Cybersecurity, is that going to mess up peoples Social Security . It, the iraq hes already have the money anyway. So what is the use of having cybersecurity . We are living in a country where we have a democrat for president , i think youre doing a good job. He needs to do more to fight those people out in iraq. Thank you, lloyd. Next, we have another caller. What state are you calling from . I noticed legislator in the state of New Hampshire for 30 years, but we do not depend on the government. Governor in this state, we insist, become leaders. The leaders in the state do not depend on government for anything at all. Stills why were prospering without a Government Income tax. Concern about any cybersecurity . We are very concerned about that. Family living out an arizona, and im very concerned about that. We have a bunch of people moving in. We are going to move on. Thomas is in south carolina. In i. T. Myself. Onave a couple of questions what our states can do in cybersecurity. Had these huge irs advance of the news. Regulation, clear how will we know what is going on with our government, when they keep holding so much back . There is a lot more abrasion i would like to know on how Small Businesses could row and thrive grow and thrive read th rive. You bring up a good point. The bill that is making its way through Congress Said it will be setting up a Training Plan for more people like you. You can read more on the Washington Post and its article about this bill in congress. It will not incorporate some changes that have been requested, i will not have rules about the private sector. It provides no liability protection. Fromorge, calling colorado . No, im going through indiana. You have International Companies have these companies computers. To george, and george is the one who has been trying to call people. Ive been trying to know what it i was in michigan, and everything started from there. Congress made a mist ache mis take. The economy is not going to go anywhere. Im telling you. , it started from 1980. Reagan was elected. Went bad. Thank you, george. We will leave it there. We are watching just the end of the cybersecurity session here, the final session for the nga summer meeting. They met in milwaukee. Technology professional. They do not invest in security. They usually have these plans that are incorporated by the state, and the state has the obligation where management ignores obvious threats. Ched. Get reach brea is almost like banks not locking their vaults every night. Do you think we are headed in that direction . I have spoken to the attorney general, and he is slowly coming realization. It is more the local property thefts, the illegal credit card information, that is still a lot of industry. They do not do anything until there been a breach, and then when they do something they only do it part way. Out west toow move bre, illinois. I am actually the stepdaughter of a chief of staff , and a speechwriter. I want to say one thing. I think everyone should ask themselves the big question. Ask if it is smart or dumb, because the truth of the matter is depending on what your cell phone is reporting on her applications, a lot of people will be able to access your Text Messages and phone numbers. They can access other information. I think it is important for people to check themselves, and i always recommend people to read every single word on a contractor for greeting to before agreeing to sign it. Thank you, brian will be our last call. Eyes wanted to make a quick profit. I just wanted to make a quick comment. Perhaps we should be the first country to branch out and have a separate cybersecurity force. To use those young people from the militarys like we have before. Thank you, ryan. We will thank you and leave it there. Thank you for everyone who called in. If you want to get in touch with cspan and get in touch with what we are doing online, go to [video clip] ortp twitter. Com cspanwj journal cspan. Org. We will turn now to international events. The state department issued a Global Travel alert. And consulates were closed as of today. On meet the press, two senators talked about this situation. The alert, andut the embassy security. Heres some of what they had to say. I logged of chatter out there. The planning that is going on by the terrorists. It is what we saw pre9 11. Here, i think it is very important that we do take the right kind of planning. As we come to the close of ramadan, we know that is a very interesting time. We are also 30 days away from the september 11 anniversary, so we are paying close attention to the chatter that is going on. The most serious threat that i have seen in the last several years. What makes it so serious . What thepon it is nature of the tax could be at ttack could be . This seems like a wide net that is being covered, we do not know the location. On we do have some specifics what is intended to be done. Some individuals who are making plans, such as we saw before 9 11. Vest that are going to be used, or whether they are bombsng on vehicle borne being carried into an area. We do not know these things. But were hearing those same types of chatter that we heard other anecdotes. Us sident biden gave Vice President biden gave us a classified briefing last week and he gave us some areas that were particularly brutal world around the world. Vulnerable around the world. Some upgrades that need to be made, specifically 35 embassies around the world need specific upgrade in their security. We are living in an increasingly dangerous world, and this overfic threat, over and again, has reached a new level. Correct that with illinois senator dick durbin with his, its. Berger ive ropers ruppersberger and peter king also talked about the embassy threats. Thing to do now is to protect americans throughout the world. We know that al