Action well, that point has now been rendered moot. So, you have been reappointed to the committee. And all members can participate fully. Okay. Okay. All right. The chair will recognize himself and then the Ranking Member for purposes of making an opening statement. The committee on benghazi exists because the house of representatives voted for it to exist. And in the process made it very clear what is expected. If you have not read the House Resolution authorizing this committee, i would encourage you to do so pop. For those asking for a road map or a scope of the investigation or want to know what the committee intends to do the resolution passed by the house of representatives i hasten to add, with seven democrats voting yes, answers all of those questions. The resolution asks this committee to investigate all policies decisions, and activities related to the attacks, the preparation before the attacks, the response during the attacks, efforts to repel the attacks, the administrations response after the attacks, and executive branch efforts to comply with congressional inquiries. The operative word in the resolution is the word all. And the word all is about as comprehensive a word as you could use. So it stands to reason if youre asked to conduct a full and complete investigation into all policies decisions and activities, you need to access all witnesses and all relevant documents. Because the final task assigned to this committee is to write a comprehensive report complete with recommendations on how to prevent future attacks. And to write a comprehensive report, you need access to all witnesses, and all relevant documents. It is essential we talk to every witness with knowledge and examine all relevant evidence. If six people witness an important event you cannot credibly report on that event by examining one out of the six. Frankly, you cant credibly report on that event by interviewing two out of the six. Each witnesses aa different perspective, each witness may have observed a different fact. Each witness has a different vantage point. So to do your job, you have to interview all witnesses. So, too with documents. It is interesting but not relevant, to note the number of pages agencies produced to congress. What is both interesting and relevant is whether the agency has produced all documents responsive to the request. Giving congress 10,000 pages of material out of a universe of 10,000 pages of material is good. Giving congress 10,000 pages of material out of a universe of 100,000 pages of material does not get us any closer to issuing a final report in a timely fashion. And make no mistake, time is of the essence. The world is not a safer place, as some of you may have noted even this morning. It is not safer than it was in 2012, so the sooner we make recommendations related to the improvements that make lives better for the women and men who serve us abroad, the better. Moreover, time does not make investigations or witness recollections, or memories, or evidence better, either. The purpose of todays hearing is to hear from some agencies and entities about the state of compliance with request for documents and access to witnesses and we have had some success. The state department provided the committee with 25,000 pages of documents. Previously provided to the Oversight Committee, but now with fewer redactions. In addition this production included, finally, 15,000 new pages of documents. These documents include significantly more traffic from state Department Leadership than in previously provided information to congress. These new documents are a reminder that no previous Standing Committee compiled or had access to a complete record of events. Which is precisely why the speaker constituted a select committee. To produce a complete definitive record for our fellow citizens. Additionally as of recent the cia made available some of the documents we requested in november. And while it is good to finally receive the new documents, the pace at which this process is moving is not conducive to the Committee Concluding its work expeditiously, and frankly, it should not take a public hearing to make progress on these requests. Our hearing should be about substance, not process. We should be analyzing documents, not waiting for them to appear. I want to read a quote. I can promise you that if youre not getting something you have evidence of or you think you ought to be getting we will work with you, and i will appoint someone to work directly with you starting tomorrow. With you, mr. Chairman, to have a review of anything you dont think youve gotten that youre supposed to get. Lets get this done, folks. That was secretary john kerry. And that was in april of 2013. So my objective is simple. I want to be able to look the family members of the four murdered americans in the eye and tell them we found out everything that we could. I want to be able to tell my fellow citizens including the man from oregon who sat beside me on the plane yesterday who used to guard facilities across the world as a marine, that we made improvements that make women and men who serve us in dangerous places safer. And i want to be able to look my fellow citizens in the eye regardless of their political ideation, and say, this is what happened, and this is how we can make sure it does not happen again. So there will be no mystery to my questions today. There will be no trickery and no art fis. I want to know when the agencies are going to comply with the request made by this committee so we could finish the work assigned to us because i have zero interest in prolonging the work of this committee. And by the same token i have zero interest in producing a product that is incomplete. So in conclusion i want to be as clear as i can possibly be. We intend to access all of the information necessary to do the job the house instructed us to do. And we need to access that information now. Talking to only some of the witnesses will not work. And accessing only some of the documents will not work. If you want all of the truth then you need all of the information and we will do it in a respectful way worthy of the memory of the four who were murdered and worthy of the respect of our fellow citizens. But it is going to be done, and the sooner the agencies make these documents and witnesses available to us the sooner we can do what we were asked to do pop with that i would recognize the gentleman from maryland. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I agree with you that we need to have all the information. We need to have all the documents. We need to have everything that you just talked about sooner rather than later. Mr. Chairman and my fellow Committee Members im a bit saddened to report today that there are major, major problems with this committees work. Democratic members have grave concerns about the partisan path this committee has taken over the past year a path we believe undermines the credibility of the investigation itself. And the very things the chairman just said hes fighting for to make sure we come up with a credible report. We spent months trying to resolve these problem ss privately. But we can no longer remain silent. When the committee was established last may many questioned whether it was devolve into unseemly partisanship. Many worried that it would become a repeat of the oversight and government reform committee. Where ridiculous allegations were made with no evidence, no evidence to back them up. Excerpts of documents were leaked out of context. To promote false political narratives. And democrats were cut out of the investigative process. I know because i was a Ranking Member and i was cut out over and over and over again. In response, chairman gowdy assured the families of Chris Stevens, shawn smith, ty woods and glen doherty that this investigation would honor their loved ones by being bipartisan. Fair, and based on the facts. One of the things that i said to the father of tyrone woods is that i would do everything in my power to seek the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help me god. The chairman said that he would transcend politics, and thats a quote. He stated these words and they meant so much when he said them. He said, if we engage in a process that is not fair according to the American People, we will be pun fshed as we should be for that. End of quote. Unfortunately, since then democrats have been excluded from core components of this investigation. People may find it difficult to believe but eight months into this investigation democrats and republicans on this committee have not spoken jointly with even a single witness. Instead, we were stunned to discover that the chairman and the staff have interviewed at least five individuals on their own without including democrats or even notifying us. We learned about these interviews from the witnesses themselves, and from press accounts, not from our republican colleagues. Even worse, when our staff inquired about some of these interviews, republicans downplayed their significance. They said these interviews were not important, that one of them said nothing, quote, of note. And that the committee did not plan to use them. But when we spoke to these witnesses we got a different story. They share key facts that undermine allegations the committee is investigating. Let me repeat that. When democrats had a chance to interview some of these individuals, they provided factual information that challenge allegations these committee is investigating. Rather than bringing this information forward when the Committee First obtained it the information was. The chairmans right. We need all the facts. Facts that may not be consistent with some of the things that were hearing. Because the families of those four americans deserve that and the American People deserve it. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing put the truth. These are not actions of a bipartisan investigation. To have secret meetings and witnesses. The way to honor the four americans killed in benghazi is to seek the truth, not to ignore the facts. To contradict frequency political narrative. A skredible investigation recognizes the importance of collecting these facts and putting to rest false allegations, rather than allowing them to fester. To try to address these problems we asked the chairman to hold a vote on basic Committee Rules. Just want some rules. We wanted to ensure that all members both republicans and democrats, and i emphasize that, both republicans and democrats could participate fully in the investigation and would no longer be excluded. Some may recall that our hearing in december was delayed because democrats were meeting with the chairman beforehand to discuss these problems. As a matter of fact, there were some of our republican colleagues that had drifted into that meeting. Following that meeting the chairman promised that we would hold a vote on the Committee Rules. We even met with the speaker and he gave his blessings. But no vote has been held. What is so disappointing is that this has been going on for months. We wrote private letters to the chairman laying out these problems in detail. Hoping to resolve them. We explained that this will not be a credible, fair and factual investigation until the committee holds joint meetings, interviews, and discussions with potential witnesses, and includes all members in key aspects of our work. That is not an unreasonable request. In fact, it is exactly how several other committees currently operate, such as the House Armed Services committee. And those there are those who will say that well maybe its not in their rules. Well, House Armed Services apparently has not decided to move to common ground. They decided to move to higher ground. But today after eight months we still have no Committee Rules, so we have no choice but to make these letters public. As we explained last may when we agreed to join the committee we need someone in the room simply to defend the truth. But we cannot defend the truth if republicans lock us out. Until this changes the committee will be viewed as nothing more than yet another partisan expensive and timeconsuming