Conversation. It could lead to collaboration and better results for our cities and our country. So thank you all very much. Thank you. Thanks for that ending. Thanks everyone for participating. [applause] Hillary Clinton obviously part of this discussion here at the center for american progress. This is questions continuing over emails she sent during her tenure as secretary of state. The House Committee on benghazi revealing yesterday the server that contained those emails was wiped clean. The committee learned of this from a clinton attorney after requesting the server be turned over to a third party as part of that investigation into the 2012 benghazi consulate attack in libya. Its not certain when the server was erased though Benghazi Committee chair trey goudie suggested it was sometime after october 2014, when the state department asked for secretary clinton to turn offer her public records. The Republican National committee, meanwhile releasing a Statement Today about ms. Clintons server being erased. It reads in part, even nixon didnt destroy the tapes. Unfortunately, it appears clinton went above and beyond to eliminate email traffic as secretary of state. There isnt a separate set of rules the clintons can choose to play by. Its time they be held accountable. That from the rnc. Next up here on cspan, a look at customs and Border Protection operations with commissioner Gil Kerlikowske he recently spoke about the Agency Mission and the challenges it faces in protecting u. S. Borders with canada and mexico from the u. S. Chamber of commerce. This is an hour. Okay. Well good morning, everybody. Welcome. Im the Senior Vice President for National Security and Emergency Preparedness here at the u. S. Chamber. Were so glad you could join us here today. The u. S. Chamber is very pleased to welcome back our friend and partner u. S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner Gil Kerlikowske for his first state of the agency address focused on trade. As the commissioner begins his second year we thought this was a perfect time to address the trade community and give them an overview of whats coming up. The chamber supports the dual mission of c. B. P. Protecting National Security objectives while promoting economic prosperity. We see ourselves as a partner in their mission. Businesses are linked together through a global web of interconnected, predictable, and efficient supply chains. U. S. Businesses rely on those supply chains to Access International consumers as well as compete in the global marketplace. Improvements that address cross border friction smooth the flow of trade and enhance the calumet tiffness of all of our companies. We at the chamber will continue to advance priorities that improve the performance of Global Supply chains. This advocacy will include policy and Regulatory Reform pursuing effective legislation on the hill, promoting commercially meaningful commitments from our trade partners to advance global customs modernization. As the hill moves toward, forward with trade permission authority we must not forget the bipartisan trade facilitation and trade enforcement act or customs modernization. As you know, this legislation takes aggressive action to address check points at our borders, lower the transaction costs of trade and provide needed reverses for trade facilitation customs modernization, and the enforcement of our intellectual property rights. As the executive order on trade facilitation enters its second year the chamber will continue to engage d. H. S. In the interagency to ensure the delivery of a commercially meaningful single window that meets the white houses 2016 deadline. Finally, as the trade Facilitation Agreement advances the chamber is committed to a Public Private partnership that ensures accountability for commercially meaningful implementation. We look forward to working with c. B. P. To modernize customs procedures and streamline the passage of goods by cutting red tape and bureaucracy at our global borders. With that said, we know we have a Great Partnership with commissioner kerlikowske and his team. We look forward to working together to advance our shared priorities on modernizing the border processes for 21st century trade. It is now truly my pleasure to introduce commissioner kerlikowske. Gil kerlikowske was nominated by president obama and sworn in in march 7 2014, as commissioner taking the helm of the 60,000employee agency with a budget of 12. 4 billion. As commissioner, he leads the largest federal Law Enforcement agency and second largest revenue collecting source in the federal government. The commissioner brings nearly four decades of Law Enforcement and drug policy experience to the office of the commissioner. Previously, he served in such distinguished positions as director of the White House Office of National Drug policy, chief of police in Seattle WashingtonPolice Commissioner in buffalo, new york and the majority of his Law Enforcement career was spent with the st. Petersburg police department. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his leadership innovation, and community service. Gil, thank you for your lifetime of service to our great country. Please give a warm welcome to commissioner kerlikowske. [applause] well, good morning, everybody. Thank you so much for being here and, ann, thank you very much for the very warm welcome. Its always a pleasure to come to the chamber. Its always a great honor. The chamber and all of its staff have been great partners with c. B. P. Actually, on the drug free workplace when i served as the president s drug policy adviser. So thank you very much. I really appreciate the opportunity to be with all of you today. Many of you over the last year, since ive had this job, and actually during my confirmation process have had the opportunity to get to know you and understand a lot of these issues and talk about them quite a bit. I would also like to thank the people that are attending via the web and im sure there are people in florida that have nice tans that are busy watching this, also. The chamber is absolutely vital to our nations Economic Health and as champions of the american business, they you help the Chamber Helps our industries compete and lead on the global playing field. I believe that another player in this is the United States customs and Border Protection. We play a Critical Role in the effort and the success of our mission ensuring Border Security while facilitating lawful trade and travel is integral to americas global competitiveness. The typical day, and many of you already know these statistics, but i wouldnt be a good fit if i didnt repeat some of them to you, the typical day c. B. P. Processes more than a million people, screens more than 70,000 truck rail, and sea Cargo Containers at our 328 ports of entry, processing 4. 