Transcripts For CSPAN2 House Intelligence Committee Hearing

Now to a hearing on diversity and inclusion in the Intelligence Community. Witnesses included three officials from military and civilian Intelligence Agency who talked about recruitment efforts to include more women and people of color into the workforce. The committee will come to order. Before we begin i want to remind you we are in open session and as such we will discuss unclassified matters only without objection, the chair may declare a recess at anytime. I welcome our members and witnesses to todays hearing. Im grateful you joined us today to discuss the mission imperative in the Intelligence Community, significant improvement of Diversity Inclusion at all levels entrylevel to Senior Leadership and within all disciplines. There has been some improvement in recent years the demographic profile of the workforce still does not mirror of the Wider Population is lighting and attracting the best and brightest from all walks of life. Only taking advantage of the diverse and correct innovation and experiences are at home that have prepared the icy in our nation to address tomorrows most pressing challenges and allows us to analyze increasingly complicated and integrated world. In holding that hearing the Committee Votes to learn how the ic is pursuing increased hiring and retention of people that represent very economic, religious, cultural gender identity and backgrounds. Outreach to these groups occur early and often so i applaud your plan to provide insight into icy disciplines and clear pass the young minds even at the middle school and High School Level across the nation. Rest assured the committee is committed to partnering with the community to foster heightened awareness about ic Employment Opportunity through initiatives, education sessions and recruiting programs outside the traditional east coast. To attain its high quality talent, the Community Must also ensure that an accomplished and consummate professionals of all backgrounds know that they are valued and integrated members of the team. Too many employees of Diverse Group backgrounds feel marginalizedin the middle of the later years of their careers. All ideas should beconsidered when determining solutions for mission requirements. These have shown that in teams with similar ability levels, heterogeneous teams are more creative than their homogeneous counterparts. The inclusion of homogeneous and evers will strengthen products, technical capabilities, services and relationships domestically and with allies worldwide. It is recognized as a significant improvement and diversity in inclusion and the ic is not a small task. It will take considerable forethought and attention to cultural nuances, remaining cognizant of the balance between emphasizing the tangible and intangible advantages of a Diverse Workforce , these viscvis the impression or impression that the solutionis merely creating new quota systems. We look forward to hearing about your best practices, highlight and strategic plans to address these challenges and with that i now recognize the Ranking Member for any Opening Statement he wishes to make. I like to thank the witnesses for the in here today and bringing to appear. The office of director of National Intelligence 2019 National Intelligence strategy i like diversity and one of its seven enterprise objective in order to provide the foundation for integrated effective and efficient management of Mission Capabilities across the Intelligence Community. It committee for many years has focused on this issue. And as the iccompetes to employ brightest individuals from diverse backgrounds , experiences and intellectual perspectives, im glad that we can hold this hearing in the public today. Were going to have votes coming up soon and so because of that i willyield back once again. I think the Ranking Member. I wanted today to welcome a distinguished panel of witnesses to discuss different facets of our hearing tonight. First, honorable Carrie Lincoln and im going to apologize for making introductions brief so that we can get to the testimony. Principal deputy undersecretary of Defense Intelligence , the honorable carrie bingen was confirmed by the senate in 2012. Were also joined by miss rita sampson, chief of equal opportunity and Diversity Office of the director of National Intelligence. The principal advisor to the director of National Intelligence and National Intelligence, all matters related todiversity within ic. And finally, mister harry coker, executive director for National Security agency. And in this capacity, Mister Corker works with nsa director and Deputy Director to provide leadership in all areas of the enterprise and represent nsh interest both internally and externally. Each of your statements will be made a part of the record in their entirety. And i would ask you to summarize your testimony in five minutes or less. And we will begin with the honorable carrie bingen. Thank you mister chairman, chairman schiff and distinguished members of the committee, it is a privilege to testify alongside with my the and i and nsa colleagues. Mister chairman, if its okay with you i would propose miss sampson with a broad Intelligence Community overview and i would follow up some specific remarks on defense. Okay, thank you. Ranking member nunez and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning to discuss diversity and inclusion within the United States Intelligence Community. I am rita sampson, us Intelligence Communitys chief Diversity Officer and director of equal Employment Opportunity within the office of the director of National Intelligence. In my role, i need ics enterprise approach to increasing diversity, creating a culture of inclusion and proactively preventing workplace discrimination. As youve indicated, im joined today by the honorable carriebingen and mister harry coker. Dni coats and gordon want the committee to know that as the leaders of the usIntelligence Community , they are personally committed to advancing a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Within the ic, we define diversity broadly. To encompass the full range of experiences, perspectives and affiliations at individual shares. Diversity includes characteristics such as National Origin, language, race, color, sex, mental or physical abilities. Age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, gender, family structure, multidimensions that make individuals unique and make america whole. Inclusion describes the culture that connects each employee to the organization. It encourages collaboration, flexibility and fairness and leverages diversity throughout the organization so that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential area the ics diversity and inclusion as missioncritical priorities. Earlier this year director coates released the 2019 National Intelligence strategy. It lays out a number of National Security priorities including counterterrorism, combating cyber threats. And it also includes an imperative that the ic will forage and retain a diverse inclusive an expert workforce to address enduring and emerging requirements and evil mission success. The mission case for Diversity Inclusion is clear. In the Intelligence Community. In order to solve the complex and difficult challenges we face, we must leverage diverse perspectives. For the fourth consecutive year, the od and i publicly shared the ics workforce demographic data. Ic data reveals that the ic is making progress, overall diversity has steadily increased over the last several years. While my range of diversity data and trends is being shared, id like to point out that a few highlights exist regarding workforce representation. The representation of minorities in the ic workforce increasedto 26. 2 percent. A trend that has been continuing over time. Representation of women in the ic workforce increased to 38. 8 percent. And women continue to see gains and promotion rates within the ic with the percentage of women being promoted exceeding the representation and the overall workforce. The representation of persons of disability increase to 10. 7 percent. Within the ic, leaders at all levels have lamented stronger Accountability Measures for creating and sustaining a culture that drives inclusion and connects all ic professionals to the mission. Best practices include mandatory unconscious bias training along with performance objectives that measure, support of diversity and inclusion activity area employees are empowered to advocate for and create organizational change through Resource Groups and Affinity Networks that educate the workforce, raise awareness of employee concerns and create solutions that improve mission capability. Three ic y Affinity Network organizations have been established. Ic pride, the ic deaf and hard of Hearing Network and the ic latinonetwork. These employee led efforts to increase awareness about careers in the ic. Plus champion Career Development opportunities and endless allies to increase mentoring, sponsorship and shadowing opportunities. Externally, the ic is making Strategic Investments in efforts to diversify the recruitment and hiring talent school. Were building more relationships with schools, professional organizations and nonprofit sectors. We are increasing our visibility and promoting awareness of Career Opportunities within the ic. To include language, cultural expertise, cyber skills and all fields within science, technology,engineering and math. Understanding technology cannot substitute for critical relationships building, we are increasing outreach and working across the whole of government and efforts such as the White House Initiative for historically black colleges and universities at the Asian American pacificislander initiative. We continue to invest in the stokes education program, a highly Competitive Program for undergraduate and graduate students interested in Public Service. In fiscal year 2018, minority 73. 