Corner on the transformation process. There is no doubt that historically, there was a Development Approach that was not working. We recently launched a program that is going very well and it builds the number of functionalities that we can apply to other forms. I referred to the green card program. The use of Electronic Filing as the means of receiving and then educating applications does not change what programs will have interviews associated with them. That is not set to change as part of the transformation process. Senator sessions look, its not going to be an in person entity. They cannot do the proper background check. You need to be defending the peoples public safety. If you need more money to do this, you need to ask for it. If you want to rubber stamp the process, keep doing the way youre doing it. Ms. Saldana, section 1373 of title 8 of the u. S. Code provides among other things quote, a federal, state, or local Government Entity or official may not prohibit or in any way restrict any Government Entity or official from sending to or receiving from i. C. E. Information regarding a citizenship or immigration status lawful or unlawful of any individual. Close quote. Dont you think that resolutions by City Councils or state governments or sheriffs in certain jurisdictions, directing their officers not to honor detainers or otherwise notify i. C. E. That they have arrested someone thats unlawfully in the country could violate or would violate section 1373 . Secretary saldana well, all of that is part of litigation senator. Quite frankly i think we have taken that position in litigation, that is the case. Senator sessions they do have to supply information. In other words, you have taken the position which i understand you correctly, youre correct to say cities, you have to comply with this law. Secretary saldana yes. Again, is it more practical to work through all this morass of litigation or can we work with these jurisdictions to try to get them to cooperate . I think its the latter. Senator sessions i understand youre saying that. Forgive me if im not persuaded. This has been going on for many years. It came up in 2007 when we had a debate about all of this. And it was wrong then and its wrong now. Its gotten to be, i think, its 300 or so jurisdiction that is are sanctuary jurisdictions out of what, 17,000 . But some are very big cities. Very large immigrant populations. So its a huge matter, but most cities are cooperating. If you want to know what i hear, the complaints about the federal government enforcement from our Law Enforcement officers, is that you wont allow them to help you. If they arrest somebody and call your office, nobody comes. Nobody cares. Nobody responds. And so thats the big problem weve got in the country, maybe bigger than the other. At any rate, i hope that you will understand, ms. Saldana that youre talking with is not going to change the situation. Do you have any cities that have indicated to you they are going to make a change in their policy . Secretary saldana i mentioned the numbers earlier, sir. Just as a matter of focus we have looked at these 49 particular and 33 are working, have come and said they will work with us in some way or another. Again, tailored to their needs. We only had five of those 49 say no. Well continue to work with them. Senator session im sure after all the events of the last few months are certainly should be willing to listen about this. But i have serious doubts that we are going to see any change unless Congress Takes some action or unless this Administration Takes some action. Ms. Saldana, i know one problem you have im sure is frustrating to you is countries not taking back criminals that you have arrested and ordered deported. Can you tell us the status of that situation . Secretary saldana yes. As you know the department of state obviously has a vast interest in this and i have work with the department of state and met with the individual who is overwho oversees these relationship, we are working hard to open doors. I went to china a couple months ago, beijing in particular, and china has been a challenge for us. We have signed together it kind of a standing agreement that they will actually have two people here to help process chinese going back to the country repatriating from this country. Thats some progress. We continue to work with them. I have worked with south american countries. Guatemala and el salvador and we continue to work with my counterparts there to try to ensure that we have and assign a memorandum of understanding with them. Senator sessions working with them and working with them is one thing. But this has been going on for years also. Many years. How long have you been in office . Secretary saldana seven months. Senator sessions i cant blame you for all thats gone on. I want you to know i understand that you have professional training and you understand the world. Are there powers and actions the United States government can take without legislation that would put pressure on these countries to accept back individuals who we have ordered deported . Secretary saldana obviously this is in the province of the department of state largely because there are relationships with international countries. But, yes, i understand that they have some authorities to do that. As you know, senator, its a very complex picture when it comes to International Relationships and one Agency Issues and may not hold sway over the Bigger Picture in the relationship with that country. Senator sessions i remember the former chairman of this committee a number years ago was outraged by all of this. And actually offered legislation that would mandate reducing mandate a reduction of visas from countries that dont comply. Doesnt it cost you a lot of money and create huge time involvements in dealing with situations where a country wont take back one of their own . Secretary saldana its a great challenge, sir. Thats where we face issues where we cant get papers cooperation from