Transcripts For CSPAN3 FBI Director James Comey Oversight He

CSPAN3 FBI Director James Comey Oversight Hearing Testimony December 11, 2015

Convenient for our president. Isis is a determined enemy, executing a plan to gain and hold territory, enrich itself, inspire followers worldwide and launch deadly attacks against the west, and the American People are very worried. Not just about terrorism, but about our president s inability or unwillingness to rally the country, to lead our International Partners to develop a credible strategy to destroy isis, and to execute that strategy. We are now paying a price for that weakness. At almost every turn, events have proven the president wrong about isis. In august 2012, he drew a red line warning the assad regime not to use chemical weapons in syria. But the president backed down after assad gassed his own people and isis blossomed in the chaos that followed. January 2012, the president referred to isis as a jv or junior varsity. It promptly spent the next six months concurring territory across syria and iraq. In august that same day, our president conceded that he didnt have a strategy to defeat isis. A year and a half later he remains without a coherent one. Even former secretary clinton admitted other day that were not winning the fight. The president has been hoping that isis will go away because its existence doesnt fit a preferred political narrative. But hope is not strategy. Hope is not a plan. And hope is not action. And all the while the drum beat of attacks on the United States continued. In may, there was an attack on a Convention Center in texas. In june, police were forced to shoot a knife wielding isis supporter on the streets of boston. In july, we had the attack on military facilities, chattanooga. Director comey as of october reported the fbi was engaged in 900 active domestic investigations against suspected isisinspired operatives and other radicalized extremists. And he estimated that approximately 250 americans have left the United States and travelled to syria to fight with isis or tried to do so. None the less, in november, the president assured that isis was contained. But the very next day, it inflicted the deadliest islamic terrorist attack in europe in over a decade, a coordinated assault across paris that killed 130 and injured over 350. A few weeks later, in San Bernardino, two of its apparent supporters executed the deadliest such attack on the homeland since september the 11th. Unfortunately, our president has responded to this crisis by trying to divide us and distract us. In fact, he is doubling down in this strategy. After reports suggested that one of the paris terrorists possessed a syrian passport and entered europe as a refugee, many expressed concern about the procedures used to screen refugees coming to the United States from syria. Director comey expressed similar concerns in october. He warned that there are gaps in the information we have to vet people coming out of a war zone. And he warned that letting anyone coming to the United States carries some risk. We can point to the brothers who bombed Boston Marathon as an example of terrorists who were granted asylum here. Our president responded to the concerns expressed by Many Americans by mocking them for being afraid of orphans and widows. Events continue to prove our president s spectacularly wrong. As it turns out, women are radical islamist terrorists, too, apparently to the president s surprise. We now know that miss malik, one of the San Bernardino attackers, arrived in the United States on a fiancee visa. This is another example of the failure of the screening process for those entering the United States. Our government apparently didnt catch the false address in pakistan that she listed on her application. To top it all off, earlier this week we learned that the National Center has identified individuals with ties to terrorists in syria who are attempting to enter the United States through the Refugee Program. I guess that was one Intelligence Report the administration couldnt shade to fit its preferred conclusions. Now it always bears repeating, legitimately so, that islam is not our enemy. Radical islamist terrorists are our enemy, however. The vast majority of muslims in this country and around the world are nonviolent and law abiding. We all should oppose in no Uncertain Terms any violence or intimidation against muslims for practicing their religion. But i fear one of the reasons for the regrettable backlash against muslims in this country is the publics frustration with the president s repeated failure to acknowledge the actual nature of the threat that we face, his reluctance to utter the words radical islamic terrorism. Our president has also concluded to divide us, deride, and distract us with the issue of gun control. To the president , radical islamic terrorism is never to blame. Terrorists arent deterred by gun control. Strict european gun control laws did not stop the paris attack. Californias assault weapon ban didnt stop San Bernardinos massacre. Now the Obama Administration argues that allowing foreigners to buy guns who enter the United States through the Visa Waiver Program is a problem. I agree. But at the same time, the administrations apparently the administration apparently is fine with allowing refugees, Asylum Seekers and people on deferred action and other noncitizens who are not legal permanent residents to buy guns. That makes no sense, with a few exceptions, we need to prevent all these people from buying guns. The administrations current fixation on guns and the Visa Waiver Program can be explained though because its another area where the administrations actions have made americans less safe. In fact, an opinion from Obamas Justice Department Required the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms to change its policies to prevent persons arriving from visa waiver countries to buy guns and the administrations remove the longstanding requirement that noncitizens, at least establish residency for 90 days in the state where they want to purchase guns. These 90 days could be crucial in a terrorism investigation. So when we address the issue of foreigners in the United States buying guns, we need to be comprehensive about it, not just clean up the mess that this administration created. Finally, our friends on the other side of the aisle have attempted to divide us, deride us and distract us with proposals to deny the right to purchase firearms to those on various terror watch lists including no fly list. The incident in california and the terrorists connected with it were apparently not on any terrorist watch list. So such a proposal wouldnt have stopped that attack. In addition, the president s claim that, quote, people we dont allow to fly could go into a store right now in the United States and buy a firearm and theres nothing we can do to stop them, end of quote, just isnt true. The fbi is notified when somebody