Half. [background noises] the subcommittee on oversight will come to order. I know quorum is present without objection the clear chair made a clear recess at a time but also with out objection the meeting record will remain open for five legislative days so members can submit any materials they wish to be included therein. Today we have congressman bryant joining us in these waved onto the subcommittee to participate in todays he will arrive a little later. As a former army explosive disposal technician congressman is wellpositioned to expose any failures of the generous six device responses that we will analyze today. I appreciate having him here we look forward to his discussion. Thank you Ranking Member torres, members of the subcommittee and or witnesses for joining us at todays oversight hearing. January 6, 2021 was an incredibly dark day for our country. Our capitol was overrun some individuals assaulted the u. S. Capitol Police Officers and they breached our halls. Additionally explosive devices were placed at the dnc and the rnc threatening our security. Today, will focus on identifying the numerous security failures that preceded and continue to persist following the discovery of two explosive devices near the u. S. Capitol complex on january 6, 2021. Been more than three years we still have many unanswered questions. According to the fbi there are still no suspects as to who planted the devices found near the rnc and the dnc. I know i shared many peoples concerns there has been no update in their investigation. Additionally the generally sick select committee was meant to dive into the failures and investigations of january 6 completely neglected to january6 completely neglected to investigate the devices. Despite former Speaker Nancy PelosiHouse Democrats spending millions of dollars in there two years of the select Committee Investigation into the pipe bomb was basically nonexistent. Their 845 page final report only referred to the pipe bomb five times. These references are situational as far as i can tell no investigation was conducted. In contrast of the term President Trump is mentioned in the report 1901 times. I refused to follow the select committees footsteps and conducting partisan bias investigation. There were genuine and regrettable security failures on rous six. The response to the devices was one of the most alarming. Here are the facts at approximately 12 42 p. M. The United StatesCapitol Police received reports of an explosive device found next to the rnc. At roughly one oh 5 00 p. M. A second device was discovered at the dnc Vice President lex Kamala Harris was inside the building. The Vice President elect came if detonated could have caused serious bodily harm. Cctv footage indicates the devices were planted the night before by an individual carrying a backpack and wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a mask, gloves, glasses and a pair of nike air max speed turf sneakers. Despite the suspects appearance on numerous u. S. Capitol police tv cameras and the fbifforts interviewing over 800 individuals in assessing more than 300 tips these suspects sut still remains at large. Unfortunately fbi has failed to provide subsidence of updates on the investigation despite numerous requests from congressional committees. Today they have declined to participate in our hearing. We are joined by several experts today who will help shed light on the devices response including u. S. Capitol police, assistant chief sean gallagher. On a january 6, 2021 assistant chief gallagher directed a counter surveillance to the dnc following the discovery of the device at the rnc. Today it will spend time analyzing the discrepancies of the devices response ultimately this hearing is meant to help us all move forward. I look forward to your testimony assistant chief gallagher into working together so we can ensure shortcomings of this nature do not happen again. I salute and apply the capitol Police Officers who day in and day out devote their lives to protecting the members in the halls of congress and the thousands of visitors who were here every day. We have a lot to dive into this morning. I now recognize the Ranking Member ms. Torres for five minutes for the purpose of providing an Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman i to join you in welcoming the witnesses to our hearing. Thank you for your many years of service to our community. I understand how important and dangerous sure jobs truly are. Especially when forced to protect us from those who choose to use bombs instead of the ballots to achieve their ends. I also know from many years working at the 911 dispatcher that it is usually premature to assess Law Enforcement response to a criminal act while a federal investigation till active and ongoing. ■ and i am sure my colleagues on the other side of the aisle know this. Which leads me too wonder what exactly is this that we are doing here this morning . Maybe it is to pedal crazy right wing conspiracy theories about the generally sixth pipe bomb spreading in the dark corners of the internet. Or maybe we are here so this subcommittee can once again tried to model our history. Two of the illinoi l enforcement and undo the efforts of the bipartisan january 6 select committee. All to distract from the simple fact the former president republican nominee for president orchestrated a corrupt