees the sword coming, the watchman who has been in put in that position sees the sword coming, does not blow the trumpet, the people are not warned, and the sort of destruction comes and takes the person from them, talking about the watchman, his blood will be required. the individual, the people not country, he will have blood on his hands. director christopher wray, are you doing all you can to speak to president biden and trying alejandro mayorkas , talking to the destruction in our nation. the terrorism attack hits us within the next years or months, have you done all you can to know that your conscience is clean on this front? >> my conscience is clean that i am doing everything in my power to detect the american people from the threat of terrorism and the threat of fentanyl, and any number of the other threats we talked about here today, including working closely with the rest of my colleagues in government. >> in my discretion, i will let

mr. alejandro mayorkas respond. >> i'll take just a minute, i do appreciate your exercise of discretion. i do believe the congressman said that in 2019, there was a decades long low in the number of encounters at the southwest border, that is a stunning mistreatment of facts, since the 2019, it was almost 100% increase in the number of encounters over just the year prior. i won't correct all of the misstatements the misstatements with respect to [ indiscernible ], i just want to address one. i am accused of all sorts of things in these hearings, and i can take it. what i will not accept, i can take it, i just returned my work and i do the work of the department of homeland security. i am incredibly proud to support the 260 thousand women and men in that department.

to see the border patrol agents, that risk their lives every single day to protect our country undermine the rule of law is beyond the pale. i just want to make that clear. >> i think i need to allow him to respond. i do not understand them. i thought him to be indicting leadership. you are recognized. >> this is the result of leadership. this is a result of a culture that says one thing and does something else at the southern border. this is lawlessness. you take the company, you take anything, leadership matters. this is lawlessness. and 70 has to take responsibility for it. in 2019, in one of the months, we saw one of the lowest months. i was sent by the information. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from arizona for five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman. >> i don't know if i can speak to specific policies, but we are looking at the threats that emanate from the other side of the border, whether it is fentanyl, trafficking, or an increase in the number of [ indiscernible ] we have seen over 5 years. all of these things make the work we do at the fbi handling those threats more challenging. you don't acknowledge the increase in trafficking that we are seeing? the increase in individuals on the terror watch list are due to the policy changes of the administration? >> i do not do that. i'm saying when it comes to border security and questions

of what is to be done, i defer to dhs on that. i say the word we are contending with from the other side of the border, it is extremely challenging. >> have we had an increase of encounters of individuals on the terror watch list on the southern border? >> i'm not sure that i have a personal opinion about immigration. we try to stay in our lane and focus on those issues. >> i know you are really smart guy and you have an opinion. if you are not willing to share in this setting, that is okay. you are the head of the fbi, will recommend is that, i know you are in a tough situation here today. on that note, director, is it fair to say that the now president of the united states, as part of his campaign in 2019,

said this and multiple statements like on the campaign trail, is as though succumb seeking asylum, we should have the capacity to absorb them, keep them safe, until they can be heard. on september 12, 2019, for a nation who says if you want to flee and you are playing, did you hear any of those comments from then candidate joe biden? >> i don't know that i can quote camping statements. does that have anything to do with the dangerous situation that we are now seeing at our order? >> not sure i am the one that can speak to immigration. i think you could speak to it, just don't think you want to. how many american citizens have been arrested for entering the capital on january 6 like you can give me an estimate. >> i don't know how many are tied to that specific one, we have had upwards of 700 brought

in. >> is definitely in the hundreds. i'm interested, is a pipe bomber that planted bombs at the dnc and rnc, [ indiscernible ]. >> that is something we are aggressively investigating. thank you could arrest hundreds of thousands of individuals that walk around and took selfies, but we can't find the individual that committed the most dangerous crime and attempted to cause multiple mass casualty events? >> we have an entire dedicated team focused pacifically on this investigation. done thousands of interviews. thousands of interviews we have reviewed millions of pieces of data, there is and 49,000 video files with 500 tips. we have