those countries, and we have to release them under that Supreme Court opinion after a certain period of time. Senator sessions under Supreme Court opinion if a country wont take them back in a year goes by . Secretary saldana i think its actually more like 180 days. We can extend the period of time. But theres a point at which we have to release them. Senator sessions that takes a loft your officers agents time and effort. Secretary saldana it does. Senator session you have to pay to house people in very high quality prisons instead of deporting them promptly. Secretary saldana thats correct. Senator sessions i have a recollection, was the customs chief in years gone by when he shut the border down with mexico over some disagreement over their responsibilities caused quite a stir. He closed the border. I would say to you, i think it is time for the state department and your department to stand up and say, we are not going to accept this anymore. If you do not accept back promptly people we deport, you are going to suffer serious consequences and and the relationship that deals with visas is a reciprocal relationship, isnt it . So that if we accept people, and they agree to take them back likewise if they accept individuals from the United States and they deport them, we accept them back. Is that a law that requires that or is that Just State Department agreements with these countries . Secretary saldana sir, im sorry. You are above my knowledge when it comes to the state department. Senator sessions you are going to have to stand up to the state department. Looks like we all are. This cant continue. We dont have the money to continue to bicker with these countries for years and years yearns and not get this matter settled. Well try to work on that. I think legislation would be appropriate, too. Although its not necessary. If the president and the state department stood up and were clear on it, it could be fixed promptly, in my opinion. I may submit some additional questions for the record. We are having some problem getting answers to our records. Mr. Rodriguez, when do you plan to send us your responses to our questions for the record following the march hearing of oversight of your agency . Director rodriguez as soon as possible. I thought we had satisfied all of those requests. Well make sure to get those to you. As soon as possible. Senator sessions i dont believe we have. Director rodriguez if there are outstanding requests, that is obviously not happen about that and well happy about that and well act quickly to respond to that. Senator sessions the record will remain open for one week. If there is nothing further, but i will say one more thing. Both of you are good law officers. You know how the system works. And i hope you know that things arent going as well as they should. A lot of that is because of administration policy. At some point youll have to decide whether youre going to execute that policy or not. Some of the policies, i think, cannot be defended. But i respect your integrity and i appreciate your commitment to your country and your service to your country. The hearing is adjourned. Secretary saldana thank you. Director rodriguez thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the Veterans Affairs department may have to shut down hospitals next month it congress does not address the budget shortfall. Bob mcdonnell testifies before that live in the morning at 10 00 a. M. , eastern on cspan three. Later in the day, broadband Infrastructure Investment on cspan3. Ohio Governor John Kasich enters the debate. He is the 16th republican to enter the race. He made the announcement at the Ohio State University campus. Mr. Kasich wow. Wow. Standing here with me, of course, is people who ive dedicated my life to. My tweet daughters, emma and reese kasich. You know, i remember when they were born, do you remember that, sweetie . [laughter] i kept saying to the doctor, hows it going, you know, and he is trying to deliver two babies. Finally he looks me square in the eye and he said, can you shut up, im a little busy right now. [laughter] and they came out and i could hold them in the palm of my hand. It was so sweet. And so i, along with karen, have dedicated our lives to giving them a better life than we were able to ever get from our parents. And you know what . Theyre doing fantastic. Emma and reese. [applause] and my wife, pray for her, shes married to me. Ok . [laughter] from the very tips of my toes to the top of my head, i just love my wife so much. Such a great partner. [cheers and applause] such a great lady. So, i want to tell you that its this whole business of the American Dream, isnt it, that we can all work to make sure that next generation is going to be in a position of greater strength than what we received. I get my inspiration from the people who came before me. I want to tell but a few of the ones that inspire me. Id like to start with my uncle steve. Uncle steve was a tough guy. You know, the son of a coal miner. Rough and gruff and tell it like it is and he found himself at iwo jima. And he looked around during that battle and he saw a lot of people dying. Uncle steve was not a churchgoing man. But in the middle of all the violence and the blood and the death he said to god, if you will take me off this island, i will go to Church Every Day for the rest of my life. [laughter] and he did. And he did. [applause] when uncle steve came home from the war, the brothers all slept in the same room. Didnt have a lot. And uncle george told me that he would have nightmares and he would speak in japanese. And he told his brothers, never wake me. Never wake me from that nightmare, because i dont know what will happen. Let me sleep and wake up on my own. And uncle george, hes here today, hes right over here, hes 89 years old. [applause] i so love my uncle george. Hes the patriarch of our family. Well, uncle george was in the infantry and he was scheduled to take a boat from england to belgium. But the division he was in