[inaudible conversation] morning. This hearing of the senate communit committee is called to order. I this is our annual threats to the homeland committee. I want to welcome eyewitnesses and acknowledge the victims of the hurricane and houston texas, florida, throughout the caribbean and puerto rico. Im sure we will be discussing that quite a bit. Maybe it wasnt contemplated when we first set up and schedule this hearing on the other enormous threats, but there are real threats to human life occurring now throughout our nation and we will certainly knowledge that all those individuals are in our thoughts and prayers. Im sure everyone on this committee joins me on that. We are pleased to welcome the acting sector of Homeland Security, diane duke, Christopher Ray the director of fbi, the National CounterterrorismCenter Director niclas rasmussen. We want to thank you all for your service. These are perilous times. The threats that face us are growing and metastasizing. I do not envy any of your task. These are serious and were grateful you stepped up to the plate and we have quality individuals with real talent that are accepting that response building. The Mission Statement of this committee is presimple. To enhance the Economic Security of america and more efficient effective accountable government. Very similar, i would imagine, to some of the Mission Statements of your own departments and agencies. I want to spend a lot of time because weve got a number ofot members here, but again, i want to acknowledge yource service to this nation, sacrifice you and yource families are undertaking toou service meet nation. I turn it over to senator mccaskill. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. Directors ray and rasmussen, thank you for being here. Secretary duke, i welcome you to the committee for the first y time and to the Department Acting secretary. I will let you know i appreciate the effort that you and fema are making to assist the victims of hurricane in texas. I will have to say, we are very concerned about what we are seeing in puerto rico. I know there have been logistical challenges because of the devastation import rico , but i am looking forward to the briefing that we will receive today from fema about what is actually occurring on the ground, and those americans are very deserving of whatever it takes for us to address the crisis, the humanitarian crisis that is impacting 3. 5 american citizens in puerto rico as we speak today. The hearing today is about threats to the homeland, heartbreakingly, just last month, we suffered a terrorist attack your home. Olence the violence perpetrated by whites premises and neonazis at the charlottesville rally was tragic, vile and evil. Zi it stunned many of us. Without the chance of blood and blood not a 21st century american college. The boldness in the outspokenness of something that is so evil, proudly marching under a nazi flag is something i think many of us t didnt think we would see in this country, but now we have seen it. I drank attention to a document that is on the easel. R i dont think Many Americans understand the level of threat that we have in this country from white supremacist, antigovernment and other violent extremists. If you look at the comparison, and this data comes from the gao, this is from a think tank or anybody who has bias, this is from the government auditors that weve had 62 instances since 911 and 106 fatalities by the white supremacist antigovernment and other violent extremists. Compare that to 23 acts of violence by islamic violent extremists. The fatalities are almost equal. One of my goals of this hearing is to give specific responses as to whether the level of response matches the level of threat as it relatess to these two types of terrorists that want to do harm to american citizens. Im worried, this committee is a good example. Weve had multiple hearings on the threat of isis, as it relates to Homeland Security. We have zero hearings about the threat of domestic o terrorists and the threat they pose in our country and our response to it. We also face the threats from foreign terrorist organizations like isis and those inspired by them. We only need to look overseas over the past four months to see what our allies have suffered. The suicide bomber into Manchester England in june, the pedestrians in the London Bridge and now in barcelona spain. Just this month, a bucket bomb on a london subway. We know these organizations are just targeting europe. We know they are also, in addition to domestic terrorists, they are also Foreign Terrorists who want to kill americans and want to radicalize americans here at home to do so. Thats why we depend on you, the men and women of the dhs, the fbi and the and t to keep america safe. Thats why im so concerned byso some of the budget choices made by the said ministration. For instance. Soft targets and transportation areas where large groups of people gather has served as prime targets. In addition to Aviation Security, they secure freight rail, highway, bus lines and seaports. According to the tsa more than 10 billion passenger trips are taken on mass transit systems each year yet the budget plans to cut tsa programs at a time we cannot afford to let up when it comes to security measures. A large portion of this cut is taken from the viper team. The viper team are deployed all across the country to provide critical assistance to securing airport securities and bus terminals. By the way, they also deployed to houston to assist with recovery. The budget would cut them by 43 million, reducing viper teams from 31 down to 18 to cover the