increased the money. we have the lab working on it. me at the wmd director working on it. me at the office of technology division and the analysis team. the folks we have working on the investigation, they are working impressively on it. i as much is anybody like to see it resolved, is not for a lack of effort. >> thank you sir. you find it interesting how many whistleblowers there are from your organization coming forward and testifying to congress about the conduct of the f vi and how they can no longer want to even work for the fbi. they are willing to risk their livelihood to come and talk to congress about what they perceive to be a change in the culture at the fbi? >> i do respect the

whistleblowers system. it is important thing that makes the whistleblower the government work. think people would be relieved to know that the number of people required to be special agents has gone up over 135% over the last 5 years. i don't think your view matches what i hear from the chiefs, sheriffs, and others have dedicated like 200+ officers to task forces. [ indiscernible ] >> defined that the tax monies would be reliable. when you hear what they are seeing in congress, do you think they are creating false narratives? :i will not talk about the accuracy of individual people that have allegations against us. we take them all seriously. we will stay focused on the

people we do the work with and who we work for. they may think you, i yelled back. coming to government reckless is the gentleman from new york for five minutes of testimony. thank you for this important hearing.

ages 14 through 18, through 45 of fentanyl overdoses. this drug is responsible for 70% of the 107,000, plus, drug overdose deaths in the past year. is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. mr. secretary, one of the biggest threats to americans in every corner of this country is fentanyl. do you agree, secretary alejandro mayorkas ? :i do agree. i will tell you, we are taking it to the traffickers. last year, nearly 200 people died every day from fentanyl poisoning, that is the equivalent of a commercial airliner crashing every day. nearly 75,000 americans in just one year. the fact that criminal networks have been able to import and distribute an unconscionable amount of fentanyl under your watch mr. secretary is beyond

negligent. you stated many times in the past, with great pride the you are taking to the cartels. with 75,000 americans dead in one year, and cartels raking in billions of dollars and armed to the teeth with military -like weaponry, and enough fentanyl coming across our border to kill nearly every human on the planet, would you classify this as successfully taking to the cartels? >> we have not overcome the scourge of fentanyl. we aren't taking it to an unprecedented degree to the traffickers. one death from this extraordinarily toxic and fatal opioid is one that too many. the question was about you taking to the cartels, you please with your performance? >> i am incredibly proud of the work that the men and women of

the department of homeland security -- >> precluding my time. you stated that you intercepted more fentanyl than ever before, but the very people the work you say you are only getting between 5% and 10% at our ports of entry. who is right? you do realize that there were over 57,000 deaths overdose deaths from fentanyl. >> who is right, you are the folks who work for you? they are saying you are massively understating the fentanyl that is being seized between ports of entry, and he gets past the order. are you right, or are they? spewing you are mistaken with respect your characterization of the statements. i'd be happy to clarify for you if you would give me the opportunity. the fact that we are interdicting an unprecedented amount of fentanyl does not mean that the scourge of fentanyl is

diminished. we are seeing. >> with respect to the fentanyl coming across our border, not up it's of entry, and how much rental is coming across our border between ports of entry? assuming i will write you a data by different means with which fentanyl answers our country by air, we have an interdiction facility. >> i'm familiar with the process, specifically, with respect to known got a ways, how much are they trafficking into the country? >> will be pleased to provide you with whatever data you inquire about. we are providing this committee with a tremendous amount of data with respect to all of the mission success we have had. i wish you would come with more specific information. mr. chairman, with remaining time i have, want to shift gears and talk for a moment about anti-semitism on college campuses. new york state, my home state is more home to 2.2 million

americans, the largest population of jewish americans in the entire country. according to the american jewish population project, over 21% of jewish americans live in new york state. unfortunately, since the terrorist attacks in israel, many jewish students, some of whom are constituents, do not feel safe really going to class due to the rise of anti- semitism on college campuses. as we are all well aware, 21- year-old student at cornell university, in york estate, was arrested two weeks ago for threatening to shoot up a jewish students, and kosher dining hall on the college campus. thankfully, the federal law enforcement intercepted the threats posted online and arrested him before was too late. director christopher wray, i will ask your questions later. >> you can submit those in writing. >> digital manuals. >> i recognize [ indiscernible

