Order. I have a new announcements before we start. We had a classified section to discuss our most pressing intelligence issues and the threats from nations and the increase in cyberattack capability. Now we turn to our open session where the American People receive the benefit of as much transparency about intelligence as is possible. We are in open section and should be careful not to talk about classified items. And those who hackle members or are disruptive with clothing and appearance or engage in other activities that distract the hearing will be removed. James clapper, john brennan, micha Michael Flynn and james comey is here. The illegal disclosures is outmatched by the shocking volume of critical information that cause stolen and likely disclosed to our enemieenemies. We are not talking about Business Records or phone data. They go to the core of the ability to defend itself and threaten to capability of the armed forces and long into the future the stolen material will threaten to safety and security of our soldiers and marines in the field. Yet, at a time when our intelligence agencies need leadership and clear regulations they have to endure more confusion from the administration. We have written delays in coherence and confusion in policies that do little but make it difficult for intelligence agencies to do their work. Important legal programeris are changed without doing anything wrong. And key covert action has had serious negative consequences to the United States state. The National Approach to security has one thing that is concern and that is our allies have no clue what our important things are from day to day. We returned from meetings and to the individual they expressed frustration over the lack of clarity in United States policies when it comes to engagement in rough parts of the world. A senior official highlighted the confusion when stated on serious policy matters he received direction from the pentagon that was different from the direction he got from the state department that was different from the direction me he got from the whitehouse. You can imagine the frustration from our allies. It is causing serious problems. Drip of classified information designed to undermine u. S. Interests will continue, but we must move past false accusations and feigned outrage. One of the most challenging times in our countrys history. I feel the lack of leadership is creati creating growing risk aversion. Today,individuals who would have previously been removed from the battlefield by u. S. Counterterrorism operations for attacking or plotting against the u. S. Interest remain free because of selfimposed red tape. While we are busy pondering more transparency, our intelligence professionals are left paralyzed because of totally incoherent policy guidance. So let me be the first to say publicly the president s may 2013 policy changes for u. S. Targeted strikes are an utter and complete failure. Those changes, while sounding pretty in a speech, are today, right now, endangering the lives of americans at home and our military overseas. Americas adversaries are not slowing down. I asked if he had the conviction for our hardfought gains and victory or would we walk away. Such operational freedom results in loss of hard fine gains. We are in a fight and our policy should be based on what best protects america. Now is not the time to disengage from the world. The drip of classified information designed to undermine u. S. Interests will continue, but we must move past false accusations and feigned outrage. We need leadership and Clear Thinking in this difficult time. And we must get back to business of protecting america. That is why we look to you, the heads of our intelligence agencies, to find innovative ways to reclaim americas rightful position in the world. It is no small task. Before turning to our witnesses for an Opening Statement, i will yield to mr. Ruppersberger for an Opening Statement. Thank you, chairman rogers. And the rest of the panal. Thank you all for being here today at this important hearing so we can communicate to america what the Intelligence Committee is doing. First, i would like to acknowledge the leaders of thank you for being here today. Throughout 2013, the Intelligence Community continued to provide policy makers with the Vital Information necessary to promote the values and interests of america, as well as to protect and defend it. They did so amidst profound challenges, not only abroad, but at home, too. Be it in syria or boston, the Intelligence Community has worked tremendously hard. This past year, the ic has had to work amidst the worst leaks of classified information in our countrys history. Make no mistake when we hand over our classified information, our adversaries and enemies adjust accordingly. We know this has already happened as a result of these leaks. Terrorist Networks Like alqaeda and Foreign Countries are changing their tactics to avoid our detection. With this, the work of the Intelligence Community to respond and uncover threats becomes that much harder. We must not forget that these authorities and capabilities are in place to keep our country and its citizens safe. While the Intelligence Community has followed the lawthat is clearit is apparent that the public has lost confidence in these programs. I believe we must adopt important reforms to restore americas confidence in what the Intelligence Community does. We must increase transparency, strengthen oversight and improve safeguards to privacy and Civil Liberties. I now want to look ahead to the challenges of 2014. The threats