4 billion in exports, 6. 8 billion in imports. Trade and travel facilitation are balanced with a strong commitment to a seamless Border Security. And it makes our Mission Difficult but it also means that we have to have good collaboration, good communication, and good partners and thats certainly including every one of you that are here today. Well last may when i had a chance to speak here at the chamber, i barely had two months in office and so some people were wondering, how does someone with a Law Enforcement, strong Law Enforcement background for many, many years, how are you going to adapt to this trade and this travel issue . How are you going to make sure that youre paying attention to the Economic Security along with the Border Security . And how are you going to navigate the incredible complexities of trade . After all issues like splay Chain Security and cargo free inspection mutual recognition arrangements, they all have their own special language. And at c. B. P. I think we have the most competing acronyms, competing with the department of defense for the most acronyms. Its a different world and some might say that it can be for me particularly it was a bit morrow pake than the Law Enforcement bit more opaque than the Law Enforcement lingo of narcotics and smuggling and some of the crime issues c. B. P. Deals with. In my first year as commissioner ive seen first hand and ive traveled all over the United States and, frankly, all over the world, ive gotten to see first hand how integral our mission is to the nations Economic Health and vitality and the safety and security of that Global Supply chain. In 2014 we cleared 2. 5 trillion in imports 1. 6 trillion in exports we processed 26 million Cargo Containers. That was ape increase of 4 over 2013. As everyone in this room and everyone watching clearly knows, those increases not only in trade but those increases in travel are something that were certainly seeing in this fiscal year, also. Well, seeing that first hand in that volume at the ports provided a greater understanding of the complexity of the trade process and how they can present some real significant challenges for you, for those of you that are in global business. We enforce laws for 50 federal agencies. We have equities and they all have equities in the trade process. Hundreds of different types of forms, many more acronyms, that are required to import and export. The system is and can be time consuming and it can be costly. And thats not only for government but for all of you as well. Thats why weve focused on stream layning and modernizing our process. We are indebted to people that have worked and been longtime colleagues such as c. B. P. And for the work that they did. C. B. P. Had to meet the growth in trade thats predicted in the next few years. I want to share with you some of the progress weve made and i want to talk with you about some of the things that weve charted for the future. First of all was filling the number of key positions. Over the course since secretary johnson has been in office not quite two years it was very clear to him there were far too many acting positions in the department of Homeland Security and he made a real effort and has been incredibly successful at getting people confirmed through the United States senate. Thats also been true for c. B. P. Prior to my confirmation, we had a number of acting positions including within the as commissioner of customs and Border Protection. Those people did an outstanding job. I really stand on their shoulders, whether its an alan burson or david aguilar, or others. They did an incredible job. As all of us know in this room and in the politics inside the beltway it is helpful to have the Good Housekeeping seal of the United States senate. So being the first confirmed commissioner in the Obama Administration i think, is helpful, but it also gave me the opportunity to remove a number of acting titles away from people. So many of you had a chance to participate and congratulate kevin macalene as no longer the acting Deputy Commissioner but Deputy Commissioner. I was incredibly proud to appoint brenda smith as assistant commissioner for International Trade and sandra bell as the deputy. And todd owen coming from the port of los angeles as the assistant commissioner for Field Operations and the Strong Partner with john wagner as the deputy. And then rich tinuchi with many, many years of experience in this field as the executive director of cargo and conveyance security. All of these individuals are true experts and theyre innovators in the trade mission. They are a tremendous asset not only to c. B. P. And d. H. S. , they are a tremendous asset to the nations economy and all of you. Maria louisaboys who heads our office of trade relations and is also our trade ombudsman and the additional staff that i put in place in my office right down the hall to directly connect with me when it comes to issues that are of concern to you. And they work with me on a daily basis to make sure that i understand and recognize and live up to the promises that ive made regarding theas pry these priorities. I am pleased to announce today as weve made these promotions weve also created vacancies with