], that has weighed on to the committee for five minutes. then i think you, it is great to be back at homeland. secretary alejandro mayorkas , it is good to see you again. director christopher wray, it is great to see you. ma'am, thank you for arriving at the committee today. recently, i have been apprised of information that is concerning, regarding individuals that are encountered at the border, who during the process of interviewing in the field, specifically using and i to 13 form, the match for their id comes back is inconclusive. that information is subsequently redacted and listed as derogatory. the members of this committee, and other committees have attempted to get access to this information, it has been denied. why is this information in these field interviews, with

these individuals who have subsequently been found to be suspected on the watchlist, why is that information derogatory, and why is the ei neglected to share that information with congress? >> i am not familiar with the particular reductions in question. i am happy to have my staff follow up with you to figure out why there is a disconnect. certainly, i know we provided all sorts of information to this committee in a variety of forms. i am happy to see what it is that is missing, and why. >> you have demonstrated a willingness to work with this committee, and others. could you commit to the next 30 days providing committee staff on homeland security, all of the unredacted field interviews? >> what i can commit to is that i will follow-up with my team to find out what the heck is going on, and if there is information we can provide that we haven't, we will. >> no information should be redacted.

there can be no good reason, you cannot provide me why the information is derogatory right now, you should commit to full transparency to congress, that can be an escape, that's fine, but the staff should have full access to the field interviews, especially as it pertains to individuals that were apprehended were encountered at the southern border with ties to terrorist groups, yes or no? >> i'm not trying to be obtuse, i promise. i am not familiar with the specific reductions, i would asked to be able to go back with my team and find out why it is redacted, and if there is a reason for it. i will discuss it with you. if there is not a reason, we will provide it. within 30 days, if you can provide the committee, in writing, a rationale for why the information is redacted, and what classifies it as derogatory, that would be incredibly helpful. >> i will follow-up, i want to be sensitive to the time. can you confirm, i know my colleague is from texas, followed up with secretary alejandro mayorkas on the

issue of the >> nationals in their ties to the confirmed isis smuggling ring, can you confirm that you are active investigating those nationals connected to this isis smuggling ring? >> yes ma'am. we are focused on this particular threat stream. we have a number of active, ongoing investigations related to it. i will say, we have not identified any intelligence that the individuals came to conduct terrorist attacks, that's not the same thing as suggesting that we don't take it extremely seriously, and we are not working it very aggressively with a lot of agents working on this. you did come through as a connected terrorist network? the network that is in question itself has ties to isis, which is why we were concerned. that's why we are taking it so seriously. what i want to be clear about, is not in any way to have my

answer suggest you that we are not taking this extremely seriously and we are not working this very aggressively. i am also trying to avoid undue alarm about what we have found so far, so far, is the key set of words. >> i will follow-up questions for the record with you, director christopher wray. secretary alejandro mayorkas , i don't want you to feel left out. detach quickly on the homeland intelligence experts group that raises question will concerns about the departments impartiality and objectivity. in 2013, they announced the establishment of the homeland intelligence expert group to provide perspective on elledge intelligence and national security efforts to the office of intelligence and analysis and the department's office of counterterrorism and the coordinator? yes or no? we announced the group. >> yes, perfect. is the composition of this experts group includes former top level officer james clapper, and paul colby?