2 percent and women made up 39. 3 percent of the stokes students employed in the ic. Within the agencys departments and organizations that comprise the us Intelligence Community, much work has been done to meet our diversity and inclusion missioncritical imperative. As noted, we have more work to do. Our nearterm priority includes increasing the number of private and public sectorpartnerships to expand our outreach to a more Diverse Talent pool including nontraditional schools and k12 education. Expanding our Geographic Reach outside of the washington dc area, and leveraging our grant authorities to invest in innovative programs that will enhance recruitment and retention of a more Diverse Workforce. With the criticalcapabilities needed for the National Security interest of the United States. Chairman schiff, Ranking Member nunesand members of the community, thank you for your time. Miss bingen will deliver remarks and along with mister coker, we look forward to the committees questions. Backing for the opportunity to discuss the status of diversity across the Defense Intelligence enterprise. This is an issue of importance to the department of defense, for the under terry undersecretary of defense and an issue that im personally passionate about. Our Defense Intelligence mission demands a Diverse Workforce. Our job is to understand others, other countries, cultures, capabilities and ways of thinking. Our sources blend in a foreign environment. Our linguists must appreciate nuances in foreign dialect and cultural norms to understand intent. We have relationships with a broad array of partners and we fight in coalition. The diversity and backgrounds of ethnicities and genders across our ranks and in our thinking is vitally important to our mission success. The technical and military advantage the United States has maintained for decades is eroding. No one demographic has a market cornered on the brainpower and hard work necessary to address this challenge. The department and Community Need talent. The National Defense strategy states that we must have a motivated, diverse and highly skilled civilian workforce. It emphasizes talent management, the need for new skills and exploring nontraditionalpathways and partners to bring Critical Skills into service. Overall ic defense demographic has steadily increased over time, particularly from 2010 to 2018 when the community has consistently collected general Workforce Data. Representation of women in the ic workforce increased for the first time in the last four years and the percentage of women new hires has increased. Minority representation in the workforce has increased and representation of persons of disabilities or pw b has increased with the military departments matching the federal benchmark of 18 percent. However during the same period there are trends of concern particularly when we compare ourselves to the benchmarksin the federal workforce or privatesector. Across the military departments, female representation in Defense Intelligence as decrease in 2010 and 2018 and the attrition of women, minorities and awb occurred at higher rates and our ability to recruit womenand pwb into the workforce, specifically in the military department. Despite the increase in representation, minorities, women and pwbs continued to be highly represented from the gs 13 tosenior pay level. The defense intel components recognize these challenges and are taking proactive steps to understand the key drivers and develop and implement strategies and initiatives to address them. In parallel we are working collaboratively across the ic and Defense Intelligence enterprise to collect more comprehensive Workforce Data , establish better reporting metrics and develop assessment tools to measure the impact of specific initiatives. More Diverse Workforce starts with recruitment, specifically across the nations universities. We want to bring and cultivate a large array of supervisors and leaders. As noted in the end the f, we have a greater need for some talent including information experts, computerprogrammers, basic science researchers and engineers. Events intelligence components are leveraging longstanding student programs, expanding their internship programs and implementing more targeted and direct campus recruiting efforts to attract and hire Diverse Talent. Within my office we are collaborating with the military department on pilot programs to attract Diverse Talents and to be more competitive in compensation. Recruitment of diverse civilian professionals for the military intelligence components remains a challenge , particularly in the army. Despite increased outrage universities and Industry Groups with diverse applicant pools. Greater use of social media and other incentive tools. A deeper examination of the data where does exist is underway that we understand a key driver in our developing resolutions for the right problems. Recruitment efforts alone are not sufficient to sustain a Diverse Workforce. At all levels and in all Mission Areas that is reflective of america. We must actively support and build a pipeline of talent, training education and career broadening opportunities are necessary to keep our workforce engaged, set them up for promotion and keep us competitive with the private sector and other Intelligence Community<\/a>. Witnesses included three officials from military and civilian Intelligence Agency<\/a> who talked about recruitment efforts to include more women and people of color into the workforce. The committee will come to order. Before we begin i want to remind you we are in open session and as such we will discuss unclassified matters only without objection, the chair may declare a recess at anytime. I welcome our members and witnesses to todays hearing. Im grateful you joined us today to discuss the mission imperative in the Intelligence Community<\/a>, significant improvement of Diversity Inclusion<\/a> at all levels entrylevel to Senior Leadership<\/a> and within all disciplines. There has been some improvement in recent years the demographic profile of the workforce still does not mirror of the Wider Population<\/a> is lighting and attracting the best and brightest from all walks of life. Only taking advantage of the diverse and correct innovation and experiences are at home that have prepared the icy in our nation to address tomorrows most pressing challenges and allows us to analyze increasingly complicated and integrated world. In holding that hearing the Committee Votes<\/a> to learn how the ic is pursuing increased hiring and retention of people that represent very economic, religious, cultural gender identity and backgrounds. Outreach to these groups occur early and often so i applaud your plan to provide insight into icy disciplines and clear pass the young minds even at the middle school and High School Level<\/a> across the nation. Rest assured the committee is committed to partnering with the community to foster heightened awareness about ic Employment Opportunity<\/a> through initiatives, education sessions and recruiting programs outside the traditional east coast. To attain its high quality talent, the Community Must<\/a> also ensure that an accomplished and consummate professionals of all backgrounds know that they are valued and integrated members of the team. Too many employees of Diverse Group<\/a> backgrounds feel marginalizedin the middle of the later years of their careers. All ideas should beconsidered when determining solutions for mission requirements. These have shown that in teams with similar ability levels, heterogeneous teams are more creative than their homogeneous counterparts. The inclusion of homogeneous and evers will strengthen products, technical capabilities, services and relationships domestically and with allies worldwide. It is recognized as a significant improvement and diversity in inclusion and the ic is not a small task. It will take considerable forethought and attention to cultural nuances, remaining cognizant of the balance between emphasizing the tangible and intangible advantages of a Diverse Workforce<\/a> , these viscvis the impression or impression that the solutionis merely creating new quota systems. We look forward to hearing about your best practices, highlight and strategic plans to address these challenges and with that i now recognize the Ranking Member<\/a> for any Opening Statement<\/a> he wishes to make. I like to thank the witnesses for the in here today and bringing to appear. The office of director of National Intelligence<\/a> 2019 National Intelligence<\/a> strategy i like diversity and one of its seven enterprise objective in order to provide the foundation for integrated effective and efficient management of Mission Capabilities<\/a> across the Intelligence Community<\/a>. It committee for many years has focused on this issue. And as the iccompetes to employ brightest individuals from diverse backgrounds , experiences and intellectual perspectives, im glad that we can hold this hearing in the public today. Were going to have votes coming up soon and so because of that i willyield back