On their respective budget proposals for fiscal year 2024. Theyre praying for the center probation on commerce injustice. Live coverage here on cspan 3. Subcommittee on unrelated agencies will come to order. Senator moran who is the Ranking Member will join us shortly, hes on the phone. There are also votes going on right now, two votes. We expect members of the subcommittee to come in and out. We want to go ahead and begin because we know that they have a hard stop at 4 30. Want to make sure we can get as much of the hearing is possible. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to todays hearing to review the president s fiscal year 2024 funding request for the federal bureau of investigation and Drug Enforcement administration. Our Witnesses Today our fbi director christopher wray. And the dea administrator, anne milgram. Its nice to have you here, again thank you for joining us. I want to begin by saying how deeply saddened i am that once again, we have our hearing with the fbi in the aftermath of yet another mass shooting. Nearly a year ago, we met just after the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in uvalde, texas. Today, we meet after a gunman opened fire over the weekend in a Shopping Mall in dallas, texas. Killing eight people. I offer my condolences, and im sure i speak for everyone on this subcommittee to all those who have lost loved ones. But i know what we really want is policies that help keep americans safe. I personally stand ready to work across the aisle, to build on the bipartisan communities act, and to do everything i can working with the department of justice to better serve and protect. We are protecting our country from violent criminals, terrorists, and those who mean as great harm. We have charged more than 9000 employees of the dea to combat the most devastating drug prices in our nations history. I want to thank all of those for their dedication and service to this country. We need to do more to help them do their job and prevent needless merrick and deaths, whether they are buying guns, fentanyl poisoning, or other drugs. The fbis budget request of 11. 3 billion includes Additional Resources for combatting domestic terrorism and Violent Crimes. I want to hear from hear from you director wray. Where the fbi has flagged the resources to address rising violence against vulnerable americans. By criminals and criminal organizations, and how this request will help fill those gaps. We also have a different kind of violence being waged against americans, with illicit drugs like fentanyl that are flowing into this country. The introduction of fentanyl to the Substance Abuse disorder crisis has had a deadly and devastating impact in my home state of new hampshire. And throughout United States we have a generation of grandparents are raising their grandchildren, and four summits because parents were separated from kids due to their addiction. And for others its because parents did not serve either addiction. With the rise of social media, were seeing yet another Younger Generation become more vulnerable than ever to marketing of these drugs and to the increased accessibility that that means. Everything must be done to stop this next generation from succumbing to this epidemic, as well as new threats on the horizon. This includes the spread of xylazine, which is narcan resistant. Which means that it is even more deadly and its a growing problem in new hampshire, in new england, and across this country. Administrator milligram, i want to hear from you. As the dea has requested increase of 98 million and to combat the mexican cartels and their buyers. I was pleased here last weeks announcement on the announcement of operation last mile. It targeted the Sinaloa Cartels responsible for fentanyl and opioid trafficking. But these criminal organizations are sophisticated, they weaponize the tools of social media, chemistry, violence, and intimidation. Bribery, trade, and money laundering. All to trick people into taking deadly drugs. What do both the dea and fbi need to take on these Transnational Criminal Organizations . Not just sufficient funding, but are there other tools given to you, for example section 702 of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, which is set to expire at the end of this year. And how important is that. Director wray and administrator milgram, i look forward to your testimony and our session today. I think we will go ahead and get you to begin your testimony. When Ranking Member moran comes in, he will submit his opening remarks. So i will ask you to begin, director wray. Thank, you and good afternoon to members of the subcommittee. There is no question that todays threats are more sophisticated and move more quickly than ever before. Just stay ahead of them, only have requested important enhancements to our budget that will help us tackle the wide range of threats that we face, and i look forward to discussing those with you this afternoon. We start with cyber. Todays Cyber Threats are more pervasive, hit a wider variety of victims and carried the potential for greater damage than ever before. You take china. A key part of the Chinese Governments multipronged strategy to lie, cheat, and steal their way to surpassing us as a global superpower is cyber. The scale of the chinese cyber threat is unparalleled. Theyve got a bigger Hacking Program than that of every other major nation combined. And they have stolen more of americans personal and corporate data than every nation, big or small, combined. To give you a sense of what were up against, if every single one of the fbis cyber agents and intelligence analysts focused exclusively on the china threat, nothing but china, chinese hackers would still outnumber fbi cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1. And of course, china is hardly the only challenge in cyberspace. Not even close. As we speak, we are investigating over 100 different ransomware variants, each of them with scores of victims. As well as a host of other novel threats posed by both cyber criminals and actors alike. In addition to china, countries like russia, iran, and north korea. And its getting more and more challenging to discern where nation students would ultimately ends, and cybercriminal threat activity begins. Recently, we have seen Cyber Threats targeting the services the target ordinary americans every day. Im talking about places like hospitals, schools, 911 call centers. And the fbi has investigations into this all over the country, and communities both large and small. Which is why, in this years budget request you will see our needs for 192 more cyber positions and a little over 63 million. We will put those Critical Resources towards ensuring that the fbi remains the worlds premier cyber investigative agency. By taking the fight to our adversaries to join sequenced operations and rapid information sharing with the private sector. By building out our michael cyber squad, each tackling multiple threats and more field offices. Placing investigators and analysts close to the victims that need us. And by providing our workforce with critical cutting edge training. Our opponents in the space are relentless and we need your help to make sure weve got the resources to keep responding in time. Switching gears, almost every week i am speaking with chiefs and sheriffs from all over the country to discuss the threat we are fighting together. And i can tell you that in those conversations, invariably, the number one issue is always the same. A Violent Crime. Last year, working with our state and local partners through our hundreds of fbi led Violent Crime we arrested more than 20,000 violent criminals. Thats an average of 55 bad guys per day, every day, taken off the street. As part of our 24 budget, we are requesting an increase to build on our efforts to combat Violent Crime that affects communities across the country. A big part of that will also go towards our investigation into crimes against children. As Human Trafficking every, year the fbi and our partners identify and locate thousands of victims of child exploitation, and Human Trafficking. The enhancements weve requested will allow us to add even more personnel to that vital effort. And finally, ive described a threat of gangs and cartels moving fentanyl and other deadly substances across borders and into communities all over the country. As a threat of epidemic proportions. And im not the kind of guy that uses like epidemic lately. We are now pursuing investigations against transnational