>> yes. >> are you aware that they all signed a discredit a public statement on october 19, 2020 that implied the new york post reported about hunter biden's laptop and influence pillaging pedaling that was the product of rush and if this information?>> these are distinguished members of the intelligence community. >> this is a simple yes or no, did they or did they not send a letter? :i don't know the answer that question. >> i do, they did. are you aware that on october 19, 2020, the statement used by media organizations and social media businesses to downplay reporting before the 2020 presidential election? with the indulgence of additional time, can you ask the question at a slower pace? >> are you aware that on october 19, 2020, the statement was used, the statement that was signed by brennan, clapper,

and colby, was used by multiple media organizations, social media businesses to downplay and answer the story about the hunter biden political influence , right before the 2020 presidential election? >> i am not tracking with that? >> wow. for as much time and effort as you are putting into a homeland intelligence experts group, that seems shocking that you would not be tracking that. are you aware that another member of this newly created group, associate, deputy attorney general for the department of justice [ indiscernible ], i'm sorry, i am messing up her name, was extensively involved in the fbi probed into baseless allegations into president trump's campaign with russia? >> let me share with you, what i can tell you with confidences

, the individuals that were selected to the experts group are very distinguished, and reputable members, former members of the intelligence community. they were incredibly proud to avail ourselves of their expertise and judgment. >> your time is expired. >> want to yield to the ranking member for his closing statement. thank you very much. mr. chairman, we have had a lengthy hearing about threats to the homeland. at think our witnesses for their indulgence and patience. it is appreciated. a couple of things that i wanted to add before i do my closing comments. our xylem laws are the laws of the land. as i said in my opening statement, if you don't like them, you have the right

to change them, but you cannot criticize people that are following the law. just because you don't like it. i guess you can, but it does not make a lot of sense. i chaired the january 6 committee. i saw a lot of things that went on in this country, it is clearly not who we are as americans. i think that we should thank the fbi for doing one heckuva job for trying to identify those individuals that attacked this great institution of ours. let the courts determine innocence or guilt. mr. christopher wray, i thank you for that. apart from that, as i said at the start of the hearing, we face serious threats to the homeland from many fronts.

we have a war the middle east that could inspire attacks here in the u.s.. we are looking at cyber attacks, rising anti- semitism and islamic phobia, and related violence. we have threats to our democratic institutions and values, as well as our way of life. serious threats demand action from serious people, not politically motivated attacks or inflammatory language. not grandstanding. what is most troubling is way my collies have twisted the facts. success in removing people who should not be in the country is suddenly in impeachable offense. mr. chairman, it is upside down. democrats remain committed to working with the department of homeland security, the fbi, and

the national counterterrorism center to address all of these threats. democrats are also ready to back up that commitment by supporting the personnel and resources necessary to carry out this critical mission. as i said, a lot of us talk. when it comes time to putting the resources behind the talk, me and my colleagues don't do it. we criticize the men and women that are tasked with the responsibility of caring for the direction of keeping us safe. i hope that we close the hearing , the president has submitted a supplemental budget that will address a lot of the issues that have been discussed and expressed from a concerning standpoint.

i look forward to the new speaker calling it up at some point for us to discuss it. we don't provide the resources, if you say you are concerned about the threat environment of israel, ukraine, or the parts the world, we have to support it. we have yet to get agreement for making that happen. we have to continue to be a world leader. in order to do that, we have to take responsible action. this committee has historically been bipartisan, one of the more bipartisan committees in congress. i do look forward to trying to get us back to that bipartisanship. we can disagree, but the manner in which we disagree, in my humble opinion, is not who we are as americans, who we have

demonstrated on this committee, since its inception. that is what dedicated public servants do. again, let me thank the three individuals here, and all the men and women that are positioned all around the world that keep us safe. thank you so much. on my side, if resources is what you need, i am committed to support the resources for the men and women that do the job. i yelled back. to make the gentleman yields. i wanted to thank the witnesses for being here. a lot of work goes in to preparing for these. a lot of work goes into doing the job that you do. i do want to thank our staff that helps put on the committee hearings. again, a lot of work. the members pour themselves

into this. director christopher wray, want to thank you for your honest admission that the risk has increased, secondary to the war . you also said, in questioning by me, or from me, that the known got away group is a big question. there are no guarantees. there is an increased risk from that. the question is, how did we get to the known and unknown, with well over 300%? you can add up the last two presidencies, and this 3 years exceeds the last 12 years. like i said earlier, policies were working. they were removed. people tested the system. they realize you could get in and be released. they called home and millions came. this migration crisis is a self- inflicted crisis, one we created by the change of our