that. There is no single area that is more important than making sure that we deliver it on time and that it operates well. Thats in the ace program. The c. B. P. Lead executive for the single window initiative, i hope you can all give steve a little round of applause for taking this on. [applause] steve is going to coordinate the activities within c. B. P. With that role in the single window and is the primary point of contact for c. B. P. Participation in all of our u. S. Government activities relating to the single window. That includes his work with the border interagency executive council, the International Data system board, community stakeholders. We should be paying you more money. [laughter] i could go on but actually, theres a lot. Well, speaking of the single window as part of c. B. P. s trade Transformation Strategy weve really accelerated the deployment of our import Export Processing system. The automated commercial environment ace where you recognize, you clearly recognize what a huge shift this is moving from these paperbased and fax and original signatures and a number of questions that perhaps, in this day and age arent as necessary to be asked, but because we had always done it that way, we always continue to do it that way. Weve moved to a faster, modernized, more Cost Effective electronics submissions. As we close in on key milestones, and i can never give a speech without making sure that i give those key milestones, on may 1 and november 1 of this year and october, 2016, all key dates that youre well aware of c. B. P. Continues to develop, test, and deploy the capabilities that are all designed to transform cargo processing. Many of you know ace is the core of the executive order that was signed by president obama in 2013 so the december, 2016 deadline for completion of the governmentwide automated single window would streamline government. C. B. P. And d. H. S. Are spearheading this effort and ace is the single window thats going to allow relevant federal agencies to review and respond to cargo movement, reduce costs, and speed the cargo process. And working closely with all of our federal partners including the e. P. A. , food safety, and inspection service, many others to ensure that ace is equipped to meet their requirements because we have to be a good steward. We have to be a good partner with them. That single window is completed to serve your needs and to simplify international business. Well, an area that i am really excited about is the ebond area. Our c. F. O. , jay williamson, is here, and the people involved in this ebond transformation, its pretty exciting. So ebond processing is one of the most important modernization efforts in ace. Ebond is a tremendous benefit to both c. B. P. And the filer, customs brokers, selffiling importers, etcetera. When filers electronically transmit a bond to c. B. P. , they get a positive response within 10 to 15 seconds s before it was four to five days. So you can begin to understand the magnitude of this change and its effect on the supply chain. Industry has recognized this benefit and in the first month of ebonds more than 11,000 bonds were created in ace. Today more than 90 of the c. B. P. Bond market is being submitted electronically. Thats really exciting news. Its good for us and good for business. Another Key Development are our centers of excellence and expertise and the centers are transforming the way we operate by consolidating the industrys processing under the authority of one center. So instead of scattering it throughout hundreds of ports of entry and perhaps importers getting different answers at different ports of entry, these centers benefit everyone. They improve our ability to identify high risk cargo and the importations. They increase consistency and predictability for the industry. If ive heard one set of watch words over and over from you all for quite sometime, its about the importance of consistency and predictability. Youre making your business decisions, budgets hiring on and on and on and you want to make sure that were going to be in the same position talking with the same set of talking points and moving in the same direction so that as you make these investments, that were living up to our potential, too. And they reduce transactional costs for trade and c. B. P. We have three of c. B. P. s as of january 28, are managing all post relief activities in their specific areas. Electronics in los angeles, pharmaceuticals in new york, Petroleum Natural gas and minerals in houston. We look forward to having the other seven virtual centers being able to live up to that full functionality as well. Trusted trader, were all familiar with trusted Trader Programs. Theyve been a key focus of ours for sometime. Were unifying our Customs Trade Partnership against terrorism and the importer selfassessment. Ive heard repeatedly also from people in this room and people that are watching that its important for us to make sure that if someone goes and an Organization Goes to the extra effort and the time to be thoroughly vetted to become a member of c. T. That theyre actually experiencing those benefits. We needed to and are working hard to do a better job of making sure those benefits are, one, transparent, and that they are easily accessible and understood by the people that have gone to that extra trouble. So whether its being first in line whether its not having cargo held up as long because youve gone through those things to make sure that we understand and the obligations that we have, because youve gone to that extra effort and we appreciate that. The trusted Trader Program also aligns the authorized economic operator programs. Those worldwide programs that are being implemented by other countries. Frankly, theyre being implemented by those other countries with our help and our assistance. Our over 800 people overseas and the work that were doing overseas is not just about protecting the United States. Its also about making sure by pushing those borders out, giving people the