criminal groups and all 66 fbi field offices. And have more than 300, close to 400 active investigations into cartel leadership, specifically. On top of that, we are leveraging International Partnerships through or legalistss offices, to gather and share intelligence. And we are actively participating in six owes a Strike Forces, along the border. And although we, at the fbi, are not the agency tasked with the physical security of our borders, we are committed to doing our part to work with our partners, to tackle these very real, and very serious threats. Its part of that effort, five ask for 53 million, in part, to keep pace with the and dna samples from individuals crossing the border that were testing on behalf of the dhs. Over the past couple of years, we have provided critical dna testing support to 223 investigations, including more than 100 Sexual Assault and a dozen homicides. All based on matches from dna samples collected at the border by customs and border protection, and we expect that volume to increase as Border Crossing increase, and we need your support to continue to process these samples, which so often provide the missing piece of the puzzle to solve serious Violent Crimes that might otherwise go unsolved if we are not able to process those Border Crossing dna samples. The depth of the threats the American People look to us to protect them from is staggering, and im proud to be here today representing the 38,000 men and women of the fbi who worked tirelessly and selflessly to meet that challenge every single day. I want to thank you for your support of the men and women helping us carry out that mission and im happy to answer any questions that you may have. Well, thank you very much. Ranking member moran has joined us and he has very graciously suggested that we go ahead with your testimony, administrator milgram, before he gives his opening remarks. [inaudible] thank you so much, chair shaheen and Ranking Member moran. The members of the committee. Americans today are experiencing the most devastating drug crisis in our nations history. It is like nothing we have seen before. This is because one drug, fentanyl, has transformed the criminal landscape. Fentanyl is cheap to make, easy to disguise, and deadly to those who take it. Just two milligrams, the equivalent of a few grains of salt, can kill a person. It is the leading cause of death for americans between the ages of 18 and 45 today. More than terrorism, more than car accidents, more than cancer, and more than covid. And its killing americans from all walks of life, in every state and community in this country. Nearly 200 americans each day. The drug cartels responsible for bringing fentanyl into this country are transnational and extremely violent criminal enterprises. They rely on a Global Supply chain to manufacture and traffic fentanyl, and they rely on a global illicit Financial Network to pocket billions of dollars from those drug sales. At the epa, we have undertaken a transformation of our own to meet this moment. We have transformed our vision. We are now laser focused on the criminal organizations responsible for flooding our fentanyl into our communities. The Sinaloa Cartel and the hala scow cartel. We have transformed our plans. Weve built an entirely new strategic layer with to counter threat teams. One for the Sinaloa Cartel, and one for the hollis go cartel. These teams are made up of special agents, intel analysts, targeters, data scientists, and chemical and finance experts from across our agency. The teams centralize all of intelligence. They map these cartels and they analyze the criminal networks that today exist in more than 40 countries around the world. They are also developing targeting information on the members of those networks wherever they operate around the world. And weve transformed our execution. We are drawing on the talent and intelligence of the men and women in our 334 offices worldwide. And we are working as one dea, to defeat the criminal networks. Weve made all of these changes in the last two years with urgency, to save lives, stop fentanyl, and to defeat the drug cartels that are responsible for bringing fentanyl into our communities. And we are already starting to see results. On april 14th, 2023, dea announced indictments against the network that is primarily responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the United States. The capitos network of the Sinaloa Cartel. The tiptoes pioneers, the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl into the United States and they control a global criminal enterprise that has killed hundreds of thousands of americans. So, the dea proactively targeted the tiptoes network and we followed it across the globe. From china, where the tiptoes partners with chinese Chemical Companies and brokers, to acquire fentanyl precursors, the ingredients necessary to make fentanyl, to mexico, their home base, where they run secret laboratories and transform those chemicals into fentanyl powder and fake pills. And then smuggle it into the United States by land, by air, by sea, and by underground tunnel. And then in the United States, where the fentanyl makes its way from near the southwest border across our country, reaching both coasts and everywhere in between. The indictments we announced in april charge 28 members of the chapitos network. Eight members of that network are now in custody, seven of them overseas, and we are requesting their extradition. But dea did not stop there. Last week, on may 5th, 2023, we announced the result of operation last mile, where we tracked down and arrested 3337 associates of the sinaloa and elise go hard tells here in the United States. Our operation showed how the chapitos and others in the sinaloa and jalisoc cartels multi city distribution that works and individual drug dealers across their country to get fentanyl across the last mile of distribution on, to our streets, and on to social media. These networks use social media applications, facebook, instagram, tiktok, snapchat, and encrypted platforms like whatsapp, telegram, and signal, to run their operations and to get fentanyl into the hands of americans. They hide that fentanyl, they hide it in fake pills that look like oxycontin, percocets, adderall, or xanax. They hide it by mixing it in with cocaine, with heroin, and methamphetamines. All to induce americans to take fentanyl without knowing it, and to get them hooked. As part of operation last mile, we see more than 6500 pounds of fentanyl powder. More than 43 million fake pills laced with fentanyl. 91,000 pounds of methamphetamines, 8000 and 400 guns, and over 100 million. This is just the beginning. The 10,000 employees that i have the privilege of working with at dea are the most committed and Mission Driven people that i have ever worked with, in my career. They are laser focused on one goal, to stop fentanyl, to defeat the cartels, and to save american lives. Every day, the men and women in our 334 offices around the globe risk their lives for this mission. As administrator, i have worked hard to empower our team with the people, technology, and resources they need to confront the current crisis. But we all must do more. I asked for congresss continued support so that together, we may protect in the National Security, safety, and health of the American People. Thank you. Thank you both for your testimony. We now have a critical number of senators here, so let me just point out that we hope to go into a closed session for a classified discussion at 3 45, so we are going to ask folks if they could try and stay within the five minute question period, after asking questions and again, we need to go back to senator moran for his Opening Statements. Thank you very much and i will shorten my statement significantly, and i also would just want you to know that i appreciate the efforts to coordinate todays hearing and the vote, having classified briefing. I would, also as the chair woman did, note the massive shooting and allen, texas. Painful, sickening reminder that evil still exists in our world and under director wray, i trust the fbi will lead other owen vest occasion into this shooting and your the work your team does to help determine why and how this could happen, and inform federal, state, and local Law Enforcement how we prevent more Mass Shootings from happening. Director wray, youve appeared before the subcommittee many times. Annually since ive been a member of it. Administrator, you are new to the subcommittee. I think its been eight years