theme to overturn the results of a free and fair election. When that did not work he summoned an armed mob, rattled them up and dispatch them to the capitol. Endangering the lives of everyone working here that day, including members of congress not to mention putting at risk the lives of the outgoing and incoming Vice President. I was in the house gallery when the capitol was breached. It is imperative that all of who committed criminal acts that day be held accountable for their actions including and especially whoever placed pipe bombs at the dnc and the rnc. Take time. Experts are tasked with not only solving a crime, but also identifying potential characteristics to prevent future threats from the Church Bombings that terrorized communities throughout the Civil Rights Movement to the bombing in oklahoma, federal Law Enforcement agencies have always had to work tirelessly, sometimes for years and decades to put together the pieces needed to fully investigate, identify and prosecute Domestic Violence terrorists like whomever placed these bombs. Fbi director Christopher Rae ray testified before the january committee, the Judiciary Committee last year that his agents reviewed 40,000 videophiles and assessed more than 500 tips. Law enforcement spent thousands of manhours investigating the crime and i have faith that they will continue to do so until the perpetrator is brought to justice. While my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and i disagree on some things, i hope that we can acknowledge and respect the vital work that Law Enforcement including federal Law Enforcement does on our behalf. Just last week House Republicans included cuts to doj, the fbi and the bureau of alcoholic, tobacco and firearms explosive programs in their Appropriations Bills for fiscal year 24. If they were serious about this investigation and supported law wouldnt have cut critical funding for federal Law Enforcement needed to solve these crimes and others. This committee shouldnt be used as a platform to feed into internet conspiracy theorists. Rather i look discussing and learning more about the responsibilities and complexities of the important work the fbi and its partners are engaged in from our witnesses. Thank you once again for taking the time to justify at the hearing and i yield back. I now recognize the full committee Ranking Member for five minutes for the purpose of providing an Opening Statement. Thank you mr. Chairman and thanks to the witnesses for joining us this morning and for your service and to all the brave men and women of the Capitol Police, fbi and other Law Enforcement for the work they do each and every day to keep the American People safe which is no easy task but wei ms to why we are here for a public hearing on an active criminal investigation especially one in which the fbi has repeatedly told congress including members of the subcommittee that discussing an Ongoing Investigation would undermine its integrity and make it more difficult to catch the perpetrator. I have to wonder whether that is the goal, to undermine the integrity of an Ongoing Investigation. I certainly hope not, but here we are. While im not sure what the precise goal is i certainly hope it is treated with the seriousness it deserves and that its not used as a platform to spread conspiracy theories about the fbi and the United States cal ut this Congress Republicans have called to defend agencies like the fbi and the bureau of aoh explosives. In fact at least one House Republican has teachers on their websites that same defund the fbi. I must point out the irony of my friends on the other side of the aisle repeatedly criticizing the pace of this investigation while at the same time proudly attempting to defend the fbi, atf and other agencies leading the inquiry. Hows does it make sense to criticize the pace or the resources allocated while simultaneously taking those resources away . Im not the only one confused. The executive director of the fraternal order of police summed it up well, to withhold funding for Law Enforcement is at variance with common sense. Yet its not just the funding. This entire congress, House Republicans echoed the bizarre accusations that the fbi has weaponize against the American People trusted in fact before its technical difficulties prevented the majority of the subcommittee from doing so, the command speaker admitted that his allies on the subcommittee were blurring faces of rioters in the january 6th footage released because, quote, we dont want them to be retaliated against him charged by the department of justice. Imagine that. People who might have broken the law we dont want to have them be retaliated against for crimes they might have committed. As im sure witnesses can attest Law Enforcement relies on the cooperation of members of the public to perform effective investigations all leveling these baseless accusations against the fbi to discourage witnesses and members of the public who may be helpful and havecorroboration. Dont get me wrong its key that the individual who placed or individuals who placed bombs at the dnc and rncad of the january 6 attack be caught and prosecuted and while i appreciate the majority interest, im not sure how the goal or with the kennedy and House Administration can possibly do legislatively to speed up in active fbi investigation. Again i thank the witnesses for being