information and the help, and letting them experience, one, the successes that weve had in implementing these programs but also, two making sure they understand in a very open and transparent way we can tell them about things that weve tried or worked on and they havent been quite as successful. It saves them time. It saves mistakes. Frankly, it just adds to that trusted relationship when your a he not only willing to say, these are all the great things that weve done at c. B. P. And heres what were able to do to be helpful. Here are some of the things and the mistakes that weve made or things that havent worked out as well. And we can save them time and we can save them effort. Thats what makes a trusted partner when it comes to these issues. So were bringing them together along with us and in designing the program were coordinating with the trade community, other Government Agencies to build a program of security and compliance requirements thats really a value add for them and for us. Cargo security. There are some people here that are just intimately familiar with the air cargo advanced screening program. Shows how collaboration with the private sector and other Law Enforcement agencies really enhances our enforcement and targeting cape acts. And of course as many of us know it was launched in the wake of a true terrorist threat. The explosives that were hidden in printer cartridges, printer toner cartridges and intercepted in express mail shipments from yemen that were destined for the United States in 2010. As the National Targeting Center c. B. P. And the transportation security t. S. A. Jointly target and mitigate air cargo identified as high risk before it is loaded on a u. S. Bound aircraft. And industry has recognized the value of the program improving National Security and integrity of the supply chain and prevents Major Business disruption. Last year industry participation grew by 15 . There are now 51 participants. We need to continue to collaborate and work together. The things that ive described here, single window says the centers, the trusted trader underscore our commitment to working with stakeholders and to modernize how we do business. Coac is one of the areas i am most proud of. As a key platform for collaboration with industry, the commercial Operations Advisory Committee is critical. It comprises a broad array of private sector representatives, each bringing an incredible depth of experience and expertise in customs processes, the Global Supply chain, and other fields that can inform and affect how we operate. The parameters for the single window for example were thoroughly vetted and subjected to careful review and validation both within c. B. P. And the interagency as we like to say, but also within the broader trade community. Coac is the key to that process. It is an invaluable asset to c. B. P. Coac is an invaluable asset to me. I want to be able to announce the selection of the gnaw members of coac and some of them are here. Cynthia allen of d. H. L. Global forwarding, Brenda Barnes of the george s. Bush and company. Heida bray of caus. Celeste cotano Lenny Feldman and sandler, travis, and rosenberg. Lisa josemino of Risk Management. Alexander latham of costco. Amy magnus, adam solerno, u. S. Chamber of commerce, and madeline beeling expediters international. Michael White International air transport association, and michael young, Orient Overseas container line. They are going to be joined by eight reappointed members. David berry, scott boyer of kraft foods brendan freed ofsusanna hager, Elizabeth Merritt julianne parks and kevin pennell. What a strong and diverse team. Everything that you want on your thinking through these complex issues and the amount of time and the effort they spend and the fact they had such great support from the organizations and companies is really unbelievably, incredibly helpful to us. I look forward to continuing to work with them. In our Agency Collaboration is important as many of you know. We work closely with treasury. 10 cannot be a better partner with us in these areas. Tim cannot be a better partner. We are involved in on a regular basis and it is a true commitment by the inner agency at the highest level to make sure that people are involved. It brings together the Senior Leaders to examine and improve import and export processes throughout the u. S. Government. We have Team Leadership roles in the group as it examines and makes decisions about risk, how we use information to use cargo, collect revenue, and enforce health and safety laws. These discussions to include the supply chain process and to reduce barriers for trade and the type of collaboration is critical. During the five years i served as president obamas drug policy advisor, i have a good, strong, wonderful working relationship with the fda. That was over the Prescription Drug and opioid abuse issues able are familiar with. People are familiar with. We had to have that working relationship so working with dr. Hamburg come i continued that when i got the job at cbp. Thanks to that relationship, we have a working group that is working together with you all in a way to reduce some of the problems of delayed shipment and transverse cash transfers of those programs. I think dr. Hamburg after six years, for her strong leadership as she retires and in our phone call and discussion the other day, she has made it clear to the staff and key leadership within the fda that these partnerships should continue. We are working closely with the chairman of the Consumer Products safety commission. We have met and talked and discussed how we can be more helpful and in fact, how we can ease some of the burden. We have a lot of people, as we like to say, have a lot of boots on the ground when it comes to our ports of entry. We can be a huge of benefit and value add to these other interagencies. The more they trust us and more work we can do with them and more knowledge and understanding we have about what they do, the better we can be in helping them them and