since the dea administrator has appeared before this appropriations subcommittee, and i welcome you. I think this is a useful addition to our information and knowledge, and i look forward to hearing what you have to say. Tomorrow, and i heard as i came in, the director talking about title 42, with its list tomorrow on thursday. I assume the dea will face an onslaught of challenges related to its mission of preventing cartels and Drug Trafficking across the southern border. And i note that the fbi is expecting a crush of dna samples that will be required for testing. Youve asked for additional dollars to accomplish that mission. I look forward to hearing from both of you on the consequences of title 42 and what we do, in regard to our borders. I will save the rest of my Opening Statement, well for the record. Without objection. Thank you. We will begin the question around now and again, hoping everyone will stick within the five minutes. I will try very hard to do that. My first question is really for both of you. Director wray, youve referenced in your Opening Statement that Strike Forces and that sends for organized crime, drugs, task forces. Can you talk a little more, both of you, actually, about the benefits of ocdef and what those Strike Forces do . As were trying to combat the substance crisis in this country. So, i will start. I think to me, what i think of ocdef, i think its one its working at its best, there are really two concepts. One is the value of partnership and the other is the importance of intelligence. The value of partnership, both because in this world of limited resources and a seemingly unlimited threat, in this case, the flood of really poison into this country, courtesy of the cartels, we have to look for ways to work closely with our partners to maximize impact. On the intelligence side, i think again, when its working at its best it is focused on how to prioritize how to being strategic so that Team Partnerships are focused on what we can do collectively to really maximize the impact. Because were up against a very sophisticated set of adversaries. Administrator, as we discussed on our call, i was in columbia last month. One of the things we heard as we were meeting with folks there is a recognition that were now seeing cocaine mixed with fentanyl. Can you also speak to that, and how they are looking specifically at fentanyl . Yes, senator. It is one of the things that weve seen across the United States over the past year. We have seen what the cartels and drug distributors across the midstates are doing. In addition to these safe pills they make jokes that like real medicine, theyre hiding fentanyl and drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin. And they are marketing and selling those drugs as though they were simply as if they were only cocaine, only meth, only heroin. And weve seen americans die across the midstates from drug poisoning. We issued a Public Safety letter last year to our Law Enforcement partners to alert them to this. We want everyone to understand the risk of fentanyl. Its the deadliest drug weve ever seen widespread in United States. It is 50 times more addictive than heroin, and just a tiny amount can kill someone. So Many Americans do not know that they are taking it. And they are dying. Its really frightening, as i hear from constituents in new hampshire. On a regular basis, this is a more parochial question. Because we have a new dea going into manchester, new hampshire. That is going to be really critical if we look at how we can identify different drugs that we are seeing, and thats important for going to prosecute those people responsible. But that project has been delayed longer than i thought it should be. So can you talk about how were going to move that project forward, and get it done . So we can use it to help get drugs off the street. Yes, senator. I share your concern on this. Because we have nine dea labs across the United States today, and we are doing everything to work as quickly as we can. But weve never seen more fentanyl in the United States. Weve never seen more methamphetamine. So we need the ability to have this Additional Lab to process all the fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other drugs are coming into the United States. And across the country. So our understanding is that that project has been the lead. This is not a permanent solution, but we will be operational this summer, working as one dea. Our field position is going to give us space, so were already starting to hire chemists, and we will work out of our local feel division to do as much as we possibly can while were waiting for that space to get built. Thank you. I am ready to do anything i can to help with this project. So we will stay in very close touch. Director wray, the few seconds that i have left, can you talk about the 702 authority and why thats so important to our work to track down Transnational Criminal Organizations, and drug lords. Section 702 is the critical ingredient for the entire Intelligence Community to protect americans from foreign threats overseas, that affect our National Security. And it is what we rely on to protect americans from international terrorism, from sober espionage, from cyberattacks from foreign adversaries. But also as director burns has cited in some public testimony of his own, it has been very useful in illuminating with the mexican drug cartels in particular, Drug Networks and Global Supply chains. If you think about foreign threats, youve got the drug cartels getting chemicals from china, youve got two foreign threats combined with one. And the ability to be agile with these adversaries, as much as administrator milgram referenced in her comments already. They are reliant on these adversaries. It requires the Intelligence Community to be agile and nimble. And not to be constantly playing catch up with the bad guys. Thats where 70 to become so important. Its focused on foreign adversaries, not americans overseas. Its foreign threats overseas it impact us here. Thank you. Im sure well get into more of that in the post session. I will turn the mic over to senator moran. And anybody else who has not yet voted. The time has run out. Thank you. Senator moran . If somebody voted on the first vote, we can take over the chair. I will leave never ive asked my question. So thank you. Let me start with the administrator. Welcome again, thank you. Thanks for the conversation. Weve had, over a period of time. I wanted to highlight for you that i met with president lopez of mexico, bipartisan, bicameral delegation to mexico city last month. I think he and i had a promising discussion abuja addressing synthetic opioids that are flooding across our southern border. My request of him is that we would do more to fight guns going to the south. Could he ask china to eliminate the precursor chemicals are coming from china to mexico . He indicated he was willing to do that. My understanding, at least from press reports, is that he has made that request in writing with china. With the Chinese Government. Perhaps this development has some benefit. But the fact remains that our two countries have had our challenges in cooperation in the drug wars. And i know the dea remain significantly constrained by abilities in a way that we wish they could. Anything that can confirm that china has abided by the request from mexico, and give me an understanding of the state of affairs between Drug Enforcement in the United States and the situation in mexico. Thank, you senator. And i think its really important to start the conversation on china. Because that is where this problem largely begins today. The vast majority of precursor chemicals that are going to mexico and being made into fentanyl powder, as you note, are coming from china. We recently as part of that indictment with a chemical broker from guatemala, using those chemicals to make as the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel right now. Importantly, in those charges, in those allegations, we have included information that one of the chinese nationals said they knew that those chemicals were going to be used for fentanyl. And also that they were going to hide what those chemicals were in order to ship them out. So we have called on china to stop the shipment of precursor chemicals to mexico, as well. And we are right now, for over a year, we have not had Law Enforcement cooperation with china. So we do have offices in china. We continue to try to work there because we believe its vital to attack the