couldnt all fit in the boat. So they asked uncle george to wait until the next day. Well, that boat left england on its way to belgium and a submarine launched a torpedo and sunk that boat and everyone on it perished. The next day uncle george took another boat and he landed in france. And he fought with great honor and he returned home and became a guidance counselor and guided young people for the next 38 years of his life. What a man. [applause] you know, my fatherinlaw, we call him popsie, grandfather joined the marines at the age of 17. Wanted to serve his country. But i guess most important, my mom and dad. You know, mom was she was a visionary. Didnt get the education. You know, her mother could barely speak english. But, boy, was she smart. And if you think i have opinions, you never met my mom. [laughter] and my father. He was the mailman. They called him john the mailman. When we laid my mother and father to rest, there were countless numbers of people who came and said, john the mailman, he watched out for all of us. And they gave up so much, didnt take i wish theyd have spent more on themselves, but just no matter what you told them, they werent going to do it. Because it was all about the next generation. And theyre the ones that have inspired me, and all of you that are here today, youre the same way, arent you . You got those people who did so much for you, who are your heroes. They dont have to be famous. Theyre just people you love and that you admire. That American Dream is pivotal for the future of our country. But i have to tell you, there are a lot of people in America Today who are not sure that that American Dream is possible, that that American Dream is alive. And i can understand their concerns. You know, when i was a kid, you went out and you got a job and you worked at that job your entire lifetime. You got your health care, you got your retirement and everything was good. Today, you could be a 51yearold man and one day after serving and doing everything the right way somebody walks into your office and says, im sorry, but we dont need you anymore. Can you imagine that conversation . Could you imagine that dad when hes driving home or that mom when shes driving home . They lose confidence. They wonder what their future is. Can they get another job, can they support their family . Will anybody be there to help them . Or how about moms and dads today . They send their kids to college, many of these young people ringing up massive amounts of debt, trying to get an education. And theyre living in attic and mom and dad are wondering, will they get a job, will they pay their bills, what kind of a future are they going to have . Or, at the same time, we can also think about what all of us fear greatly, and that is the problems of bad health. Can i afford those expensive drugs that i need to survive . What is it going to cost me to get treatment, just not for myself, but for one of the loved ones in my family, will i be bankrupted and lose everything i have . Everything ive worked for . Its a real fear. Or the fear of the tsunami of drugs. Its everywhere, isnt it . The kids that are here, and there are many of them, dont do drugs. Dont put that big thousandpound pack on your back and keep you from your godgiven purpose. But all moms and dads worry that those drugs are going to wash away our own neighborhoods and maybe wash away our children. And how about those that struggle to make ends meet. There are some people who just say, well, just work harder or pull yourself up by your boot straps. I believe in all that. Some people just dont have the fortune that many of us have and they struggle. They struggle for a whole lifetime and they worry that can they rise, can they pull the rest of their family members up the ladder . The promise of america, and they worry about it. Or how about if youre a member of the minority community. An africanamerican. You wonder, the system, i think, sometimes doesnt just work for me, but sometimes i feel like that system works against me. You think about the troubles that many of our africanamericans still face today in the world where we have worked to provide equal rights and opportunities, sometimes theyre not so sure and i dont blame them. Or how about all of us . We pick up the paper, its chattanooga. Its fort hood. Its isis. Are we safe . Are we going to be safe to go to the mall, or leave our homes . These are the worries that Many Americans have. But i have to tell you, as serious as these are, and they are very serious, weve had a lot worse. Much worse in this country. Think about it. The civil war. You remember reading about it . I mean, its not just neighbors fighting against neighbors, but it was even family members, kin, fighting against one another. And killing one another on a battlefield right in america. How about the racial violence that we experienced in this country . The early days of television when they put the dogs and the gas and the batons on people of another color. Or the world wars. Where many in our families never came home leaving widows and children without a dad. Or the depression. The depression. Ask your grandfather, ask your mom and dad about that depression. My father used to say that hed go down to the store and get some food for the family and the guy would say, well put it on your bill. There was no bill. Thats what it took for america to get through the depression. And you all remember that Crystal Clear morning and the horror we felt on 9 11. But guess what . Weve always got through it. Because the testing is what makes you stronger. Its the challenges that make you better. I have lived through them and i have become stronger for them and america has become stronger for them. And heres how weve done it. By staying together. Not by dividing each other. But by staying together with our eyes on the horizon, with our eyes on the horizon, about the future. [applause] we have a little town in ohio called wilmington. They followed that formula. Let me tell