once again. I think the Ranking Member<\/a>. I wanted today to welcome a distinguished panel of witnesses to discuss different facets of our hearing tonight. First, honorable Carrie Lincoln<\/a> and im going to apologize for making introductions brief so that we can get to the testimony. Principal deputy undersecretary of Defense Intelligence<\/a> , the honorable carrie bingen was confirmed by the senate in 2012. Were also joined by miss rita sampson, chief of equal opportunity and Diversity Office<\/a> of the director of National Intelligence<\/a>. The principal advisor to the director of National Intelligence<\/a> and National Intelligence<\/a>, all matters related todiversity within ic. And finally, mister harry coker, executive director for National Security<\/a> agency. And in this capacity, Mister Corker<\/a> works with nsa director and Deputy Director<\/a> to provide leadership in all areas of the enterprise and represent nsh interest both internally and externally. Each of your statements will be made a part of the record in their entirety. And i would ask you to summarize your testimony in five minutes or less. And we will begin with the honorable carrie bingen. Thank you mister chairman, chairman schiff and distinguished members of the committee, it is a privilege to testify alongside with my the and i and nsa colleagues. Mister chairman, if its okay with you i would propose miss sampson with a broad Intelligence Community<\/a> overview and i would follow up some specific remarks on defense. Okay, thank you. Ranking member nunez and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning to discuss diversity and inclusion within the United States<\/a> Intelligence Community<\/a>. I am rita sampson, us Intelligence Community<\/a>s chief Diversity Office<\/a>r and director of equal Employment Opportunity<\/a> within the office of the director of National Intelligence<\/a>. In my role, i need ics enterprise approach to increasing diversity, creating a culture of inclusion and proactively preventing workplace discrimination. As youve indicated, im joined today by the honorable carriebingen and mister harry coker. Dni coats and gordon want the committee to know that as the leaders of the usIntelligence Community<\/a> , they are personally committed to advancing a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Within the ic, we define diversity broadly. To encompass the full range of experiences, perspectives and affiliations at individual shares. Diversity includes characteristics such as National Origin<\/a>, language, race, color, sex, mental or physical abilities. Age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, gender, family structure, multidimensions that make individuals unique and make america whole. Inclusion describes the culture that connects each employee to the organization. It encourages collaboration, flexibility and fairness and leverages diversity throughout the organization so that all individuals are able to participate and contribute to their full potential area the ics diversity and inclusion as missioncritical priorities. Earlier this year director coates released the 2019 National Intelligence<\/a> strategy. It lays out a number of National Security<\/a> priorities including counterterrorism, combating cyber threats. And it also includes an imperative that the ic will forage and retain a diverse inclusive an expert workforce to address enduring and emerging requirements and evil mission success. The mission case for Diversity Inclusion<\/a> is clear. In the Intelligence Community<\/a>. In order to solve the complex and difficult challenges we face, we must leverage diverse perspectives. For the fourth consecutive year, the od and i publicly shared the ics workforce demographic data. Ic data reveals that the ic is making progress, overall diversity has steadily increased over the last several years. While my range of diversity data and trends is being shared, id like to point out that a few highlights exist regarding workforce representation. The representation of minorities in the ic workforce increasedto 26. 2 percent. A trend that has been continuing over time. Representation of women in the ic workforce increased to 38. 8 percent. And women continue to see gains and promotion rates within the ic with the percentage of women being promoted exceeding the representation and the overall workforce. The representation of persons of disability increase to 10. 7 percent. Within the ic, leaders at all levels have lamented stronger Accountability Measures<\/a> for creating and sustaining a culture that drives inclusion and connects all ic professionals to the mission. Best practices include mandatory unconscious bias training along with performance objectives that measure, support of diversity and inclusion activity area employees are empowered to advocate for and create organizational change through Resource Groups<\/a> and Affinity Networks<\/a> that educate the workforce, raise awareness of employee concerns and create solutions that improve mission capability. Three ic y Affinity Network<\/a> organizations have been established. Ic pride, the ic deaf and hard of Hearing Network<\/a> and the ic latinonetwork. These employee led efforts to increase awareness about careers in the ic. Plus champion Career Development<\/a> opportunities and endless allies to increase mentoring, sponsorship and shadowing opportunities. Externally, the ic is making Strategic Investments<\/a> in efforts to diversify the recruitment and hiring talent school. Were building more relationships with schools, professional organizations and nonprofit sectors. We are increasing our visibility and promoting awareness of Career Opportunities<\/a> within the ic. To include language, cultural expertise, cyber skills and all fields within science, technology,engineering and math. Understanding technology cannot substitute for critical relationships building, we are increasing outreach and working across the whole of government and efforts such as the White House Initiative<\/a> for historically black colleges and universities at the Asian American<\/a> pacificislander initiative. We continue to invest in the stokes education program, a highly Competitive Program<\/a> for undergraduate and graduate students interested in Public Service<\/a>. In fiscal year 2018, minority 73. 2 percent and women made up 39. 3 percent of the stokes students employed in the ic. Within the agencys departments and organizations that comprise the us Intelligence Community<\/a>, much work has been done to meet our diversity and inclusion missioncritical imperative. As noted, we have more work to do. Our nearterm priority includes increasing the number of private and public sectorpartnerships to expand our outreach to a more Diverse Talent<\/a> pool including nontraditional schools and k12 education. Expanding our Geographic Reach<\/a> outside of the washington dc area, and leveraging our grant authorities to invest in innovative programs that will enhance recruitment and retention of a more Diverse Workforce<\/a>. With the criticalcapabilities needed for the National Security<\/a> interest of the United States<\/a>. Chairman schiff, Ranking Member<\/a> nunesand members of the community, thank you for your time. Miss bingen will deliver remarks and along with mister coker, we look forward to the committees questions. Backing for the opportunity to discuss the status of diversity across the Defense Intelligence<\/a> enterprise. This is an issue of importance to the department of defense, for the under terry undersecretary of defense and an issue that im personally passionate about. Our Defense Intelligence<\/a> mission demands a Diverse Workforce<\/a>. Our job is to understand others, other countries, cultures, capabilities and ways of thinking. Our sources blend in a foreign environment. Our linguists must appreciate nuances in foreign dialect and cultural norms to understand intent. We have relationships with a broad array of partners and we fight in coalition. The diversity and backgrounds of ethnicities and genders across our ranks and in our thinking is vitally important to our mission success. The technical and military advantage the United States<\/a> has maintained for decades is eroding. No one demographic has a market cornered on the brainpower and hard work necessary to address this challenge. The department and Community Need<\/a> talent. The National Defense<\/a> strategy states that we must have a motivated, diverse and highly skilled civilian workforce. It emphasizes talent management, the need for new skills and exploring nontraditionalpathways and partners to bring Critical Skills<\/a> into service. Overall ic defense demographic has steadily increased over time, particularly from 2010 to 2018 when the community has consistently collected general Workforce Data<\/a>. Representation of women in the ic workforce increased for the first time in the last four years and the percentage of women new hires has increased. Minority representation in the workforce has increased and representation of persons of disabilities or pw b has increased with the military departments matching the federal benchmark of 18 percent. However during the same period there are trends of concern particularly when we compare ourselves to the benchmarksin the federal workforce or privatesector. Across the military departments, female representation in Defense Intelligence<\/a> as decrease in 2010 and 2018 and the attrition of women, minorities and awb occurred at higher rates and our