entire supply chain. Right now, we are doing a network wide approach that is looking at every piece. We are targeting the chinese precursor Chemical Companies as part of our work. Those chemicals now going into mexico, my deepest concern is that there is no limit on the amount of fentanyl or methamphetamine that the cartels can make. That is the only limit right now, so we must work at that point. In terms of mexico, we are very much looking to continue to work with mexico and mexican Law Enforcement. They recently arrested one of the chapitos, which we thought was an important step forward. And last, year they arrested are sekiu. We do now want them to work with us together. We have 16 additional mexican nationals who have not been arrested as part of the investigation. Its vital to us, we have these in constipates. Fighting to us we have everyone that is part of that case extradited eventually to the United States to stand justice in a court of law here. Well, i was pleased to see the mexican president tell me what he would do, which was to make that request. I dont know what the chinese response will be and you made that request, i guess, have not had a response or nothing has changed since you made that request, i assume. Yes, senator, we have not had a response, but we will continue to do the work we are doing and to target these largely unregulated Chemical Companies in china. I spent time with dea agents when i was in mexico, i admire and respect their work. Director who wray, you spent an enormous amount of your time warning us, as policy makers, about the republic of china and its threat to our economy and our National Security. I also note that you were successful in closing Chinas Ministry of Public Security in new york city. Is that a rare circumstance or do these Public Security facilities continue to operate in the United States there or elsewhere . So, we have been successful in our Law Enforcement actions in getting the facility in new york shut down. And, of course, weve recently announced some arrests, which include obstruction of justice charges. And frankly, it is outrageous, outrageous that the Chinese Government would think that they could operate with a facility like that in the United States without proper coordination. It violates our sovereignty and it shows a flagrant disregard for well established processes and the rule of law. I wish i could tell you that theyre disregard for the rule of law was an aberration. I would say it is a pattern. And tell me, it fits into a pattern that ive been calling out for sometime now, which is harassment, stalking, intimidation, surveillance, blackmail of dissidents and critics of the ccp, who live here in the United States. They dont do it only in the United States, they inflict the same kind of harm on dissidents and other countries as well. But if they try to use stations like the one in new york to conduct that kind of activity, they are going to keep encountering the fbi. Thank you for your answer. Thank you, senator moran, on behalf of chairman shaheen, i will recognize myself. I want to the men and women of your agency, certainly the work they do. Director wray, senator yellen indicated we will likely default on june 1st, unless Congress Takes action and Speaker Mccarthy has indicated that he does not intend to take default off the table. As a member of the intelligence committee, has the fbi assess whether our adversaries, russia and china, particularly china, will exploit a potential that fall in order to other activities for economic position i guess i would start by saying that the concern its consistent in some ways with my answer to senator moran, i think theres a pretty clear record now of the Chinese Government, the Chinese Communist party, taking advantage of any avenue they can to try to gain the upper hand against us. As for the specific question, i think, i dont think i have anything to add to what director haynes testified to. I think before you are in the Armed Services committee, but i would associate myself with your comment was she fully expelled that they would exploit to the best degree possible for them. Thank you for your work, ive got some questions on do you think the fbi should be fully engaged in the fight against fentanyl . I think we should be and i think we are. I will say, we can always use more resources against the fight. I think administer milligram did a good job of outlining just how massive the problem is. And its a team effort, we work very closely with the dea. Our focus is on really what it is the fbi, through its unique authorities, expertise, and resources can contribute to the team fight. I would be happy to talk about what those are. Speaking of resources, again, the house has passed a bill that would likely cut all agencies except by about 22 . So, rather than having more resources, you have significantly less. Its the arithmetic right . So, a cut of that magnitude would be disastrous not just for, really hardworking public servants, career Law Enforcement professionals or the fbi, but more importantly, in many ways, on the American People that they are sworn to protect. It is not uncommon for me to get briefed on single seizures, from probably every state represented on this subcommittee, single seizures of enough fentanyl to wipe out an entire state. One operation, one seizure, by one squad, one field office. So, a cut of that magnitude would mean countless seizures that would not happen and countless more fentanyl pills affecting neighborhoods all over this country. It would also inhibit your ability to grow your cybersecurity force, would that be accurate . Also, we are, as i said, in my Opening Statement, dealing with, in the chinese Cyber Program alone, an adversary that essentially outnumbers us 50 to 1. And that is just china. To add on top of that the hundred plus ransomware variance that we are investigating. Each one of those with scores and scores of victims. We need more resources for cyber, which is why our enhancement asked for that, not less. And a cut would mean scores more attacks on american critical infrastructure, american hospitals, american schools, american 911 call centers, from nation states and cybercriminals alike. So, again, it would be the American People who would be hurt the most. Thanks for that very candid answer and administrator, cuts like that would also endanger which is significant. Yes, senator, cuts like that would be devastating for our work. We are already about 600 agents down. And so, we are running a this year. That kind of a cut would mean we could not on board any of the more than 400 agents we are scheduled to bring on board. It also would set us back dramatically in the work that we are doing across the world, to map the cartels, and to be able to put the right tools and technology into the men and women of the epas hands. We have a technology in the data system thats over 20 years old, and its well past time that we are updating it. So, we are building an entire mission operating system that will allow us to break silos, share information across dea, and also really manage the agency more effectively. So, for many reasons, it would be devastating for our work. Thank you very much. Thank you, senator reed. We are going to go out of order a little bit because we have the chair of the Appropriations Committee with us. And we are delighted to be here, so senator murray . Thank you very much, i really appreciate you and Ranking Member moran, also the work youre doing work to make sure we are assessing our countries needs and working to live up to our responsibility to craft and pass bills, to deliver the funding our communities need and a timely and bipartisan way. Keeping this momentum going is really important because there are real stakes for our family here, if we let our work fall behind. With or chaos rain. None of our global competitors are debating whether they should invest in their future, and we have to remember that keeping our country safe and secure does not just mean a strong military. It means a fair, functioning system of justice and Law Enforcement, protecting our communities and our rights. We cannot keep our families safe from threats like Drug Trafficking, including deadly fentanyl, domestic terrorism, cyberattacks, or White Supremacy and the uptick in hate crimes and violent attacks, without making sure that our Law Enforcement agencies have the resources they need to be effective and keep people safe. Which is part of what makes the House Republicans plan so alarming. You