make sure they live up to their obligations and the more helpful we can be to all of you. During that first year, i met with many of the Chamber Members and it was clear that we have to continue to be a leader internationally, on Global Supply chain, Security Standards and enforcement. In my meetings with World Customs Organizations, it has been very clear. In my travels around the world it has been made clear to me by my partners throughout this Global Environment how hopeful and helpful we can be to them. You are seeing that move where many places, customs is by far a single focus on revenue collection and customs is trying to meet that dual obligation the same obligation that we have and i think we have dealt with successfully and will do more, but i think those are the kind of Lessons Learned that we are going to bring forward. They watch us closely. The world watches us closely and we are eager to share our experiences so we can bet align policies. With the World Customs Organization and their senator collins coac 178member organizations we play a large role. They have considerable interest in our initiatives and policies and i have sought every opportunity to engage them in them and make sure we are more than willing to be as helpful and provide as much assistance as possible. But we need a stronger voice. We have the expertise and have that credibility. I couldnt be more pleased to announce the u. S. Delegate to the director of compliance and facilitation. Anna brings 28 years of experience. She worked on the southwest border. She was a port director. She can bring all of that to that International Body and we have not had someone in one of those elected director positions since the previous commissioner was in office. So its going to be important and working very hard to make sure that people will recognize what a value she will be to w. C. O. And to all of the w. C. O. Members. The security integrity of the Global Supply chains depends on those partnerships. Mutual arrangements are a critical tool to the international community. These arrangements are trusted trader information and to harmonize supply chain programs. During the first year as commissioner, i got to sign four m. R. A. s three m. R. A. Mexico, israel and ill talk about it in a minute with canada. Bringing these arrangements is important. We only had 10 of these since 2003. We have tried to speed up that process of getting these in place. The key focus has been strengthening our relationship with mexico and the 2000 miles of shared border and the 50 points of entry we have a with them. Ongoing engagement, building upon the areas we identified in the initiative, improving and expanding border infrastructure. You can see that instead of the long lines of people waiting to get into the United States or cargo or produce waiting to get into the United States, it has reduced the wait times to a much smaller amount. Thats because the United States government, taxpayers, have made an investment in improving that critical infrastructure. We team up with a better facility and we team up with more people and better technology. We can speed things through. And it is highly visible and certainly going on in nogales also. Including the new agreement for the new facility in ti juana airport. I have been back to san diego four times and the first times the complaint about the wait times were there. This time, the complaints are from the vendors selling water saying people are moving through the line too quickly. Theres always a complaint. [laughter] as i mentioned, our two countries signed a mutual recognition arrangement in october. Our program in mexicos supplies programs, have a recognizable arrangement. And as we look at designing ports of entry particularly with mexico and canada, how can this be done in an efficient way. The northern border and United States and canada just signed a historic preclearance agreement in the beyond the borders action plan. That covers all modes of transportation between the u. S. And canada. Land, rail, marine, and air. Immigration, customs agriculture spppingses required for entry into either country will be handled on foreign soil. It will reduce congestion, delays and increase efficiency and predictability. The next step required is to implement the new agreement for the United States and canada to enact legislation. That legislation was introduced during the last congress and im hopeful it will be introduced and you will support its pass a bass passage in this congress. Let me mention the change that is going to occur. And change is a lot like heaven. Everyone wants to get there, but no one wants to die. [laughter] commissioner pretty interesting statement. What is clear for me in preparing for the future is we need to reflect the realities of your business and the world that you exist in. The constant evolution of the Global Supply chain and i recognize while we have major efforts under way, there are some areas that need additional focus and need more work. They need more work from us. Trade enforcement. Over and over again, i never heard anyone say well, you shouldnt be spending as much time on enforcement but do it in a predictable way and those violating our trade laws, those that are being required of enforcement, it only helps the businesses that are in fact playing by the rules and have that level playing field. We need to do a better job. I heard from congressional leaders about the importance of enforcement also and the Critical Role we play in protecting our markets. We have made some strides. For example, we have a new director and sarah was the United States attorney in dallas. So she clearly understands enforcement and prosecution issues. So working closely with Homeland Security investigations and trying to do more training in our components and trying to work through the processes and the operations that we can attack smuggling and the growth in shipments of counterfeit goods. Many of these posts serious threats to health and Public Safety and harm our