ability to recruit womenand pwb into the workforce, specifically in the military department. Despite the increase in representation, minorities, women and pwbs continued to be highly represented from the gs 13 tosenior pay level. The defense intel components recognize these challenges and are taking proactive steps to understand the key drivers and develop and implement strategies and initiatives to address them. In parallel we are working collaboratively across the ic and Defense Intelligence<\/a> enterprise to collect more comprehensive Workforce Data<\/a> , establish better reporting metrics and develop assessment tools to measure the impact of specific initiatives. More Diverse Workforce<\/a> starts with recruitment, specifically across the nations universities. We want to bring and cultivate a large array of supervisors and leaders. As noted in the end the f, we have a greater need for some talent including information experts, computerprogrammers, basic science researchers and engineers. Events intelligence components are leveraging longstanding student programs, expanding their internship programs and implementing more targeted and direct campus recruiting efforts to attract and hire Diverse Talent<\/a>. Within my office we are collaborating with the military department on pilot programs to attract Diverse Talent<\/a>s and to be more competitive in compensation. Recruitment of diverse civilian professionals for the military intelligence components remains a challenge , particularly in the army. Despite increased outrage universities and Industry Groups<\/a> with diverse applicant pools. Greater use of social media and other incentive tools. A deeper examination of the data where does exist is underway that we understand a key driver in our developing resolutions for the right problems. Recruitment efforts alone are not sufficient to sustain a Diverse Workforce<\/a>. At all levels and in all Mission Areas<\/a> that is reflective of america. We must actively support and build a pipeline of talent, training education and career broadening opportunities are necessary to keep our workforce engaged, set them up for promotion and keep us competitive with the private sector and other Us Government<\/a> organizations. Talented element is a consistent theme in our annual workforce climate survey. Our components of Career Management<\/a> processes and Talent Development<\/a> Program Joint<\/a> duty credit has been expanded across the Defense Intelligence<\/a> enterprise to provide an incentive for employees to pursue career broadening opportunities. Components continue to expand their offerings of Higher Education<\/a> and tuition assistance. General professional Development Courses<\/a> and intelligence specific discipline training and intelligence certification. Several of the components have increased the diversity and inclusion training and Diversity Inclusion<\/a> criteria are included in all employees annual performance evaluations. Promotion rates for minorities and pwb remain a concern particularly at the higher grade levels from gs 13 to senior , we do continue to analyze what barriers opportunities exist and take action to remove those barriers area that we have instituted measures to increase hiring panel diversity, provide unconscious bias training and expand, develop this challenge as Senior Leader<\/a> attention and we will continue with efforts to develop tools with the skills necessary for seniorlevel positions. Beyond the on boarding and Talent Development<\/a> efforts, our data shows that retention of our minority email and wb talent is bolstered by Greater Services<\/a> and support including initiatives that promote greater Work Flexibility<\/a> and a better worklife balance. All of the agencies of employee Resource Groups<\/a> to monitor the health of the represented groups assist in providing Network Opportunities<\/a> focus on professional development and represent their interests to leadership. The dod has expanded the abilities of employees to work from home and designate a telework center. We are also seeking ways to increase legibility for working mothers and new parents. Miss bingen, if you can wrap up. There are also a number of enabling capability that will help evolve our Workforce Management<\/a> practices to attract talent so clearance reform to get folks and faster on boarding using technology, bringing individuals in with interim clearances, providing work at lower classification levels get them in the door. And were also streamlining our Government Application<\/a> process and working on Getting Better<\/a> data and metrics so in conclusion, thank you for holding this hearing andbring this issue to the forefront. The success of our war fighters and policymakers at home rests on the superior intelligence information and capabilities which in turn depends on our most important asset. And miss coker, did you have an Opening Statement<\/a> you want to make or you want to submit for the record . Ill add were delighted to be here and grateful for the opportunity and we appreciate your focus on diversity and inclusion and the Connection Commission<\/a> outcomes. When we tie diverse and to Mission Outcomes<\/a>, the workforce gets it so thats what were doing and when general tony came on board he gave us a three imperatives, the number one, talents and that includes recruitment and retention. It includes development which is not just a traditional tradecraft but also Leadership Development<\/a> which includes aspects of Diversity Inclusion<\/a> and in the last one is environment which is the inclusiveness area thats a priority for us and it needs to be developed six Diversity Inclusion<\/a> focus areas. For the agency. Champion seniors, the first is the implement their Personnel Practices<\/a> across the nsa enterprise. Senior leadership accountability of which im a senior champion accessibility of facilities and that not just and border, the technical capabilities as well. Recruiting and hiring a Diverse Workforce<\/a> on boarding and mentoring to ensure the foundation is set from day one and lastly in terms of the big six, a focus for 19 is developing a pipeline of diverse champions. We know we made progress, we also know we have a ways to go and thats why we appreciate this hearing and the focusyou are putting on this mission imperative. Thank you, we will now proceed with questions and i recognize myself forfive minutes. Can you share with us your thoughts on as a percentage of Us Population<\/a>, which committees are most unrepresented in terms of the ic . And also in terms of our needs around the world. Which communities are most unrepresented and which of the agencies, which agency has made the least progress in terms of diversity mark. When we look at the demographic trends within the Intelligence Community<\/a>, what we see is that we do not mirror the federal workforce or the Us Population<\/a> sidebyside. That is obviously of concern for us for a number of reasons but when we also look at a deeper dive, we do not capture all demographics so we captured the demographics relating to race, National Origin<\/a> and disabilities. Those are the captured official government metrics that we have. So there are other efforts underway to identify to what degree can we discern what is the full population of the ic demographic mark when we look at minoritiesand we break that down because as i mentioned, we are about 26. 2 percent minorities. The largest minority within the ic are africanamericans, it professionals followed by hispanic and African Americans<\/a> are approximately 12. 1 percent of the Intelligence Community<\/a>s population. Hispanic employees make up approximately 6. 8 percent, Asian American<\/a>s 4. 3. Two or more races which is the growing demographic, you get 2. 3. We had a small number of American Indian<\/a> and alaska native nationals. Identified as. 5 and native hawaiian pacificislander at. 2. When we look at persons with disabilities, there are challenges withidentifying the full range of employees with disabilities. Many disabilities are acquired after entry on duty its very difficult to capture those metrics which are initially captured when people enter on duty. Through personnel records, so we have ongoing efforts to have people self identify when in life they develop disabilities or in disabilities, theyre more comfortable with sharing so that we can then provide the resources and support for these individuals. If i could follow up and i know theres certain categories that we havent gathered adequate data like the lgbt commute to community and were looking at remedies but among those communities that we do collect data, which are the most unrepresented in the ic as a percentage oftheir population. And mark and among the elements of the ic, which is the least diverse element to date. I would need to say that would be the hispanic population read at 6. 8 percent area trend is a concern across the whole of government including the ic. Because hispanic population is far more than 6. 