just outlined some of the impacts of that. Reading it, the House Republicans voted to essentially fire nearly 30,000 Law Enforcement personnel, and thats injustice year one. Those cryptocurrency. Because one of the things that we are seeing is the dark web has become essentially a rogue gallery of different kinds of criminal products and services and payment mechanisms for those deadly products and services. That is typically cryptocurrency. And so one place where i think the need for enhancement is particularly needed is to help us grow our scale to deal with those issues. We just had, last week, operations that was the largest ever seizure of fentanyl trafficked on the dark web. And thats coming on the heels. But we need more operations like that to dismantle the marketplaces and go after the cryptocurrency that is these are profit motivated adversaries. So weve gotten better at cybercrimes and on Cyber Threats, at chasing crypto and seizing the crypto. But we need to build the scale. The threat is metastasizing. Ambassador milligram, in a press release the dea stated that more than 1100 cases involved social media and crypto communications platforms. How has the dea adapted to the use of technologybased criminal Drug Networks . , senator its a really important question. Because we are in the process of adapting and transforming to do just this. What we have seen is that the drug cartels as director wray has said, they have evolved since 2014, 2015 with the onset of fentanyl. They are nimble, they are deadly. And they are literally putting fentanyl onto our streets. And all over social media in a way that we have never seen before. And so in operation last mile, we talk about social media solving the last mile problem for the cartels. They are getting the drugs into peoples hands. Hundreds of millions of americans have cell phones, and they are social media accounts. So they are marketing things that are fentanyl, but theyre marketed as if they were real prescription medicines like ox eco dont. And just to tell you one story, one of our operations and investigations from last mile, just down the road from washington d. C. Jonathan lynch was a 20 year old, and she took what she thought was a percocet pill. It was fentanyl, she died. She never saw that day. She did not buy it online, so the online part comes in in a minute. She purchased it through a dealer that she knew, our agents in the local police Work Together to identify that dealer. They then traced it back to the source in los angeles that was working with other suppliers on instagram. We then trace it back directly to the Sinaloa Cartel in mexico. Thats the kind of work we are now transforming our agency to be able to do, to trace it back to the cartels and to identify the entire Global Supply chain, including supply chain across United States. That Distribution Network that is leading to the death of 107,000 americans between august of 2021 in august of 2022. Thank, you thank you for sharing that. And thank you for thank you, senator murray. Senator haggard . Thank, you chair shaheen. And thank you to our guest chair today. First of all, id like to start with you. Senator grassman this was do a little bit earlier today. My question is, as the fda complied with the subpoena for this document . I believe we submitted a lengthy letter earlier today. I cant speak to the specific document. We also have to balance methods with ongoing investigations. And we will continue to work through the accommodation process, and this has happened many times in the past. Will it be submitted . I would refer to the letter, which is quite detailed. It goes through a fair amount of discussion. I really cant get into the specifics here. I will tell you that we understand the congressional oversight, thats important to me. I understand very much, as i think you do, the importance of us protecting sources and methods and ongoing investigations. And we are committed to try to work through the process. I had a frustrating conversation last year with attorney general garland about something im still trying to understand here. And that is that the Biden Administration can partially investigate the biden family. So i want to come back to you, if i could. To get added a little bit deeper. My first question is, whether you or anybody else has communicated with white house employees, or with attorney general garland or the doj staff. Regarding investigations that pertain to President Biden or any member of his family. I certainly have not communicated with the white house about any investigations on that subject. My instructions also include attorney general garland and the doj staff. I dont know that i can get into any discussions i had with attorney general garland. I talked to him every day, one way or another. About all sorts of investigations. That was a little bit trickier. But what i will tell you is as you know, i am appointed by the previous president. And our agents in our Baltimore Field Office are working with a u. S. Attorney from the Previous Administration on the investigation you are referring to. And my expectations of our agents on every investigation are that we are to follow the facts, wherever they lead. And whomever they lead to, no matter who would that delaware u. S. Attorney be the first one responsible for that . And would that be about what to do that evidence . I dont want to engage in hypotheticals. But the delaware u. S. Attorney is leading the investigation that has been publicly disclosed. And what do i think referring to. Let me come back to what im trying to understand then. If the fbi has uncovered evidence of alleged criminal conduct and then i presume you hand this to the doj, you uncover this. I understand the dojs policy is theyre not going to charge a sitting president while that person is president. And the dojs not going to provide information to congress, is not going to comply with subpoenas for documents. It feels to me like its a dog chasing its tail. And the question is, illegal conduct is alleged or uncovered. How does the American Congress ever uncover that . The decisions made by doj about how to staff prosecutions, and which council to appoint, all those sorts of things are intrusted by regulations to the department. To the attorney general. I can speak to what the fbis role is, and my expectations. Those are the ones i have communicated. To be clear, if evidence were uncovered by the fbi, you would hand it over to the doj. In this case, its the delaware attorney. What would you do that evidence . Their policy is not to charge a sitting president , and we cant get the evidence in congress. Is that correct . Decisions about who to charge, what to charge, those are made at the Justice Department and including the u. S. Attorney in delaware. And decisions about the Justice Departments decisions about its decisionmaking are the Justice Department decisions. I dont want to speak for them. Were right back where we started with that. And being able to clarify how we have an impartial investigation here. I appreciate the opportunity to get some oversight. Its very frustrating. Thank, you senator hagerty. Again, we are pleased that the vice chair of the Appropriations Committee is also with us today. So we are going to go ahead and ask her if you would like to give a statement, and take her questions. Thank, you very much. You will all be happy to know that im not going to do a statement. And we will go straight to my question. I first of all welcome both of you, i so appreciate the work that you do. It is vitally important. Director wray, we also have talked about i was trying to think whether you are a director or an administrator. Last month, employees of a restaurant in auburn, maine were shocked when they opened a box that they expected to contain mugs that they had ordered, and instead they found 14 kilograms of fentanyl. Thats an amount that is sufficient to kill the entire population of maine five times over. Fortunately, the employees immediately called a local police, who are now working with federal partners on what is clearly a major interstate trafficking network. The fbi and the dea play a key role in working with state and local Law Enforcement partners in combatting drug smuggling, Violent Crimes, and gangs in local communities. Director wray, weve had the opportunity to discuss the importance of these relationships during your visit to maine last year. Which i very much appreciated. In particular, i am hoping for continued collaboration and support for the Southern