here for your service and willingness to answer questions and i am looking forward to your testimony and with that i yield back. The gentleman this hearing is to review the handling of two serious incidences that affect the safety and security of ded visitors to the city. I was sure that this could and should be a bipartisan hearing and i hope that it will be. The fbi has been investigating this for three years. This hearing is not about the fbi, norts its about the response and the process of responding to three very dangerous deviceshat provide an eminent risk to people here at the capital. The fbi was invited to be here today but they declined and i believe we have assembled an impressive panel of experts that can help the response. This hearing isnt about the fbi investigation but something this committee does have oversight of which is the Capital Police and Law Enforcement that respondent how they respond to incidents like this. Without objection all other members Opening Statements will be made part of the hearing and they are submitted, if they are submitted by 5 p. M. Today. Pursuant to paragraph b of the Committee Rule six the witnesses will please stand and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Let the record to show the witnesses answered in the affirmative, you may be seated in thank you all. I will now introdu the witnesses. The first witnesses the u. S. Capitol Police Assistant chief for uniformed operations mr. Sean gallagher. Thank you for your Longterm Service to the u. S. Capitol police and members year. Assistant chief gallagher joined in 2001 and on january 6, 2021 was the deputy chief for the protective service bureau. We are grateful that you are here today, assistant chief calgary and we look forward to your perspective regarding the response and how we can improve in the future. Our next witness is mr. Sean dennis the cofounder, president and ceo zero of the association. Mr. Dennis served at the bomb squad Commander SpecialOperations Sergeant for the county Sheriffs Office and centennial colorado. I hope i got that name pronounced correctly. Hes been involved in the bomb technician and explosives community for the quarter quartercentury of 25 years. The next witness is a former Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority head canine detection trainer. Did i get that right . Close enough. He spent over 12 years as an explosive canine trainer and handler and has supervised thousands from explosive devices. Since the u. S. Secret service supervised the sweep of the dnc was not available to testify before the subcommittee today, we look forward to hearing the perspective on the canine security sweep of the dnc. What went right and what possibly may have gone wrong. The final witness is a big fan of your first name by the way. A former fbi special agent and master bomb technician. He was a First Responder to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, 1996 atlanta bombing and the 9 11 World Trade Center attacks among others. In 2022, he was awarded as an honorary u. S. Commander for his work with Security Forces and military working dogs. As i said, we have a very impressive panel of experts that i think can help them navigate us here today. We appreciate the witnesses being here today and look forward to your testimony. As a reminder, we read your written statements and it will appear in the full hearing record. Under Committee Rule nine, you are to limit your oral presentation to a brief summary of your written statement unless i extend the time period in consultation with the Ranking Member. Please remember to turn on your microphones using the button in front of you so that members can hear. If you dont, i will very politely remind you to turn your microphone on. The light on the timer in front of you will turn green. After four minutes, it will turn yellow. When the red light comes on, your five minutes has expired. You dont have to stop midsentence, but we would ask that you please wrap up your statements once the red light is illuminated. I now recognize the assistant chief gallagher for five minutes. Good morning, chairman, Ranking Member torres and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to te today about the january 6 pipe bombs. The department greatly appreciates the continued commitment to carry out their duties of protecting the members of congress, visitors and the entire capital complex and legislative process each and every day. Congress support has been invaluable as we continue to work on building the Lessons Learned from january 6th while also meeting the dramatic workload increases and increasing volatile threat environment. As you know, the United StatesCapital Police patrol a campus that is completely open. The public is a constitutional right to visit and petition and our officers and civilians work 24 7 to keep you safe whether you are here on capitol hill or whether you travel to your home district. Our mission is vast and responsibilities have expanded immensely over the years. The threat has morphed from securing the buildings to the threat of a 9 11 scenario and now to be an unprecedented increase to members and their families. January 6, 2021 however, that safety was threatened in a number of ways including the placement of two pipe bombs, one in an alley behind the capitol grounds, which is adjacent to the Republican National