campaign to continue politicizing this terrible tragedy. Finally, mr. Chairman, let me say a few words about todays hearing. Many people are concerned about the face of this committees investigation. But rather than blaming federal agencies we should acknowledge that the reason for the delay lies in the committees own actions. The fact is that the committee waited six months before sending its first request for new documents. Six months. It took the committee almost a month longer to request witness interviews from the state department. And even now eight months into the investigation the Committee Still has not sent a document request to the department of defense, and has yet to request a single witness interview from the cia. Although i continue to believe that the best way forward for our committee is to Reach Agreement on a truly bipartisan approach, i can no longer say that i am optimistic that this will happen. Nevertheless, our door is always open and we will always be willing to sit down in the pursuit of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. With that i yield back. Mr. Rubin you are recognized for your fiveminute opening statement. Thank you chairman gowdy Ranking Member cummings and distinguished members of the committee. Its an honor to be with you and thank you for providing me with the opportunity to give testimony to your committee this morning. My name is joel rubin, and im the Deputy Assistant secretary of state for House Affairs in the departments legislative affairs bureau. In this role, i serve as the departments chief liaison to the house. Responsible for ensuring that the multitude of Foreign Policy issues that the house cares about, from fighting terrorism, to preventing a nuclear iran, to expanding our economic alliances in asia to supporting your constituents when they travel overseas, are dealt with both efficiently and effectively. Ive served in the federal government for more than a decade including bethesda hill staffer and as a Civil Servant in the state department during the bush administration. I work closely with committees and leadership in the house on a daily basis ensuring that the departments relationships and communications with the house are strong, and thats why im here before you today. As you know, the state department has a strong record of cooperation with your committee. Something which were proud of and something that you yourself recently acknowledged, mr. Chairman. Statements for which were grateful. This is consistent with our work prior to this committees formation. As the department has provided nearly two years of steady cooperation with congress on benghazi by responding to requests from ten committees, through hearings with several officials, including former secretary clinton, and by providing more than 20 witness interviews, and more than 55 congressional briefings, in addition to responding to hundreds of congressional inquiries. Since the formation of this committee in may of last year we provided four briefings and witnesses for two more hearings plus todays. And usually we have produced more than 40,000 pages of documents related to the tragic benghazi attacks all of which are in the hands of your committee today. Since our most recent conversation with the Committee Last month about its pop priorities, the department has been hard at work on implementing your most recent requests for documents, and interviews. Our progress has been slowed somewhat by the holidays and the briefing we provided to you on january 13th. But also by the breadth and time span of the document request itself. Nonetheless, we will begin producing documents soon to the committee to meet this request. To put it bluntly, your priorities are our priorities. Priorities are our priorities. Therefore, in addition to the priority documents we will be providing soon we look forward the continuing to work with your staff to ensure that your requested interviews can proceed. So long as they do not jeopardize the department of justices investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators of the benghazi attacks. Its important to remember that from a management perspective, we cannot respond to every request for a hearing a briefing, documents or interviews sim ulultaneoussimultaneously but we can and will prioritize our resources to address each request in the order you identify as most important to you as the committee did in december. Turn ing turning to your december requests for interviews, the staff informed us that up to 22 names requested, the committees priority was to interview the Diplomatic Security agents who served during the attacks. We understand the committees interest in interviewing these agents and im sure the committee does not want to take action that would create risks to their personal safety or ability to do their jobs. We have concerns that the requested interviews will pose preceasely such risks. We want to avoid interfering with the department of justices Ongoing Investigations. As a result, we have been in ongoing negotiations since december with your staff counsel for the agents and the department of justice to try to find a way that accommodates your request without endangering these men and their families without negatively impacting national security, without harming the investigation and perpetrators of the attacks. Were hopeful an accommodation can be reached. In closing, we are proud of the steady progress we have made on the committees document and interview requests. We are graeft to the committee and staff for your and we look forward to working with the community on its most recent interview requests of which you will be seeing additional responses in the near future. Thank you and i look forward to the committees questions. Mr. Higgins, chairman Ranking Member and the committee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss the continuing cooperation with the committees investigation. I apologize in advance for my cough. Since the creation, ci has envoyed a productive dialogue with the staff. Since last june, cia has secured the wor