Maine task force and the new England Prescription Opioid Task force, which was launched last june to address the illegal opioid prescription in maine and new hampshire. Director wray and administrator milgram, as you implement the budget, will you ensure that these budgets find as much support as possible . Certainly, on my and these are both team efforts that are very important to me. As you may recall from my visit last august, we are working more closely than ever with our state and local partners in maine. And it meant a lot to me when one of our longtime state Law Enforcement partners said he had seen the fbi move from what he called promised to presence. Thats the kind of thing im great very grateful for. We are incredibly fortunate to have more than 3000 Task Force Officers across the United States, and we also have incredible partnerships with state and local Law Enforcement. So in the example from the restaurant that you just gave in maine, our agents responded and are actively working on that investigation right now, in partnership with the local police. The work that we did for operation last mile, those 3300 arrests, all of those were done in partnership with local police chiefs, Police Departments, sheriffs. We could not do the work that we are doing across our communities without them. And so we are incredibly supportive of that work and of anything that brings us together, sharing information, and working with them. Thank you, i appreciate that. Administrator, in our 2024 budget with the attorney general, i expressed my dismay that while the department is requesting funds to hire hundreds of new attorneys in the litigating division, in headquarters offices, it is proposing to hire only for new dea special agents. That is incredible to me. And its particularly puzzling in the context of the Drug Overdose and poisoning crisis. Everybody here has experienced record high numbers of people who have lost their lives in their home state. In maine, it is a record 716 people last year, and 80 of the deaths were linked to fentanyl. So last year, congress provided the dea 40 million of the budget request to support. For more than 120 additional new agents. Administrator milligram, did you request more agents than were granted to you . Senator, if i could start by thanking traditional 40 million last year. Its been incredibly important for transportation at the a. I believe that this year because we have not yet hired those agents, we would be on board 131 agents. 41 intelligence analysts, but certainly we can do more with more. Thank you. Thank, you senator peters. Director wray, according to reporting, eight people in allen texas this past weekend were murdered by a man who allegedly held a white supremacist view. You and i have discussed the fact that white supremacist and Anti Government extremists pose the greatest terrorist threat here in the homeland for many years. And as you know, weve talked about this, im still waiting for complete accounting from the fbi and dhs. That was mandated by obama. We wrote it along with senator johnson in the 2019 ndaa, and certainly that information is important. If you dont have a full measure of what youre dealing with, then its difficult to know how to properly resource it. So my question for you, director wray, is can you please tell me specifically what in the fiscal year 24 budget request demonstrates that the fbi is prioritizing a response to this significant domestic terrorism threat. I appreciate the question, and i have found our conversations on this topic to be very productive and helpful. And i know homeport and desist you. In the fiscal 24 budget, we have requested an enhancement. Thats on top of base funding, which is quite significant to this issue. The 13 Million Dollar counterterrorism enhancement would augment our ability to address investigative requirements, provide sophisticated tools necessary to proactively counter the threats. So we could do everything from increasing our investigative capacity, facilitating information sharing, identifying emerging trends. Trying to get better ahead of the threat, and to enhance our liaison relationships with Law Enforcement and the private sector. Back in summer 2019, i raise this to a National Threat priority, which is a level of our highest priority. And we saw a Significant Growth in the number of investigations we were conducting throughout 2020, and of course certainly since then. And so we would look for the enhancement that i have just described. We cant really rob peter to pay paul, these other threats that weve talked about are not subsiding at the same time. I just want to be clear, director wray. The increase youre talking about is directly related to your efforts against domestic terrorism. Is that 100 . The 13 million is specifically focusing on domestic terrorism. I just want to be clear. Thank you. Mr. Milligram, frequently discussion about the movement of fentanyl focuses on the department of Homeland Securitys seizures at ports of entry across the border. But as you know, there is critical work that needs to be done to deal with fentanyl much earlier, particularly when it comes to the supply chain. You discussed that in your opening remarks. And my question is related to how do we deal with precursors of this long chain that leads to dangerous part of coming to our country. How does the dea work specifically with the department of Homeland Security to identify and investigate the illicit movement of precursors in fentanyl production . And are there additional tools or authorities that you believe are going to be necessary to enhance both the dea and the dhss ability to disrupt the supply chain in a significant way . Thank you for raising this conversation, senator. I think it is vital that we are looking at this is a network problem. So traditionally, we have focused on high value targets. The leaders, for example, of the cartel. That work is important, but its not nearly enough. We have now worked with our counter threat team, the facilitators of these two cartels and more than 40 countries worldwide. These are the two cartels that we have identified as the most responsible for the deadly fentanyl on our street today. The starts in china with precursor chemicals, and that goes to mexico. Where the chemicals are being used to make fentanyl. So we are targeting specifically those precursor Chemical Companies. Both on the clearnet, and on the darknet. And the individuals who are engaged. No, we do work closely with dhs. They have capacities related to cargo shipment. One of the challenges that we are all facing, though, is that right now, because the Chemical Industry is so underregulated, as we mentioned earlier we have the network case we have charged 28 individuals including four in china. They are hiding what those chemicals are as they are being shipped out. So there is no know your customer requirements. There is no requirement that anything be correctly labeled. And so we are working as hard as we can or do you choose and others to figure out how we can best infiltrate and adapt to be able to track those shipments. And is not them even before they get to mexico. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. Thank, you senator peter. Thank you, madam chair. Madam administrator, the two cartels that are sending fentanyl into the United States are located in mexico, at the . Yes, sir. And is into the fact that we could stop those cartels in their tracks if president lopez would invite American Military and or long enforcement personnel to come into mexico and work with his military, and Law Enforcement personnel. Senator, when i would say from my purview as a head of the dea is my statement true or not . When i would say is that we are focused on the two cartels whom we believe are doing exactly what you say. They are responsible for the fentanyl may i ask you again. If president Lopez Obrador invited the American Military and or american Law Enforcement officials to come into mexico, to work with this state in mexico, we could stop the cartels. Could we not . Senator, i believe this is a whole of government effort. And it has to be including whether its the military madam administrator, ive listened to him for almost an hour. Thank you for that, but we know. Im going to ask you a third time. If president Lopez Obrador invited American Military or Law Enforcement personnel to come into mexico and work with the state in mexico, we could stop the cartels. Isnt that a fact . You just mentioned Law Enforcement. I believe that this is vital for both mexico and the United States. Mexicans are dying as well, as we showed in weld and totally stop them . Would it help let me ask you a fourth time. Would it help if president Lopez Obrador i dont think its a complicated question, madam administrator. Youre asking us for more money, every year. More money, and it gets worse, worse, and worse. In the real world, and were living in the real world, when you get fit in government, when you fail you get more money. Because obviously, you need it. Let me ask you a fourth time. If president Lopez Obrador, and id appreciate an answer, if president Lopez Obrador invited the American Military and or Law Enforcement personnel to come into mexico and work with his, we could stop the cartels, couldnt way . I believe senator that we can stop the cartels. Have you made that suggestion to President Biden . If i could, i believe we can stop the cartels but have you made that suggested President Biden . Senator, i have been very vocal in the whole of government setting on the and using every single effort why hasnt President Biden done it . This is the way that the American People whose sons and daughters are dying look at it. Our economy is 23 trillion dollars. Mexicos economy is 1. 