8 percent in the us. And its very difficult to answer the question of which ic elements is the least diverse. Just a number of factors that go into that. What we like to do is look at the diversity by grade. And across all ic elements. What were finding is less diversity in the more senior pay grades which is much concerning to us. Why is it difficult to assess each element compared to the other . I would think that it would be possible to identify within the ic where the problem is the greatest, both as you have in terms of a lack of diversity, in terms of those of Mexican American<\/a> heritage. But why is difficult to determine whether the cia is doing a better job than the nsa may be doing a worse job than the arrow, why is that difficult . In this setting at this level, that would be at ou oh. And unfortunately, i can get that information to you and im happy to do so. We will follow up but im glad to understand why that would be the case but im sure theres a rationale for that. Im happy to provide that to you. Last question, what metric can we use to measure whether were making progress . Whats the appropriate metric button mark. The challenge of diversity and inclusion cannot be reduced to a simple metric. There have been a number of people who have tried to come up with sort of a scorecard numeric, one through 10 scale. I think that you begin by looking at the demographic, that is one measure. There are inclusions, quotients that we have developed using the Employee Climate<\/a> survey. Consistently, the Intelligence Community<\/a> s higher on the inclusion quotient than most other agencies. So we do have metrics that we look at how are people experiencing their time within the profession of intelligence. How strongly our supervisors and management connecting them to the mission and those are based on reported scores through climate surveys. There are also a number of diversity best practices benchmarks and we are partnering with diversitybest practices , a company that is, has a number of diversity best Practices Index<\/a> indices. So we do plan on entering into those external benchmark to see how you fare in comparison to the private sector primarily. Mister nunes. Thank you mister chairman. Mister sampson you heard miss bingen talk about the challenges were having with the security clearance problem. Is there any indication that minorities are more at a disadvantage in this security clearance which is a debacle across the board and i dont know if we can get into that also but should we be aware of any challenges that any minority groups are having the security clearance problem, worse than othersfor example. I think its impact of the waiting period that it might not be financially feasible for many underrepresented groups whether or not they are minority or nonminority but theyre not financially able to wait, the duration of time it takes to have a security clearance. Studies have shown, weve looked at this internally that there are no inherent disadvantages that weve been able to pinpoint based on minority status. I think it is the waiting period. It does take a while to get a security clearance. The ic is focused on that, trying to improve that very much so. Its a very slow process. It can be. Are you involved in the security clearance process at all . I work with our chief Human Capital<\/a> office which is championing the agile workforce and therefore we are working closely in that regard. Because we do know that it will take a very diverse set of teams to fix that problem. Do you see anything on the horizon here because this purity clearance problem was part of the reason he and i was created in the first place, to create a transparent process everyone could use, but it seems like the wait times have gotten longer, not shorter. I will highlight that at nga, they are piloting a program where once a conditional officer of employment is offered, that the candidate does not have to wait for the full duration of the adjudication process to begin work. That they are given work that is not at the top secret level, that way they can at least begin to be gainfully employed while they wait for the full adjudication of their clearance and we think that has some promise in the community because it is that wait time that we tend to lose candidates who may not have prepared to be in the background process. Thank you, mister coker, i know you didnt get your testimony but where you think the priorities lie in terms of adding diversity to the workforce. But also to the question i asked ms. Simpson, how the security clearance process is hampering the ability to recruit talented divers workforce. Yes sir. In terms of diversity of the workforce, we just got on board with your perspective diversity and inclusion directly correlates to positive Mission Outcomes<\/a>, more diversity we can have in terms of broad approach , the better off well be. Hence on our recruiting goals at nsa, for this year we have a goal of 33 percent for minority hiring and 40 percent for women hiring. Today were at 41 percent and were comfortable in terms of reaching that goal. Minority side and on the womens side its just under 40 percent, likewise were comfortable there. And thats the news. And how security clearance is issued his answer hampering you in that search . Its not hampering us with the exception of the delays in some individuals again, cannot for the Economic Impact<\/a> of the delay. But we are trying more resources to certain skill sets that can improve the security process and the timeliness, taking a look at business processes that need to be updated. And also, we realize that folks need to be current on their status in the process. So were making a focused effort being more in touch with the candidate as they go through the Background Investigation<\/a> process, so they know where they are. Its also had the attention of our Senior Leadership<\/a> in that we are getting regular status checks from our workforce support activities which include security and hr on how individuals are moving through the pipeline so by satellite were able to get the attention of the right people to make progress. Do you have any comments on that . I would agree with you, we do have pretty significant backlogs and its taken a while for clearances to get through which is affecting our ability to bring on talents who can get brought on almost immediately in the private sector. But what we are doing about that in the departmentof defense , working with opm is a half reduced backlog for just, ill talk to you and be specific but they produced the backlog in the last year, 200,000 and the timelines are starting to curve down you have been in hundreds of days for secret and topsecret clearances. What is it today. The current backlog today for department of defense individuals is about 292,000. Over a year ago it was over 500,000. So its gonedown about 200,000. What the average time within mark. I dont have that off the top of my head but i would say several hundred days for secret andtopsecret. So thats a baseline. There was an executive order recently that would transfer the Background Investigation<\/a> mission from opm to dod and while working through this transfer steps right now. The opportunity we have in front of us is to modernize the process, its a very antiquated Industrial Age<\/a> process and theres much more we can bring with technology, artificial intelligence. The federal benchmark on timelines is 40 days secret, 88 days for topsecret so were not meeting today but as we introduce more technology, access or data we can do a lot more of this in real time. Thank you and i appreciate you being here. I feel that. Thank you, mister himes. Thank you for being here to help us with this challenging topic. I got two categoriesof questions. I want tofocus on the retention piece of this. Inasmuch as there is a challenge, the truth is out there in what that challenge is, its probably in the heads and behaviors of people wholeave. People who are promoted and are not promoted and of course the people making those decisions so im not quite sure who to direct the question do i like your specifically what sort of analysis is being done across that group of people to determine what the challenge is. We did an analysis that took years across the Intelligence Community<\/a> to understand theperceptions of the workforce. It required pulling together focus groups, looking at the empirical data, and also looking at external Research Industry<\/a> best practices. What we found was a perception that information was not transparent. So that was at the core a question of transparency. I didnt understand what you meant, information was not transparent. The employees didnt understand the process. Of being promoted . Thank you. Whats more work has been done to help them understand what those processes are. Theres also been a question about perceptions of bias so we have really taken a doubling down effort to make sure that individuals who are working on a recruitment effort , have the responsibility for hiring and promoting, all of them undergo and participate in unconscious bias training because we want to raise awareness that these biases have the perception that theyre entering into the decisionmaking process. And so we are very proactive in that regard as well. I think i understand the biases of this and i imagine that a hurdle im intrigued by you saying understanding the information required to get promoted. My way of thinking, to get promoted you to do your job well. Does that mean that perhaps theres in more diverse populations, there is a lack of understanding of job descriptions and what success looks like . Not at all. We have a competitive promotion processin the Intelligence Community<\/a>. Its not based necessarily on tenure and job or, its based on a competitive process. One employee relative to his or her peers and therefore in that competitive review, a senior boards meet and they make decisions regarding particular candidates, competitiveness and readiness for performance at the next level. And