we face continue to grow. There is no greater example of this than the threats to americas cybersecurity. While the house passed the Cyber Intelligence sharing and protection act or, as we know it, cispa last year, cispa has not yet become law, even though we worked very closely with the white house, the Intelligence Community, Critical Infrastructure companies, various industries across the technology spectrum, and privacy and Civil Liberties groups, to greatly improve the bill. This means that the government still cannot fully share Cyber Threat Intelligence with the private sector, and the private sector cannot share cyber threat information with the government. In the meantime, countries and terrorists continue to attack our economic infrastructure, our trade secrets, and our Critical Infrastructure. We hear about these attacks in the news everyday. Early last year, for example, our Financial Sector suffered a widescale Network Denial of Service Attack that proved difficult and very costly to mitigate. The retail giant, target, is another recent example of our vulnerability to cyberattacks. We also have to do far more to expand our bench of cyber professionals and innovators, by investing in Early Education in science, technology, engineering and math stem . Our adversaries are making heavy investments in the education of their youth, and we must do the same. Education is the keystone of security and prosperity in the 21st century. As far as collection priorities in this year, the Intelligence Community must remain vigilant on iran. We must recognize that our consistent vigilance and our tough sanctions have brought us to a point where i believe important progress can be made on ending Irans Nuclear program. I am hopeful, yet realistic, on where we are and where we can go with sound intelligence, strong diplomacy, and robust defense, i am encouraged that more can be done to keep a Nuclear Weapon out of the hands of iran. In syria, unfortunately, there is less cause for optimism. I applaud the agreement to remove syrias chemical weapons; but i am increasingly troubled by the delays. We must keep our attention focused on completing this process, and doing so quickly. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the horrendous humanitarian crisis that continues in syria, and we must remain vigilant against the rise of alqaeda and other extremists there. The area has become a magnet for terrorists, further destabilizing an already fragile region. We must ensure they do not make their way to americas shores or hurt our interests and allies overseas. And violent extremists are not just a problem in syria. In 2013, we saw aqap, aqs yemeni faction, and the groups north african affiliate, aqim, pose a very Severe Threat to the u. S. In august, the threat forced the state department to close 19 embassies across the middle east and north africa in response to an aqap plot that wasthanks to your efforts intercepted. On the other hand, aqim successfully conducted an attack against western interests in mali and algeria, while somaliabased terrorist Group Al Shabaab committed a brutal attack in kenya. China continues with great concern on their cyber policy and in the east china sea. Beijings socalled air defense identification zone, which would require u. S. Forces to identify themselves and their mission to Chinese Forces as they fly near or over certain tiny islands, is a troubling power and land grab. It is also an affront to international law. These moves increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculations between washington and china, making the role of intelligence that much more important. In russia, our athletes, and athletes from around the world, will be convening in just a few short days to compete in the 2014 winter olympics. In the past month, we have seen some troubling terrorist activity, and we must keep up our guard. In afghanistan, 2014 marks the year in which combat operations endbut we know our Vital National security interests there will not cease. We need to maintain our intelligence efforts there, even after the military withdraws. Core al qaeda and the taliban will continue to represent a threat; but we must not forget that afghanistan is more than a front in the counterterrorism war. Afghanistan has broader strategic implications. It borders both iran and pakistan, and is close to both russia and china. This year, we must also continue to focus attention on space. We must continue to promote our commercial space industry, and relax those outdated regulations that are hampering our competitive advantage. I cannot emphasize enough that us Companies Must also be allowed to compete in a free market. This competition will promote innovation in our space industry. Finally, we need to rely on the Intelligence Community to look where others are not, to lift their gaze beyond the shiny objects of today. We need you to identify long term trends that cut across individual states or groups. These trends, be they environmental, demographic, or technological, are the emerging fault lines of conflict. Early action can avoid long term pain. And we need to do all of this, and everything we do, in ways that protect Civil Liberties. Liberty and security are not mutually exclusive. We can and must work to protect both, and we must remain evervigilant in this area. I look forward to hearing from you on these challenges facing our country, how you plan to address them, and how you are going to work individually, and together, to do so. And finally, before i close, i want to take a moment to appreciate the men and women of the Intelligence Community who are working to keep us safe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Especially with the Government Shutdown of last fall and the leaks, we heard a lot of negativity in 2013 directed towards federal employees generally, and our intelligence professionals specifically. This is unfounded and unjust. These federal employees work nights, weekends, holidays, and in some of the most remote and dangerous locations to promote and defend the nation. And they do so not for money, and not for famesince they must often remain anonymousbut for love of country and dedication to its ideals. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Thank you, mr ruppersberger. Dr. Clapper the floor is yours. My colleagues and i are tear to prevent the worldwide threat assessment as we do every year. I am cover five topics in ten minutes on behalf of all of us. This is my fourth appearance before the committee to discuss the threats we face. I made this previously, but it is now more relevant and evident today. Looking back over my more than half a century in intelligence, i have not experienced a time bh we are facing more threats around the globe. My list is long. It included terrorism loosely connected and disbursed like the bombing in boston. And the attacks in syria the strength in syria is somewhere between 75,000 or 80,000 up to 115,0 115,000. Three of the most effective total about 26 thousand insur insurganinsurgaen insurgence. There is a small group of al qaeda veterans who have external attack in europe, if not the homeland. And there are many other chriss and crisis around the globe like the spillover in lebanon. The implications of the drawdown in afghanistan. And the detereating status in iraq. The proliferation of mass destruction of weapons. An an assertive russia, a competitive china, a dangerous competing north korea, a challenging iran, potential conflict and extremism in africa. Violent political struggles all around in the ukraine and other areas. The demands for energy, water and food. The increasing sophistication of crime. The magnitude of human traffics. Synthetic drugs. Potential for pandemic disease as a result of drugresistant bacteria. We live in a complex, dangerous world. The statements we provided have a review of these topics. My second topic is what is containing extraordinary amounts of time. In the whitehouse and public foursquare. I am talking about the most massive detest in history of Edward Snowden. And the avalanche published and broadcasted around the world. I will not dwell on the debate of Edward Snowdens morals or his irony of the nation he fled to. What i do want to speak to is the nations Senior Intelligence officer is the profound damage his disclosures caused and will continue to cause. As a consequence, my view is the nation is less safe and the people are less secure. What he stole has gone way, way beyond domestic surveillance programs. We have lost critical intelligence sources including some shared by valued partners. Terr terr terrorists are going to school on the United States trade craft and the insights they are gaining are making our job much harded. And this involves putting the lives of people at risk and the armed forces, diplomats and citizens. Edward snowden for his part claims he has won and his mission is accomplished. If that is so, i call in him and his people to return the stolen documents that havent been exposed to prevent more damage into the United States. I want to comment on the ensuing fallout. I started in the intelligence profession 50 years ago. Members of my family, brotherinlaw and my wife all worked at nsa so this is deeply personal to me and my family. The real facts as the president noted on the 17th of january, that the men and women who work at the nsa, have done their utmost to protect the country and do so in a lawful manner. As i, and other leaders in the company, have said the nsas job isnt to target the emails and calls of citizens. They have performed Critical Missions i am sure the American People wanted carried out. The affects of the disclosures hurt the entire community, but just the nsa. The United States has invested billions and the programs are at risk. Moreover the impact by the losses cause caused by the disclosures will be amplified with the budget cuts. The Intelligence Community is going to have less capacity to protect its nation and allies. I am compelled to talk about to negative moral this is having. This leads me to my fourth point. This committee, congress at large, executive branch and most acutely all of us in the Intelligence Community with the imperative to accept more risk. We must and will manage together with you and those we support in the executive branch. But if dealing with reduced capabilities is what is needed to insure the faith and confidence of the people, we in the Intelligence Community will work as hard as we can to meet the expectations before us. And that is my fifth and final point. The major take away for us, and for me, is we must lean in the direction of transparency whenever we can. With Greater Transparency about the programs, the many people might be more likely to accept them. A major hall mark is transparency. I have tasking with the attorney general to deduct declassification and develop 702 statues under the foreign is surveillance act to and modify bulk collection of meta data. Clearly, we will need your support in making these changes. Through all of this, we must, and we will sustain our professional trade graph and integrity. And we must bond together to protect to