policies. it put americans at increased risk, as you have acknowledged. i think i is my opening statement, the analogy of the cart that stops hurting. the bar will be overwhelmed. i think we'll get that. that is what has happened at the southern border. we have massive waves of cartels , the cartels have seized the opportunity to overwhelm customs and border patrol, bypass them and get encinal into the united states. how can we explain that fentanyl is $95 per hit on the street. now it is $25 or $26 per hit. it is about supply and demand. these cats release policies, this is the cause of the problem. and as yourself, with the way

these cats release policies are working out, that is what happened. 98% of people that do that, come into the country. why when you just turn yourself into customs and border control? why would somebody even go around customs and border patrol? you will get into these countries. they don't want to be caught. that scares us even more considering it is 2 million people. i do want to thank you, mr. christopher wray. he did admit that your department is looking for people right now, on the known terrorist watchlist. mr. alejandro mayorkas did not really answer the question on whether or not they identified somebody, 100% of the time, they kept them. there was discussion about a system in fermented to determine if a

person was at risk. we do know, because we talk to the customer border patrol agents that there is no allah see that if they are caught on a terraced watchlist that they are immediately detained. these policies, not to do that, which make no sense to us, have put americans at risk. interestingly enough, your agents, are now running these individuals, somewhere in our country. those policies not only put the american citizens at risk, they put their agents at risk, because they know how to find these individuals. the truth is, the current policy does not require immediate attention of these people. that is wrong. i did ask director christopher wray if the policies are making worse for the fbi. that was one of my questions.

i get it, professionalism, you walked around that question. i think it is clear to every american, these policies at our southern border, that are willful decisions, the change policies have increased the risk of not only the americans in this country, but the law enforcement all over this country to include the fbi. i want to take issue with several of the comments of my colleagues the minority side have said, some of the accusations today. the ranking member said that republicans were awol. i am a military guy, that term means nothing to me. awol is an acronym is transfer absent without lead. amici don't show up to your place of duty. in my recollection, and all of our committee hearings, the only time someone did not show up to a hearing was when the democrats refused to show up at a border hearing. we had a hearing on the border.

all the republicans were there and not a single democrat showed up. as far as i'm concerned, there's never been a time when republicans have been awol. there was a time when the democrats were awol. remember also said that a lot of the discussion we have had is a difference in policy and things like that. i have to tell you, i do agree on some of that. it is pretty clear that americans are at risk by decisions that have been made. there's nothing wrong with us investigating that and pointing it out to the american people and trying to find the cause. and if those decisions that put americans at risk, we can hold people accountable. today, the ranking member interestingly did not mention hamas in his opening statement or the cartels, or the ccp. the only thing he wanted to talk about with the m.a.g.a. republicans and president trump. i find that interesting. i would like to point that out

for the record. that in our world threats hearing, the ranking member did not talk about any of that. the ranking member suggested that we have a member and a party was a deep on the fbi. we are not defunding the f vi. i will tell you some of their members want to defund i.c.e. they have said that many times on the record. we had one member on our side. many of them have wanted to defund i.c.e. they talked about defunding law enforcement for years. i was a little offended by the fact that he brought that up. i wanted to set the record straight on that. ranking member also suggested that we are criticizing the men and women of your departments. i would never do that. i work for great military leaders in the day with my time in the army . occasionally, we had a guy, a leader that was not effective.