entire country. The president s budget wouldju also other dhs programs that provide critical security to our transportation system. In july, dhs announced 29 awards to the complex terrorist attack Grant Program including one that wouldth prepare kansas city and enhanced munication systems and another that would allow st. Louis to build an integrative response structure among First Responders. This is a type of subsistence we should be providing our cities in the face of threats like london, barcelona and manchester. The budget will eliminate all of these programs for next year. There unfortunately isnt enough time to discuss in seven minutes or even a single hearing all the threats our country faces but we face cyber iran somewhere, russia trying to hack our election. This month dhs ordered agencies to remove Cyber Security software from federal Computer Systems because of its manufacturers tied to russian intelligence. M we have Border Security issues. We even have potential threats to agriculture. Just last month i had a roundtable in kansas city to learn what i could do to the nations food supply. Im glad you are all here to talk about what the greatest threats are that america faces, what we are doing about them, and most importantly what we can do to help you in your most important work. Thank you very much. Thank you. I would ask and send them a written Opening Statement be included in the record. It is tradition to swearing witnesses so if you would allio stand and raise your hand. Do you swear the testimony you will get will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. Please be seated. Our first witnesses the honorable elaine duke. She is the acting secretary of the department of Homeland Security. She became the acting secretary on july 31. She has served as deputy secretary since april. L. Her previous decades of federal service include two years of the departments undersecretary for management. Welcome. Thank you. Rse good morning. Nts u it is my honor to testify on behalf of the men and women of dhs who shield our nation from threats of terror each and every single day. Last night, we learned of a cbp agent that was shot and is critically ill in Jacksonville Florida and each week i send out condolences letters for officers and on behalf of them, i testified today and came back to service. In recent weeks, hurricane harvey, irma, jose and maria have placed the spotlight on Natural Disaster with femas leadership, our department and the whole federal government have come together to respond to these bases, and i am impressed with the professionalism i have satnessed. The challenges in place but are evident that there is a long road ahead. To those that have been caught up in the disasters, let me say this. I promise to do everything in my power to bring relief and we will stand with you,ar sidebyside in the weeks, months and years to come. Natural disasters are not the only threat we face as a nation. Right now, the tear threat to our country equals, and inny many ways exceeds that in the period around 911. We are seeing a surgeon terrorist activity because the fundamentals of terrorism have changed our enemies areamentals crowdsourcing, their violence is online, promoting a doityourself approach that involves using any weapon they can get their hands on easily. The primary International Terror threat facing our country is from global jihad groups, however the department is also focused on the threat of domestic terrorism. Ideologically motivated extremists here in the United States are threat to our nation, our people, and our values. I condemn this hate and violence and my department is focused on countering it. Dhs will not stand on the sideline as these threats spread, and we will not allow pervasive terrorism to become the new normal. We are tackling the dangers ahead in two ways. First, we are rethinking Homeland Security for a new age. There is no longer a home game and an away game. That is why dhs is moving toward a more integrated approach, bringing together intelligence, operations, interagency engagement and International Action like never before. Second, we are raising the baseline of our security baseure across the board. We are looking at everything from travelers screening to information sharing. Threat levels mean we need higher standards. For example, we are requiring all foreign governments to share Critical Data with us on terrorists and criminals, and to help us confidently identify their nationals. Fi we must know who is coming into our country and make sure they do not pose a threat. That is why i recommended in the president approved tough but tailored restrictions against countries who do not cooperate with us on immigration screening and vetting. This will protect america and hold foreign governments accountable. Similarly, we are raising elevation, elevating Aviation Security standards. Our ongoing Global Security plan which began the summer is making u. S. Bound flights more secure and it is raising theis baseline of Aviation Security worldwide. Were also making historic moves to keep dangerous individuals and goods from entering america illegally,to including building a wall on the southwest border and cracking down on Transnational Criminal Organizations that bring drugs, violence andinal other threats across our borders. Ders we within our borders we are re dedicating ourselves toto terrorism prevention, to keep extremists from radicalizing our people. As part of this effort, we are prioritizing education and community awareness. Phasizinpo the spike in cyber attacks. Our adversaries continue to develop advanced capabilities