3 trillion dollars. Ours is 18 times bigger. We buy 400 billion dollars every year from mexico. Without the people of america, mexico figuratively speaking would be eating cat food out of a can and living in a tent behind an outback. So why dont you and the president , embarrassing no one, get on the phone and call president Lopez Obrador and make him a deal he cant refuse to allow our military and our Law Enforcement officials to go into mexico and work with his to stop the cartels. Why dont you do that . Senator, when im doing every single day is working with the incredible men and women of the dea who are risking their lives across 334 and i appreciate that. But youre not doing what would work. Why wont you do what would work . Why dont you call the president this afternoon and say, mister president , lets call president Lopez Obrador. Privately. And make him a deal he cant refuse. Because we both know that president Lopez Obrador has neither the ability nor the will to stop the cartels. But yet we go along and pretend that they are our friends. And mexico is our friend. But he has criminal organizations that are killing our people. And you know how to stop it. The president does. We are working every day to stop it. But youre not doing what would stop it. We are transforming and working in countless ways across the globe to do what needs to be done for the American People. And there is nothing that you know what is important thank you . Thank, you madam chairman. Director and administrator thank you both for being here today. Director wray, you have publicly stated that the fbi opens to china relayed counterintelligence investigations every day. That is a concerning statistic, to say the least. How severe is the threat that the United States is facing from the Chinese Communist party, and to what extent possible can you characterize the nature of these threats . I would say, and ive been saying this since early in my tenure, that there is no country that presents a broader, more severe, more comprehensive threat to our economic security, our innovation, and our ideas then the Chinese Government. That is massive in scale, and the agendas that they have. All of which are openly designed to advance the Chinese Government at our expense. It includes everything from cyber, where they have a bigger Hacking Program than every other major nation combined. To economic espionage and intellectual property theft, from businesses ranging from fortune 500 companies to small startups and silicon valley. Weve had them stealing seeds in agricultural areas. They are targeting both officials as they try to influence and shape anymore pro Chinese Communist party direction. But also harassment, stalking, and intimidation of critics in the United States. Whether that is Chinese Americans or other critics of the regime. So it is and all fronts threat. And it requires a whole of country response. Ranging not just the lawn telegyms, but working in partnership with the private sector, with universities, and with our farm partners. Because the same thing theyre doing to asserting to all our friends and allies as well. And i find that when i talk to our farm partners, this is one of the first topics they want to raise as well. So hopefully, for us as a country, the solution is to work with all those we just mentioned. Thank you for your candor and the comprehensive nature of your response. I hope those across the board will listen to what you just said and wake up. I understand you have developed we look forward to welcoming additional fbi employees to huntsville. As new facilities are opened. My new question has to parts. First, how does this fit into the broader strategic and second, will this provide development and training of your workforce to ensure that they have the most highly skilled and analytical workforce available . This is a subject i get very excited about. Im really excited about the future and huntsville. We are on track now to have 19 different fbi divisions represented there. Its already up to 1800 employees. I can easily seeing it getting up to 3000. In terms of the fruit sure i think i see a couple things. One, i view it as an Innovation Hub for the fbi. Weve talked a lot in this hearing about technology and our adversaries using technology. That is where they are and dna efforts come in. That needs to be concentrated in huntsville, were going to have a cyber kinetic range, where our cyber agents can train and Innovation Hub. So its both innovation and advanced training. We always want to go with our basic training, but i expect our graduate level training will be on track for that. The third piece i would mention is we already have a center of excellence there, which is where they will be sent to do forensics on the ieds. That leads to live save on the battlefield. So we are looking to grow that as well. And ive been there to visit many times. Im sure i will visit many more, and every time i am struck by the buzz and home of the activity. And frankly, how excited and enthusiastic all of our people and partners are there. Excellent. Thank you so much. I would be remiss if i didnt encourage you and the fbi to continue leveraging huntsvilles highly Skilled Workforce and vast National Security industrial base. Whether it is network engineering, or countering uas. Huntsville has the experience and stands ready to support the fbis mission. Thank you. Thank you, senator brisk. Senator van hollen, im sorry i missed you. You are out of order on my list. We will look at the open session, then break to go to the fcc for the classified around. Senator van hollen . Director wray, i am sure you would agree that the men and women of the fbi deserve a new headquarters worthy of their sacrifice. Let me say here and im not looking for any response that i think if you look at the history of this, we want to make sure we can consolidate key parts of the agencys mission, and provide for the appropriate safety. It is my view that the maryland sites are they ones that provide the new headquarters at a cost thats affordable to the taxpayer. Regarding equitable investments. But we will have an opportunity in this committee in the other subcommittee that oversees the gsa in time. I just want to put that out there, on the table. I want to thank you and your office in baltimore, youre special agents in baltimore. Very critical part of our joint task force there. I also want to commend the Fbis Joint Terrorism Task force and the u. S. Attorney in maryland. As a result of the fbis investigation, they filed charges against two defendants for allegedly conspiring to attack one of the local power grids in baltimore. The defendants are affiliated with a neonazi Organization Plan to carry out these attacks in furtherance of racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist beliefs. The prosecutors allege that the defendants had intended to use firearms to attack five substations in the baltimore area. Its one example of the interdiction that i believe could have helped avoid a very serious problem. They dont get the attention that i think they deserve when we stop a really bad thing from happening. But i want to thank you, and just a followup on your questions i have seen you say that this is posed by loan actors or small sensor typically radicalized