qaeda and other people out there, will attack and kill us and our allies. Haveood thing is that we good intelligence. Portant to get im this intelligence and facts. Thatu heard him say operatives are in place. Peoplee are highlevel al qaedaight al are talking about specific attacks. This is also spread domestically. We are on a higher alert here domestically. I do not think americans really understand the threat that is growing over the last few days. Why the highrollers here in america why the higher alert here in america . Tothey were so specific as the certain dates that we were given. We just do not know where it is going to be. The assumption is that is going to be most likely in the middle east around one of the embassies. But there is no guarantee. In the unitedhere states, it could be a series of worldwide attacks. We have to be ready for everything. I think the ministration has embassies,lster the and also let state and local government no over the last several this is a wakeup call. Al qaeda has mutated and spread. He also talked about the u. S. Embassy closings. He was before the Young Americans for liberty conference. A former representative and 2012 president ial candidate. I lean towards optimism. But i am concerned about what other countries have done. They usually go towards totalitarians. People get frightened. They scare people. We are told that theres going to be a lot of attacks around the world trade we are closing down embassies. Saved you from all this grief because we saved all these attacks. The last 100 attacks they said they had stopped by the fbi, one of them was it no one. The 99 were once they participated in and set up and enticed and track people into participated they in and set up and enticed and track people into doing. [applause] you can watch all of ron paul auls remarks p right after newsmakers. Administration released new nsa documents about their Data Collection program. Representatives from the nsa as well as fbi and Justice Department appeared before Congress Last week. This is two hours. Good morning. Today the Judiciary Committee will scrutinize government surveillance programs conducted on the foreign intelligence. Urveillance act in the years since september 11, congress has expanded fisa, given the government sweeping powers to collect information on lawabiding americans. We must carefully consider whether those laws may have gone too far. Last month americans learned for the first time the one of these 215 of the, section u. S. Patriot act has for years been secretly interpreted to authorize collection of phone records. Information was leaked about section 202. Collectrizes the nsa to communications overseas. The way thatone these programs were disclosed. Im concerned about the to oural damage intelligence capabilities and National Security. It is appropriate to hold people accountable for allowing such a massive leak to occur. We need to examine how to prevent this type of reach in the future. , thee wake of the leaks president said this is an opportunity to have an open and thoughtful debate about these issues. I welcome that statement. This is a debate that several of us on the committee have been trying to have for years. Some of the others will get the classified briefings, but then you cant talk about them. If were going to have the debate that the president called for, the executive branch has to be a full partner. We need straightforward answers. Im concerned we are not getting them. Just recently, the director of National Intelligence acknowledged he provided false testimony about the nsa cost nsas surveillance program. I appreciate it is difficult to talk about classified programs in public settings. The American People expect and deserve honest answers. It has been thought to get to difficult to get answers about the program, but this program is a Critical National security tool. Some supporters of this program have repeatedly come to light about the efficacy of this complained about the efficacy of this section 215. I dont think it is a coincidence when we have people make thatent comparison, but it needs to stop. The americanof people is beginning to wear thin. What has to be of more concern for the trustacy of the American People is wearing thin. I asked general alexander about the effectiveness of section 215. At a hearing last month he agreed to provide a classified list of terrorist events that section 215 helped to prevent. I reviewed that list. It does not do the same for section 215. The list does not find the events that were hoped to prevent. These facts matter. The collection has massive privacy implications. The phone records of all of us in this room reside in a database. I have said repeatedly, just because we have the ability to collect huge amounts of data does not mean we should be doing so. The collection of internet metadata was shut down because it failed to provide intelligence. We need to take an equally close look at the phone records program. This program is not effective, and so it has to end. Im not convinced by what i have seen. Hear frome will Witnesses Today who said these programs are critical, have been identifying. The government is already collecting data on millions of innocent americans on a daily basis, based on a secret legal interpretation of the statute that does not, on its face, appeared to authorize this type of collection. So what will be next . When is enough enough . Congress has to consider the powerful surveillance tools granted in government, and make sure there is stringent accountability and transparency. I have introduced a bill that addresses section 215 and 702. It involves wiretaps, other authorities under the patriot act. The protection of americans privacy is not a partisan issue. I thank senator lee of utah and others for the support i hope other senators will join that effort. Ied current member of the judiciary, former judge of the fisa court. I hope this will give us an opportunity for an open debate courtthe law and the fisa that led us to this decision. We will call on senator grassley, and then the first panel. We will put the statement in the record. It did not arrive in time. Senator grassley. Mr. Chairman, i thank you for holding this hearing. It is very important that congress do its oversight work, which this hearing is part of, but even more important the more secretive a program is, the more oversight the congress has. As you have said, probably more about this program could be told to the public. Undetanding and less questioning on the part of the public. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provides the statutory framework for electronic surveillance in the context of foreign intelligence gathering. Investigating threats to our National Security gives rise to a tension between the protections of citizens privacy, rights, and the governments legitimate National Security interests. Congress has sought through this legislation i hope successfully to strike a balance in this sensitive area. Balanceit is the right is one of the reasons why were having this hearing. The reports in the media have raised important questions whatding exactly information about american citizens is being collected by the government, whether the programs are being conducted as and whetherended, there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that they cannot he abused by this be abused by or any future administration. Questions have been raised about whether the proper balance has been struck. We need to look no further than the recent irs scandal to see what can happen when a non checked executive branch bureaucracy with immense power targets political opponents. These actions trampled many citizens basic rights to participate in our democratic process. This kind of abuse cannot be permitted to occur in our National Security agencies as well. Oversight by congress will play an Important Role as we move forward in evaluating the wisdom and value of the intelligence programs. Accurateneeds information to conduct oversight responsibilities that the constitution demands we do under our checks and balances of government. That is why it was especially disturbing to see that the director of National Intelligence was forced to apologize for inaccurate ailments he made last march statements he made last march before the Senate Intelligence committee. Though statements concern one of the very important programs we will be hearing those statements concern one of the very important programs we will be hearing about today. We have a constitutional duty to protect americans privacy. We also have an equal constitutional responsibility to ensure that the government provides a Strong National defense. That is a given. And intelligence gathering is as part of a defense. We have a duty to ensure that the men and women of our military, our intelligence, and counterterrorism communities have the tools they need to get the job done. I understand officials contend that the programs authorized under fisa that we will discuss today are critical tools that have assisted them in disrupting attacks both here and abroad. To the extent possible in this unclassified setting, i look for to hearing how these programs have made our nation safer. I want to emphasize that this is an equally important part of the balance that we have to strike. As we consider whether reform of these intelligence programs is necessary or desirable, we must also make sure that we dont overreact and repeat the mistakes of the past. We know that before 9 11, there was a wall erected under the Clinton Administration between intelligence gathering and Law Enforcement. That wall contributed to our failure to be able to connect the dots and prevent 9 11. None of the reforms that we consider should effectively rebuild that law. While the intelligence and Law Enforcement communities need to share information and walk away, any reform we consider should not consider the differences between these contexts. No reform should be based on a that foreignality terrorists on foreign soil are entitled to the Constitutional Rights that americans expect here. Increased transparency is a worthy goal in general. Whenever we can talk about these programs, there is less questions out there in the minds of people. We have probably created some Public Relations problems for us and this program and our National Security community because maybe we havent made enough information available. I say that understanding that we what tell our enemies tools we use. But if we consider any reform that may bring more transparency to the fisa project, we should keep in mind that every bit of information we make available to the public to be read by a determined adversary. That adversary has already demonstrated the capacity to kill allisons of americans on our own millions of americans on our own soil. We seek to strike the difficult and sensitive balance between privacy and security. Thank you very much. Our first witness will be james cole. He joined the department of justice in 1979. He served for 13 years and the Criminal Division in the Criminal Division. Mr. Cole is no stranger to this committee. Please go ahead. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Ranking members of the committee , thank you for inviting us here to speak about the 2015 Business Records program. We are constantly seeking to achieve the right balance between the protection of National Security and the protection of privacy and Civil Liberties. We believe these two programs have achieved the right balance. All programs are conducted under public statutes, past, and later reauthorized by congress. Neither is a program t