certainly when each candidate is reviewed, there are only a limited number of people who will have those opportunities for promotion. And many, many excellent or outstandingofficers , but not everyone can be promoted who is deserving of such promotion. So as a person who may not have been promoted, you want to know why and i thinkthats a fair question. How can i improve . People are indicating when theyre not promoted or not given a plan to address, is that fair to mark. Yes, in the sense that the process itself built in a feedback loop, so everyone was considered and everyone is given feedback. But some feedback is more effective than other feedback so what we want to do with them, what weve been doing is giving supervisors and managers training in how to give feedback. Its not inherent, natural for all people so feedback is a critical part of how you can apply directions and changes and improve professional development so we are very focused on helping improve feedback and overall communication. I appreciate that, one last question that i think touches at the core of what were doing. The president announced transgender man in the military obviously a significant number of our members are in the military environment. And somebody reflect on the fact that had internally in terms of trying to expand lgbtq retention . I can address that. Our personnel and readiness handled a military uniform policy so i would have a tough time talking about that but on thecivilian side which is what we oversee , it transgender is considered a protected class, they are afforded protections. We very much take a best candidate wide swap in terms of recruiting, hiring talents. We have antidiscrimination policies and our general view is we need this talent to empower in whatever form it comes in and we also across the civilian side at increased our affinity and support groups so participation in ip pride, my office and my employees have participated in some of those events as well. On overtime so i yieldback. Doctor winthrop. Thank you very all much for being here. And in va health, we have some of the same problems we have physicians who want to be va physicians and the weight is too long. And they go on to something else. They cant wait so i have a full understanding of what youre talking about their and i do like your ideas and maybe we can get you in sort of an apprenticeship or you have a job and youre getting paid and everything can be cleared or we speed up the process maybe a little bit of both. That would be nice. You know, in my mind, in the Intelligence Community<\/a> especially i see where diversity is a wonderful tool. A necessary tool, really back in the a huge asset towards Successful Missions<\/a> outcomes. So you mentioned briefly mister coker so id like to ask you about that because it makes complete sense to me that the job at hand, the more diverse we are, the more capabilities we have. Yes sir. First all personal experience i was working a program against a hard target country. I am full of years ago and we were doing some of the analysis. And those westerners didnt have sufficient insight into the information that we had at hand. It just so happened there was an officer available. Who had a cultural background similar to that hard target country. And that individual was literally able to take that information and understand some of the slang, if you will and give us a better understanding of the meaning. And that really was due to the cultural upbringing and insight that individual officer had so thats just a personal experience that ive had on that front area. I agree. Bottom line for america unless her native american all came from somewhere else. And in our intelligence gathering, if usually somewhere else. And so id be in favor of first and Second Generation<\/a> americans can bring their cultural knowledge to the table as we go about our business but thats really my only question. It caught my ear when you said that they agree with you hundred percent and my feeling is the more diverse we are, the more capabilities we have. Thank you, i yield back. Thank you. Thank you mister chairman and i want to thank you for hosting this hearing on diversity and inclusion in the workforce. I think its the first time we had an open hearing in over a decade and i want to commend your leadership in doing that. While im happy the committee will discuss the issues at hand, i am disappointed that none of the Intelligence Community<\/a> Agency Directors<\/a> are here to testify today. In 1995 and in 2001 and 2003 the Committee Similar<\/a> hearings on a diverse in the icy topic and that is hearings the directors of nro, nga and nsa, the aia and Central Intelligence<\/a> are dissipated as witnesses. It is frustrating to me as a member of this committee who has dedicated a lot of her time to promoting what i consider to be the greatest asset that we have in the icy , the Intelligence Community<\/a> and that is its workforce its people. And i think all of us know vision starts from the top, can start from the top and that starts with appearing before a committee that has oversight over that workforce. Id like to submit for the record that we did give an invitation to the director of the nsa, the honorable paul not facility. We also sent an invitation to director coates of the go dni. Cia director gina still as well as the undersecretary of defense of intelligence, Mister Kiernan<\/a> area its frustrating because i know this is critically important and that we as taxpayers deserve to understand how our taxpayer money is being spent area this many authorizes in both classified and unclassified budgets all 17 committees and billions and billions of dollars area that means that we should have direct oversight on how that money is being spent. Diversity in thiscountry is what makes us exceptional. I dont have to tell you all are sitting before me as witnesses and i thank you for being here and representing your principles. But i would also have much to have the principal sitting here. I also would like to indicate for the record several reports. Nothing tells better what the lack of diversity that an Intel Community<\/a> and your own report. At our unclassified. So i direct you to the cia, unclassified diversity and leadership studies that were done in 2015 by commissioned by director brennan and don and performed by Vernon Jordan<\/a> others. And in particular study, it said unequivocally that minorities make up a quarter of the intelligence workforce , despite making up nearly 40 percent of the Us Population<\/a> according to thatreport, diversity is much higher in other sectors. Minority comprise 30 percent of the civilian labor force and roughly 35 percent of all federal employees so even within our own federal workforce, we have much higher and this is of participation in the workforce then we do in the icy. African americans make up 12 percent of the Intelligence Community<\/a>. Hispanics make up six percent of the Intelligence Community<\/a>. Pacific islanders 4. 4percent. Multiracial people 1. 8 percent. American indians, native americans. 6 percent. I just want to say that in order for us to do better, we have to not only document it but also be able to measure our progress. I guess my question to you miss sampson and i really over the years youve been nothing but gracious in your time and an excellent in your responsiveness to the many questions and myriad of questions that ive asked over the years area but in the cia author report, they came up with diversity and inclusion strategies. Can you provide me an assessment of the progress thats been made on the three goals that they identified in that document. Without looking at the document itself, what i can tell you about the ms study is that it was implemented with the support of the Senior Leadership<\/a> of the cia. That all of the recommendations and the ms study as well as recommendations that we have made as a community and our workforce concern study are being implemented. What is it that were not seeing, were seeing incremental progress but dismal progress when it comes to promotion mark i would like to submit for the record the ngas report of their own , the state of black promotion in the national geospatialIntelligence Agency<\/a>. That report came out, came about because there was a year in which not one africanamerican was promoted in the nga and while its great to have selfexamination, its better to be forwardlooking and like to have you submit for the record, if you dont know the answer, give it to me in this timely fashion. Id like for the record to be put in what has been done to implement the strategies and the findings that all of these reports have consistently passed and i guess my other question to you and to miss bingen is in terms of the military, i understand that you are over the civilian force but it is mindboggling to me that we could have such higher incidence of racial minorities in the military and such low incidence in the icy and i want to understand what youre doing within the department of defense and i chair the subcommittee on Defense Intelligence<\/a> to really implement matrix that are measurable yeartoyear. Its great that you give us the report, its often hard to decipher but never goes back and gives us how your implementing these strategies. Ive looked at the data across the military departments for both women and minorities, they are lower numbers consistently. And that was very eyeopening as i was going through all this data as we knew it, but to actually take a