online. They seek to undermine our Critical Infrastructure, target our livelihood and our secrets and threaten our democracy. On behalf of the entire department, i appreciate the Critical Role this committee plays in helping us execute our mission. I also respectfully ask the committee to focus on reauthorizing the department as quickly as possible. Thank you for letting me appear now next witness is christopher wray, the director of the fbi bury of oinvestigationes on august 2, 2017 he was worn in as the eight in fbi director, was previously assistant attorney general att the department of justice in charge of the criminal division. Director wray. Members of in the committee for the opportunity to talk to you today about the threats here in the homeland and the tremendous work being done by the people at the fbi to confront those challenges. From my earlier years in Law Enforcement and National Security, already knew how outstanding the men and women of the bureau are, but to see it, must say, over the last few weeks from this position, makes me feel even more honored, if thats possible to be their director. Theyre are police focused. They are passionate. Theyre determined to be the very best at protecting the American People and upholding the rule of law. Nate, having beenway from government for a number of years, some of the changes ive now seen the first few weeks upon getting back have struck me in particular. The evolution of the threats, the expertise developed, and the capabilities that have been built. Changes in technology haveexpers dramatically transformed the nature of the threat wes facet and challenged our ability to confront those threats. In the terrorism arena, my Prior Experience was primary primarily withlarge structured terrorist organizations like al qaeda, and to be clear we still very much confront threats from large structural organizations like al qaeda, planning largescale, sophisticated attacks over long periods of time. Now, added to that list we face groups like isil, who use social media to recruit and spread their propaganda and to inspire people to take to the streets we crude but effective weapons like hatchets and car bombs. Smaller in scale but greater in volume and these organizations often move from plotting to action in a very, very short period of time, with very little planning and using lowtech and wildly available attack methods. Ai the terrorists use social media and Encryption Technology has made it harder to find the messages of hate and destruction their spreading and harder to pinpoint who the messages are gaining traction with here in the homeland. Th the same can be said of domestic extremist movements that collectively pose a steady threat of violence and economic harm to the u. S. In that instance primarily through lone eye offender. In the cyber arena theyre becoming increasingly difficult to investigationment cyber criminals have increased thet sophistication of the schemes. What was once a comparatively mineyear threat, somebody hacking for and unin and trying to prove a point, he could do it, is now nationstate manipulation and a multimillion dollar business. In the counterintelligence arena, foreign governments posee a rising threat to the u. S. And that threat also is more complee and more varied than it has been at any time in the fbis history. Counterintelligence focused on protecting u. S. Government secrets from foreign intelligence services, but today in addition we face threats from nation states targeting not jusr National Security secrets buddieds and innovation, and we now see threats not just from traditional Intelligence Officers but from lessva traditional spies posing as Business People or students or scientist is. All those threats are amplified by the growing challenge that we in the Law Enforcement community refer to as going dark. Affects the spectrum of or work, the exploitation of encrypted platforms presents seriousts challenges to Law Enforcements ability to identify, investigate, and disrupt threats, and dish want to add to that obviously we all understand that whether its instant message, text, letters, citizens have the right to communicate with each other without unauthorized government sufferance and free flow of information is critical to dem place but they have been accompanied by any dawn jerriese and we have been forced to wrestle how terrorist might use technology to their advantage. Even with unquestionable Lawful Authority the wallet is were all too often flying blind and need to Work Together to find thoughtful but quick and Effective Solutions. The news is not all bad. There are Great Strides being made. Intelligence is being far betteo integrated into our mission. The quality of partnerships,on across agencies, state and local, foreign, are at a wholele new level. While great progress is made be need to keep improving. The changes in technology arele one of the primary concerns we have, and i look forward to answering the committees questions. Thank you, director. The final witness is mr. Nicholas russ mass send, the director of the National Counterterrorism center, on, december 18, 2014, he was sworn in as the fifth director of the nctc. He previously served as the nctcs Deputy Director since june of 2012. Director rasmussen. Good morning, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member mccaskill and members of the commitee. Im pleased to be here with me colleagues and close partners. Secretary duke and director wray. We spaed the 16 year mark of 9 11, the array or terrorizerring a actors broader, wider and deeper than any time since that day. As we sit here