i would never be critical of that units soldiers, always the leader. our criticism is not men and women of dhs, mr. secretary. the criticisms are your policies a you in fermented that changed everything when you came in to office and change the plot of migration and the fentanyl flow into this country. tragically, now, with the war in the middle east, and heightened risk to the united states, because we are supporting their other great enemy, israel, we are at much greater risk. i also want to correct the notion, because it keeps coming up, that 90% of the fentanyl is being caught. that is not true. 90% of what comes across the border that is caught is caught at the crossing sites, that is accurate. you say you are catching 90% of the fentanyl, you don't know the nominator, you cannot

figure the percentage. i wish people would be intellectually accurate when they make statements, they just seem to cling to things that are not true. there is this accusation that just because people want border security that we are somehow racist. we heard that again today. you would think that would just get tired and be thrown out. people coming across the southern border, when i was there, huge group of russians. they are whiter than i am. this notion that you are somehow racist because you want border security is really insane. i can assure you this, the people that are all over this nation right now, yelling from the river to the sea, the destruction of israel, i will eat that red bull can up there is a republican in that group.

i also want to thank you ma'am, you did bring up the homegrown and the lone wolves. he gave compelling testimony. i am from tennis the what happened in chattanooga several years ago, that recruiting station is just an example of what you are talking about. keep saying that over and over again. america needs to know about this. they are actively trying to flip people in our country to convince him to hurt americans. that incident in chattanooga, we in tennessee will never forget it. i thank you for wringing that point up. mr. alejandro mayorkas has says that we need to add dollars . the truth of the matter is, there was no budget change between the last ministration and this administration. you can look at the graph. it is like this and like this. it is not about dollars. we are not against it, we put

more dollars into that, technology, paper border patrol people, despite what some people have said you also mentioned immigration laws. yes, they are broken, they need to be fixed. the truth of the matter is, that the immigration and nationality is being subverted right now. the courts have ordered you to do it a different way than you are doing it. i am not even sure if we did change the immigration laws that you would even abide by them. the ranking member mentioned, the asylum laws, we need to change that. we are not living according to the definition of the asylum laws now and detaining people. we are sending them to hotels and setting them away while the i.c.e. beds sit empty, despite what the law says. more resources? no, this is a policy issue. the policies were changed by the secretary and the results are, people came, some on the

terrorist watchlist, being chased by the fbi, loose in our country, thousands dead to fentanyl, millions disrupted by the cartel crime. thousands of children lost in the system. thousands of people trafficked, and billions of taxpayer dollars . the new york mayor that happens be a democrat says it will cost the city $12 billion. that is out of their choice, they did not on this. they just move the policy here and let me write the check, because that is what mr. alejandro mayorkas wants us to do. as i said, with the conflict in israel, we are faced with an open border coupled with a heightened threat as we give assistance to the only other country or group of people that the terrorists hate more than us, israel. the abysmal failure to secure the southern border put every american at risk. even a baby, crawling around on

the floor the v.r.b.o., was crawling around and is dead from the previous fentanyl from the previous renter. billions of dollars of money going to the worst human beings on the planet. the cartels. now, we have international terrorists. before i finish my comment, i do want to say a few things, because you have raised some good points. i want to give some assurances. the house did pass [ indiscernible ]. we have a working group to try to get it into posture so the senate will approve it. that side of the building is controlled by another party. we did pass it over here. we are waiting on them. we're trying to get into a posture that they will support. ues is working diligently to get that done. you are right, director.

there is a special committee working on fisa. i do promise you that will get done. the cw md was on the cr that just past. it is done and over on the tenant side waiting. those things need to be taken care of. we are working on. thank you for being you. thank you for your testimony. i know you rearrange your schedule to stay a little later. i do get that. i deeply appreciate it. it is clear that you believe you are doing a great job. i'm not hiding, we are looking at all of this. we think you are not. we are in the last phase of a five-day process that you are following in the press, just like the rest of my

constituents and people across the country. we will finish that up sometime around december. i would love to know today if you can commit to come back. we will finish that thing out. does that sound reasonable to you? can you come back for that? >> i will honor the request of this committee. >> thank you. >> again, i do want to reiterate my point about the people of your departments. it is hard work taking this country and the citizens of this country. i know the men and women that do that, professionally as a career deserve the utmost of our respect. our frustrations are not with them. it is with leadership the made bad decisions. with that, i am concluding my closing remarks.