national and Economic Security. Tricounty assessments have increased by 140 from 385 million in fiscal year 11 to over 900 million your 900 million in fiscal year 15. There are other aspects that can really improve from our transparency. We have gone way out of our way after hearing a number of complaints. You give us the information. And when you make these complaints or provide us information about things that you believe are wrong and things that we should be following up on, we havent been particularly good in making sure we are getting back to you. Sometimes the cases are complex, they take on a lengthy period of time, but still we need to make sure we are doing a better job. The enforcement and collection of antidumping duties, we are working with congress to increase the communication. And reviewing regulation. We have tons and tons and tons of regulations. We need to do a better job and do a better job of making sure that you have input into some of those regulations and i believe as many of my Leadership Team talk about that we can improve and streamline the process. Its a complex discussion and time consuming. Many of you devote a lot of time to it. I couldnt be more pleased that the members provide on this, but it is invaluable. We welcome your ideas and this type of discussion can make a difference. Everything i do as the commissioner over the next several years, as long the president keeps me is going to be done to increase our trade and security mission. We play that Critical Role in protecting our National Security, safeguarding the supply chain from terrorism, transnational terrorism and fraud. I have had a chance to meet with thousands and thousands of employees. We carry out that mission in a dedicated way with a professional staff and we are hiring the very best people. We have to be a flexible organization. Sometimes that bumps up against bureaucracy, but i think we can work many of those things. In the World Economic forum said if you remove supply chain barriers, you can increase the global economy. Everyone should Pay Attention and listen to that and we have been listening to that. I recognize my responsibility to serve all of you and appreciate the input and cooperation and help and advice and assistance. And we appreciate having this robust dial og with the chamber and the members. We want to fulfill our commitment while helping americas businesses remain competitive in the global marketplace. Thank you all very much. [applause] host thank you, commissioner. We have a few minutes for questions. And state your name and who you are with. Who would like to start it off. We did cover a lot of ground. I thought we had one back here. There is a vocal group up here and i know you guys will have one soon. So spencer get up there. Commissioner, thanks for addressing the chamber and members from other organizations as well. We appreciate your partnership as always. My question is in regards to your international comments. You obviously see the agreementrade facilitation being a big component and that is removing borders and customs barriers at borders. U. S. Customs can play a big role. How do you see the u. S. Customs exporting those programs and also, improving your processes as well and seeing what you can do to modernize . Commissioner we are fortunate to have two things going on right now. One is with assist ant secretary being at the helm and being the assist ant secretary of International Issues at d. H. S. We have a lot of support. Recognize the value that we can bring to other countries. We are working hard as you look at things and changes in the world. We are working hard and put pim people there. In my relations with the department of state and many of the ambassadors that i had the opportunity to work with, every ambassador in a foreign country that has a member, almost universally tells me how valuable and helpful they are. Im intent on moving forward with expanding our international footprint. And many of you know we are in negotiation and received letters of interest from 25 airports from around the world to expand preclearance, the same type we have had in canada for a number of years. I think that is particularly important. The other is and we havent done this for a while, but over the next day and a half, we will be taking the Senior Leadership within our organization at hampers ferry for a day and a half, perhaps from blackberries and telephones. We are all busy and have the silos that we end up operating in and how can we meet some of the goals that i mentioned here. Host other questions . Microphone is coming to you. Audience member we are provider of byo metrics. Fingerprint system. You alluded to the interface and challenges of security whether its people or goods moving across the border. Can you comment briefly on the varble priorities on the new entryexit, Border Control versus goods and management of goods. Commissioner i think its particularly critical right now when it comes to the identification of people. There isnt a day that you dont pick up some news article about syrian foreign fighters, whether its people leaving the United States and i think the number is certainly less than 200. But its people that have either shown an intent or gone over to syria and because they are u. S. Citizens could return back to the United States, what danger what threat do they pose and how are we recognizing that . Its a much more significant concern in europe. The u. K. And other locations. But the fraudulent document information and stolen passport, not every country will questionery against the data bases. We do. But thats important that we show that is critical. When you apply for the and ask for the information to apply to come into the United States, there are now additional sets of questions. And some of you have read that we are working with facial Recognition Systems in an experiment at Dulles Airport and these are going to continue on. So the fraudulent document information is going to be critical. Biometric exit information