hard look at the data that we have, where we had because weve not been a good job collecting the data bringing together area it has been consistently low that something. Im going to reclaim my time because ive extended my time but i want to end by reading what the synopsis was in the report, the 2005 diversity and the cia leadership report. Vernon jordan concluded that agency leaders, managers and supervisors do not prioritize diversity in leadership. Sadly mister chairman by the fact that we dont have the heads of the agencies sitting before us, i can only conclude that diversity while a priority is not a top priority across the icy, thank you and i know that my time mister hurst. Thank you chairman. Id like to thank our panelists for being here today and let me just start by saying if i ask a question that you all have a concern with , the answer may have a counterintelligence issue, please let us know. Im hesitant to ask my questionsbecause when it comes to hiring , hiring practices, this is an area that our adversaries are keenly interested in and its a counterintelligence concern. This is a pipeline problem and my first question for all three of you, have we seen an increase in minority applicants . Yeartoyear for the various positions that you all oversee . And miss sampson, do you want to start . Again, Data Analytics<\/a> is a key priority for us. Moving forward. The capturing of Applicant Information<\/a> is now being enabled. Through the technology we are using called applicant gateway. There are many agencies. When did that start . Three years now you have any indication of that threeyear period, are we seeing an increase, decrease or static change with a number of applicants question mark. We are seeing a steady increase in the number of applicants that are applying i think that is very, this is voluntarily disclose information and so you have to look at both the effort behind it as well as who enters onduty at the end of the process. But your point, we need to know who is applying within the icy. We need to know the demographics, we need to be able to measure, are we targeting the right recruitment assess. And so those are the priorities that we have as a community. We are having a much stronger return on relationships that we aremaking. With organizations that then funnel candidates but i will tell you that educating the public on what the Intelligence Community<\/a> does is probably our number one costcutting priority. Because many underserved communities do not have an update about the various careers and opportunities and talents that we need within the Intelligence Community<\/a>, nor what we do. Miss sampson, as aformer case officer im aware. So miss sampson, a second question on this. Are we keeping track of the number of minority candidates get a conditional offer that do not accept the conditional offer or leave somewhere in the rest of the process . Im not collecting that as an ic community as a whole, individual elements that have the capability of selecting applicant flow information and right now, consistently i think we have perhaps for elements that are consistently able to do that. That is something that we can drill down into a lot further. Do we as a Congress Need<\/a> to do something to make sure that there collecting that type of information to mark. I would not say its requires your partnership on that front. I think that the technology is being enabled through the intelligence careers that covered icy applicant gateway which is our Information Technology<\/a> gathering tool. At the kentucky, mister coker, i jump over to you same two questions. If you feel comfortable answeringthis. The , have we seen an increase in minority applicants yearoveryear or are you all keeping track of that information and what is your understanding of the nsas number of people that leave the pipeline because its been between the conditional offer and final offer . Microphone please. I dont have the number of applicants yeartoyear on, i can tell you that the number of minority in terms of percentage of the overall workforce has been increasing steadily. From 2010 to 2018. And given our goal of 33 percent minority hiring or fy 19, were already at 31 percent. Expect that we will continue that trend in a positive direction. So that recruitment is vital. What we do to retain is at least as important. And we are missing on that as well. And with the timeline i do not have, my final question is when does the hiring pipeline begin to mark. Argue that its middle school and k12. Right answer, miss simpson. I think thats something that we need to get out of this mindset of need to know. And get in the need to share because if we dont tell the story, about the awesome careers that are available to folks and how we need a diverse population, in order to keep this country safe, are not going to be able to continue to keep this country safe so mister chairman, i apologize for going over my time. Mister chairman, diversity initiatives that are exclusively branded as diversity initiatives often fail to change on the culture of a workplace. This is because mainly an executive 285 diversity having a Diversity Program<\/a> is only a first step. So organizational change and change to the culture is critical , its a critical second step and as you know, this is far more difficult and can be approached at many different ways area so experts that recommend things like rotating employees through different specialties and increasing employee contactwith a diverse set of colleagues , given more autonomy to team managers, especially in an environment of self managed teams so my question is, are there restrictions or obstacles that type of organizational change because of the sensitive nature of the ics Community Work<\/a> and secondly, can you share insights into how an agency and i see my search forinnovative ways to achieve organizational change , is more self managed teams, with autonomy and maybe providing more diverse contact amongst employeesmark. That gets right at our immediate campaign. Following the recommendations of the workforce concerns report, we looked at key areas of research, what is actually going to the needle. And so we are launching a campaign that is icy wind Education Campaign<\/a> called the small steps approach. There is no single cause for the diversity challenges we face. There will be no Single Solutions<\/a> so there is a multifaceted approach that we are taking, the four steps areawareness , you have to be aware that there is this challenge. You have to be aware that each individual harnesses a way of thinking. Developing structured teams with diversity in mind. The third step being action. If we see there is a challenge but no action is being done then you will not have the ability to overcome the laws of civics and so you have to put this into motion. The final and probably, i think, most Sticking Point<\/a> is accountability. There has to be a level of accountability and what we found is that peer to peer accountability that peer pressure, raising the visibility and progress in comparing one organization with another, one agency with another and to your point about which agency is not in the lead for which agency is at the bottom are valid considerations because Research Shows<\/a> people are influenced by social accountability once we combine all these steps with the deliberate and Continuous Education<\/a> and Awareness Campaign<\/a> we are hoping to shape the Organizational Culture<\/a> in such a way that our outreach, recruitment, development all efforts will accelerate. Thank you. Anyone else . If i could add, your points are well taken in that we are working right now on how to better integrate diversity into our hr processes. We tend to treat them separately so they must come together with were working on that. Joint duty assignments and issue policy that gets joint duty credit to individuals to go outside their comfort zone to command or other areas which also make them more attractive as they go through the promotion process. We are doing more work on proactive telephone Talent Development<\/a> not just signing off on education they request but having the seniors work down in provided broader exposure to different opportunities out there. Performance about objectives and valuations include diversity and inclusion and is leading in that area and you are right, its leadership and accountability. When we look across programs that are successful it starts with leadership and accountability. I will follow with both the leadership account ability and exposure my colleagues talked about. Its two ways. We need to have those underrepresented minorities exposed to the broader agency and Broader Community<\/a> but also to the leadership team. Our leadership needs to be exposed to the talent they may not have otherwise been exposed to. Some things we have done in that instance bimonthly we meet with our Employee Research<\/a> groups Leadership Teams<\/a> to understand front to front what their concerns are with regard to diversity and inclusion and admission. A point that goes to leadership, erd leadership told me they have no doubt about the commitment, diversity, Mission Outcomes<\/a> of the Senior Leader<\/a>s but its the culture we need to continue to work on and that point was well taken and we know the leadership that the values and values impact behaviors and then to the performance so what we are focusing on now is to ensure we take division from the top links of nsa and incorporate that to the agency to exposure and really talk a bit earlier about knowing what it takes to get promoted but sometimes there are key jobs that people need to be aware of and take advantage of it weve implemented a job Bank Exchange<\/a> that will allow some of our entire workforce to apply for special assignments we are seeking that gives people who may not have otherwise been considered the opportunity to meet those high visibility, high impact. That means a lot but thank you for your service. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for your leadership. Mrs. Simpson, i like to start with you and you may have to beat the numbers again but i just looked up what percentage for the population in the United States<\/a> is africanamerican. Could you give us that figure again for those serving in the intelligence, africanamericans . Sure. Right now africanamericans are 12. 1 . That equals population of 1 12 . Latinos are 18 of the u. S. Population and i thank you said there was 6 correct. 6. 8 . As you pointed out, latinos are exceedingly low in representation. They represent 5 of the population. And fourpoint to percent of professions. Great. Thank you. Excuse me, ms. Bingham, the start is really disturbing. It shows that from 20102018 the number of women serving in the civilian personnel is a Defense Intelligence<\/a> community has gone down. So, that would suggest we have a serious problem there. How do you expect to fix it . I think thats largely attributed to that military department and percentage of women in military intelligence is lower and therefore, i think, making numbers lower. I go back to the data and analysis and metrics that we do not have the data and do not do a good job of doing exit surve surveys. Is that response ability for the farming of defense, is that what you are suggesting . For the defense that oversees those absolutely. So, in terms of what you would be recommending you want exit interviews, correct . What will you do to increase the number of women that dropped . What we would like to do and work with our Defense Intelligence<\/a> Human Resources<\/a> board is to work directly with the services and we party beyond those discussions on Getting Better<\/a> Data Collections<\/a> so we can pinpoint the lot and i sit here right now telling you whats driving that in one area weve seen in the numbers and ill look at the army is the armys argument model largely draw from the current force that are getting out. Women, for example, represent 50 of that population. If that translates to the intelligence field theres a lot less to draw from. I think we also will have to look at numbers are going down not up correct. In 2010 even more women serving in Defense Intelligence<\/a> community and you do today. The numbers of women serving in the military is going up and that does not quite compute for me but let me move on. Through all the elements conduct Employee Climate<\/a> surveys connect yes. In those surveys do they ask questions about your satisfaction with your work and whether youve been harassed or discriminated against and are these anonymous . The surveys are for the large part of financial surveys. What does that mean . Mac that means with a great degree of effort you could discern at the granular level what those come person comes from and to some degree if you need it to which it has never been done you identify the person but the confidential surveys then allow you to go into the hr system and cross tabulate the race, gender so you can then do a better Trend Analysis<\/a> on the responses. Could you make available to us the examples of the climate surveys for each of the 17 different agencies . Yes, maam. What we have found in the department of defense is that that is a key measurement of success or failure as it relates particularly to Sexual Assault<\/a> in the military and i think as we look at the fact that the National Security<\/a> letter that was sent by november 2017223 women in the National Security<\/a> field Current Department<\/a> workers find this letter on the metoo problem within the National Security<\/a> arena and i dont know if even tapped how serious a problem is or what we can do about it and im hoping in the next year or so we will be able to do that. Giving us the surveys will give us an opportunity to then share with you what we think some of the questions should be so we can evaluate that. Thank you i yield back. If i may there were a number of pilots to discern just that and the question of harassment. This includes the od and eyes we put in additional questions so we could try to get a better pulse on the workforce in response to the letter that was raised and also that was us then. Certainly. There was a pledge signed by all the leaders of the u. S. Intelligence community that went out to the entire workforce pledging to do more to detect, prevent and respond to allegations of harassment across all sectors. As we move out we do have the absolute endorsement of our leaders. I will recognize [inaudible] for his questions and the conclusion of his questions we will recess during votes and we will resume as soon as both have concluded. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening this important meeting and i want to thank during so deeply about this issue as long as ive been on the committee and even before. Mrs. Sampson, would you agree when it comes to diversity in our Intelligence Community<\/a> leadership has to start at the top that if the workforce does not see the leaders of the community prioritizing it all to make its way down . [crowd boos] i do believe leadership plays a Critical Role<\/a> in setting the tone of organizations. I also believe midlevel managers play a Critical Role<\/a> in setting the organizational tone that both impact employees so we are focused on midlevel management competence. Ms. Samson, we hear about the 17 Intelligence Community<\/a> agencies across the board from different departments, agencies and within the military. When i look today at who leads those departments or agencies or branches of the military that oversee intelligence, by my count, and there are some acting in here that we have 12 white males, two white females, one africanamerican male, one Indian American<\/a> male and one Asian American<\/a> male. Accounting for 70 of the Intelligence Committee<\/a> is overseen by white men, 12 by white women, 5 by africanamerican men, 5 by Indian American<\/a> man and 5 by Asian American<\/a> men. Is that out of balance with the workforce that we just out of balance with the diversity we have in america and your workforce human. I would say certainly it does not mirror the demographics. How does Student Loan Debt<\/a> play into someones ability to comment to the Intelligence Community<\/a>. I asked that because africanamerican graduates will have on average, 700,000 or more in the student debt than a white your and we have right now a Public Loan Forgiveness Program<\/a> that was created in 2007 the first eligible class able to receive aid or relief under that program was 2017 and the idea was that if you work ten years in Public Service<\/a> at your tenth year any federal loans you had would be forgiven and 20000 plus applications were sent to the department of education in 2017. The first class eligible only 864 have been processed. Is that something you seen an issue with in the Intelligence Community<\/a> . I think it is difficult to have an entrylevel position in government and carry a Student Loans<\/a> at the same time. I think there are some promising loan forgiveness programs that exist in many of the agencies but if youre asking the question are Student Loans<\/a> a factor, yes they are an economic factor. We are competing with the private sector. Do you agree Student Loan Debt<\/a> disproportionately affects communities of color more than it affects caucasian applicants . I dont have the actual statistics on that so what it would just be conjecture. Can i ask . The whole panel if there are any concrete pieces of legislation or legislation already out there recommendations you can make to improve access to the Intelligence Community<\/a> employment and Career Advancement<\/a> for the future of the workforce and is there anything you recommend we could do. Mr. Hurd and i have pledged to Work Together<\/a> and im the chair of the intelligence Modernization Committee<\/a> and mr. Hurd that remembers of this would be a Good Opportunity<\/a> if you have concrete ideas on access for us. I think mr. Hurd pointed out that k12 pipeline is a critical pipeline because we need to make sure you have the right skills both now and in the future to sustain the Intelligence Community<\/a>. I think having very Clear Authority<\/a> and ability to invest in partner across public and private sectors would be useful. Thank you. I think my time is about to expire and i will get back and i believe that. [inaudible conversations] [silence] we will come back into session. You are recognized thank you so much, mr. Chairman. Thank you to all our witnesses for joining us today as we discussed this very important issue and determine where we need to go in terms of diversity and inclusion. This is a question","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia903004.us.archive.org\/13\/items\/CSPAN2_20190815_170400_House_Intelligence_Committee_Hearing_on_Diversity_Part_1\/CSPAN2_20190815_170400_House_Intelligence_Committee_Hearing_on_Diversity_Part_1.thumbs\/CSPAN2_20190815_170400_House_Intelligence_Committee_Hearing_on_Diversity_Part_1_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}