online, and look to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons. That describes him perfectly. Do you believe that this budget request for the Appropriations Committee is sufficient to combat the rising threat of domestic terrorism . In other words, does it provide you with the fbi the resources you need to meet that very real threat . Certainly, i think the resources weve requested have gone a long way towards addressing that issue. Any resources that Congress Sees fit to send us to deal with the threat, i can assure you they will immediately be put to good use. We have seen a growth in domestic violent extremism and homegrown violent extremism. Really, over the years. And at the same time, as ive mentioned to senator peters, we have all these other threats weve been talking about. We cant pull people off of those threats, unless we neglect those. So that is why the enhancement in the fiscal 24 budget become so important. It builds on a locations in our base that are also extremely important. To help us deal with this threat. In some actions. That is important because by comparison to a more developed cell, it attacks over the years with complicated knippens. As challenging as that is, and its incredibly challenging, and its still out there. There are a lot of dots to connect, and lone actors, lets say to people like the case you mentioned, and i appreciate your there are not very many dots to connect, and its going from flash to bang very quickly. In some ways, that makes it more challenging for Law Enforcement, which is why enhancement is so important. Thank, you mister director. A question on the implementation of the fbis role, i know youve been working hard to make the necessary changes to that system. I think we need to go a lot farther when it comes to gun safety laws, those are some meaningful steps. One additional area that was raised sometime ago was the risks created by the fbi getting rid of those reports within 24 hours. Before that requirement was put in place, they were able to identify people that would put the community at risk. My question to you is, if you dont know the answer right here, what is the risk . One of the continuing risks of that deadline that requires you to get rid of the reports after that period . Theres a whole complicated patchwork of Record Keeping requirements. These are ones that i will leave for the policy makers, and they will provide the Operational Impact of some of those issues. I would appreciate that. The Operational Impact and what you think they are in terms of knocking him to track down folks. Senator murkowski . Thank you. Director, administrator, thank you for being here and for what you do. It is a frightening crisis, and i think each of us are seeing the impacts in our state, and you never want to be number one in Something Like this. Fentanyl use and fentanyl deaths last year spiked by 100 50 between 2020 in 2021. We are told at fentanyl is one of the deadliest frontiers. We claim that were the last frontier, but for many people, it may be truly the last for them. Because fentanyl is poisoning them. And administrator, i know youve had not fortunately to meet with sandys not grad, whose son was poisoned at the age of 22. We all have many of these stories. I dont think that were doing near the job that we need to do. Everything that we can possibly do to explain and reinforce that this is nothing to be messed with. Weve talked about the fact that its being incorporated and sold as part of cocaine, or any of the other drugs that are out there. Whether they are legitimately prescribed, or otherwise. We have legalized marijuana. Im hearing now that we are seeing fentanyl be incorporated into some of marijuana. So if youre buying it not through a licensed vendor in the state, what are you getting . This to me is absolutely frightening. A question, and i think this can go to both of you. We are in a state where youre not putting us interest in bringing it up. It is coming to us through the mail, its coming to us through the air. And one would think that weve got some points where we could be doing a better job. Administrator milligram, you mentioned so much is being distributed now through the ease of apps, of social media. What more do we need to be doing . What more resources can we be providing, either through the dea, through fbi . To figure out how we can better intercept what were seeing coming into our state. And particularly someplace as remote as alaska. Do you have what you need . Senator, if i could start on public awareness. Because i couldnt agree more, i think its one of the most vital things all of us can be doing. Because the way that the cartels are doing this can make fake pills look exactly like a real drug. They are tricking us intentionally, so we talk about it as a deliberate, calculated treachery. So we want everyone to understand the fentanyl kills. That one pill can kill. And that there are no Second Chances for fentanyl. We had a campaign at dea, we call it we do not branded, its on our website. So anyone can take it and use it. And we put all the materials up their, emoji codes for social media. So a parent could know what a drug means. We have Police Departments if somebody has got their smartphone, does it pop up and say one pill can kill . We would love for it to be at that point, where if someone goes on a social media app they would see Something Like that. We have got colleges taking, it weve got Police Departments. The more we can do to help americans understand enough conversations the family about this threat, the more progress we can make. Even when life lost is too many. In terms of what we need, just one quick note on social media. The Deputy Attorney general with the social Media Company was clear in saying that this is an emergency. And that she is asking the social Media Companies to change their terms of service, to have a zero tolerance policy for narcotics trafficking, just like they do for child sexual exploitation. Or for terrorism. And, also to report to Law Enforcement. So we would be delighted to work with members of this committee on some thoughts on social media. In terms of transportation, we are actively tracking the way the fentanyl is coming into alaska. And you are right in saying that it is so tiny, tiny amounts can be transported easily. By boat, by plane, and so we are looking at all these different aspects and really trying to map all of the supply routes, and target the individual suppliers, as well as the local ones. We all know that there is more that can be done. And i look at this issue. I think about the issue that we have in the state when it comes to Human Trafficking, and the rate of Human Trafficking we are seeing, especially amongst her who moves, do, food alaskan native people. This remains a concern. So i think about our situation up north. Weve got one field office in anchorage. We have two new satellite offices, when in fairbanks and one in juneau. Weve got a crisis, in my view, when it comes to fentanyl. Weve got issues related to the Human Trafficking, and i worry that we dont have the resources that we need to make a difference in these frightening areas. Administrator wray, you can choose to comment on that. I know that we are well over our time to go into closed session. I would just say, as you know senator, ive been up to visit our office there. And more importantly, even our Law Enforcement partners up their twice. And the thing that really strikes me, besides how small the footprint is in some sense, how massive the footprint is in another sense. And last but not least, how closely the partners Work Together. And i say that with a Vantage Point of somebody who spent all 56 and the Anchorage Field Office and federal state and local partners is pretty striking. I think in some ways its something that brings people together faster, and more closely than a common massive challenge. They are good. But they are overwhelmed. Thank you, senator murkowski. If there are no further questions, senators can we would request that the fbi in the eye respond to that within 30 days. The subcommittee will recess and we will reconvene in ten minutes. In ftc to 17 to take any classified testimony. The subcommittee stands in recess subject to the call of the chair. Thank you. That completes testimony from fbi director, christopher wray, and the aid ministry raider, and milligram. On the 2024 budget proposal. If you missed any of todays hearing, you can watch it in its entirety tonight, starting at eight eastern on cspan two. Yo