and as everyone knows, our airports arent designed for exit and they are designed to get people onto the airplanes, but not through certain portals, et cetera. We have to think through that pretty clearly, how can we work with Technology Given constraints to work in those areas. So i think the verification of people is critical. The agriculture inspections is still going to be critical. And screening and riskbased analysis of cargo. Audience member thank you for those remarks, commissioner. I was happy to hear you emphasize the relationship that you have with the other Government Agencies and the efforts implemented. And i think i can speak for a lot of people in this room saying that we feel of all the Government Agencies, you have the best grasp, the deepest understanding of Risk Management and thats an area of where the other agencies for on host of cultural reasons. I know this is being discussed how far do you think you can go or how do you see the government implementing a single approach to Risk Management that will look more like your agencies than some of the other agencies use . Commissioner we have a leadership role with the deputy secretary and Border Agency and having been the United States attorney in the los angeles, he clearly has been understanding of that balance and i think all of us particularly inside the beltway know that the usual way is to close our arms, make no comment, say that we dont make mistakes and things cant happen. I go back and take my experience as a police chief. No mayor, no city council held me to a crimefree city in seattle or crimefree city in buffalo. And officials are likely to hold me accountable. And if only we do more, things will be better. We do not to do more when it comes to huge expenditures. We need to do more when it comes to being smart and using intelligence and technology, when it comes to Border Security, or trade security or people coming into the country. And the more we can talk about that in a very direct way, the more cover or protection it gives to my colleagues and other federal agencies. Host go ahead. Audience member can you give us a few thoughts about your work beyond the border and how you are going to work or opening the preclearance . Commissioner it will still require through the government of canada legislation to allow that. I think we will be able to move a little bit more quickly when it comes to that. I think given the strong working relationship that the two agencies have, that hosting and sharing with their ability to do some of the work after legislation here in the United States where they can be to work within the United States is absolutely fine. There are so many now there are so many systems now that are available to verify the work thats being done, whether its video systems, tracking systems, et cetera, that, you know, an overarching concern that someone from canada is doing this or a representstive from the United States, we should be able to trust each other and we have those systems in place. So i think that that agreement that has received so much support will continue to receive support from industries on both sides of the border as they work with both our United States congress and canadas legislature and government to move forward. Host over here. Reporter thanks for taking the time to meet with us. I apologize with bringing up the discussion we already discussed but the filing and [indiscern i believe] do you see any way possible that an agreement would be reached that would satisfy National Security concerns and this great benefit for the companies that need it and deserve it. Commissioner i couldnt even begin to answer it. Reporter i was worried that i got to your level. Commissioner somehow, i think it will now. I think it will get to my level. Reporter National Association of beverage importers. The trade and labor went through a horrible port slowdown on the west coast that is being alleviated right now. But im asking, you must have gone through that, too. Are there any Lessons Learned for customs having gone through that experience on the west coast and the huge impacts on trade . Commissioner i know you just stepped off and we thank you very much for your service on that. That was tremendously helpful. But we watched that carefully. And it hit home because i hear from the people in Washington State because of the apple crop wasnt able to reach an export market. You would like to see a labor piece. When i was police chief in seattle, we had the slowdown also. Todd owen both in his position now and also in his position at long beach, he worked very hard to have a whole series of Additional Support mechanisms whether it was going to be settled and now things were going to be moving quickly would we will be bringing people in or overtime, extra shifts, what are the Different Things we could do. Those port directors have been Pretty Amazing whether Oakland Seattle and shift it from other locations when it came time that the cranes were operating fully and the cargo was coming off and there wasnt a new holdup. So we learned the lessons from six years ago and we learned a few more lessons this time. Host time for one more question. Reporter im here from southwest airlines. Congratulations on the preclearance agreement with canada. Could you address the possibility of preclearance agreement with mexico . Commissioner it is a little further off when it comes to the preclearance. The government of mexico and several of the airports vr shown an interest in doing that. I think we made a good first step with mutual recognition on trade and cargo security where we are reckfiesing our programs for vetting trusted Trader Programs. And i think we can expand upon that when it comes to passengers also. I think its a little further down the road for the preclearance and mexico. Host commissioner, clearly a lot of progress has been made under your leadership. Terrific job. Thank you. I want to give you the opportunity. Anything you havent been asked this morning that you would like