on the no fly list attempts to purchase a gun and can take steps to ensure that a gun doesnt fall into the wrong hands. So the president and others have been misleading the American People on that matter. But the more fundamental point is, while these lists are useful in keeping us safe, they are the result of the executive branchs unilateral decision to put people on them without any notice or opportunity to be heard. As a result, they can be unreliable. And it isnt just constitutional to continue to condition a fundamental right to keep and bear arms on an administrative list that lacks that kind of due process. We couldnt consider conditioning any other constitutional right such as freedom of speech or religion on unreasonable searches and seizures on such a process. Thats why it is so surprising that this president , a former constitutional law professor, and so many of his Political Party would support a scheme. The fact is, Law Enforcement hasnt raised gun purchases by people on terrorist watch lists as a huge problem. I know director comey knows how to tell us when you have to confront a serious obstacle in keeping us safe. At our hearing in july, we heard of the talk from director comey about going dark, a problem in the increase use of encrypted testimony. I hope i have the support of the director in strengthening the whistleblower law for the fbi. I also have questions about the fbis investigation into former secretary clintons email arrangement. The fbis potential role in facilitating ransom payments, its use the spyware and on going efforts that correct injustices that result from flawed forensic work. I apologize for a longer statement. But i also think that these are things that we dont discuss enough, and we have the opportunity today to discuss them. Now it is senator leahys turn. Please, take all the time you need. I know you will anyway. The federal bureau of investigation as we know is entrusted with enormous responsibility, not only enforcing our laws but protecting the nation. No matter what the threat. No matter what the motivation of those threatening us, the fbi is told, keep us safe. On any given day, the fbi agents around the country investigating cases involving not only terrorism but Violent Crime, gangs, cybercrime, identity theft, fraud, human tracking, hate crime, child exploitations. And they know theres no simple answer. For example, when the greatest terrorist attacks in this country by Timothy Mcveigh happened, none of us said after that, well, we have to exclude people who served in the military or people of Timothy Mcveighs religion. Instead, we went and found out what he had done and how we might stop others from doing the same thing. The events of the past six months have underscored the varied nature of the threats the fbi faces. This past june, nine africanamerican church goers were murdered by a white supremacist during a bible study in charleston. The day after thanksgiving, three individuals, including a police officer, were shot to death inside a Womans Health clinic in colorado springs. Last week, 14 county workers in San Bernardino were murdered in a shooting rampage. None of these seem related. All of them had different causes and motivations among those shooting. The director may not be able to share all the details about these investigations today, but i believe we can agree theres one common motivating factor behind each of these heinous crimes, and thats hateful extremism. The churchgoers who were murdered, the women the people in the womens Health Clinic and people in San Bernardino, hateful extremism coming from different directions. So i think it reminds us to be vigilant against all forms of violent extremism. I would hope that nobody underestimates the incredible difficult job of protecting the country from terrorists threats. We can try to put all the blame on any one person. Thats fine. But its not one person. Its all of us. We have to support the Law Enforcement intelligence officials who work to protect our nation by giving them the tools and resources they need to do their job effectively. As we have heard from many Law Enforcement officials, we have to continue the very hard work sometimes of Building Trust in our communities among neighbors and with Law Enforcement so we can all share the responsibility of keeping our communities safe. At the same time, i wish we would all categorically reject the divisive rhetoric of fear that only serves to undermine. Us as a nation. We know what happens when we succumb to the politics of fear and lose sight of our fundamental american values. Fear is what drove the government to violate the constitution and imprison thousands of americans of japanese decent during world war ii. Fear is what fuelled to jest fication of torture by the cia, which director comey, you objected to when you were at the bush Justice Department and i applaud you for that. I know the director reminds all of his new agents that the rhetoric of fear led j. Edgar hoover to target Martin Luther king jr. And the others during the 1960s. If we give in to this sort of fear, then that way the terrorists and extremists win. They want us to be afraid. They want us to be a nation divided. Groups like isis, for example, actively promote the narrative around the world that muslims are not welcome in the United States. Certainly some of the, what i call, reprehensible and unconstitutional comments by some allow them to spread that false notion around the world. When there is talk about rounding up all Muslim Americans or creating a registry based on religious beliefs or shutting our borders to all muslims, thats a sort of xenophobic hateful rhetoric that plays into our enemys hands. It also demeans us as a democratic nation founded on the principals of freedom, equality and liberty. We americans are better than that. Lets not lets not succumb to fear and give an image that is not the great country that brought my grandparents and my great grandparents here. Were a courageous and strong country. Our strength comes from our commitment to the morals and principals that keep our country great and a beacon of democracy to the rest of the world. The senate at its best can be the conscience of the nation. Recent events demand that we start trying to be at our very best. Were not afraid of terrorists. We should not let our country be defined by irresponsible fear mongering. We should continue the committees bipartisan oversight of the fbi in other areas. Three years ago the fbi learned the flawed microscopic hair comparison analysis was used in thousands of criminal prosecutions. Now, frankly, im not satisfied by the fbis efforts to even notify those defendants who might be affected by faulty evidence. The fbi should be sending agents out to gather the relevant information. The lives of potentially innocent americans, including some on death row, depend on this. In addition, i will continue to work with senator grassley to ensure that whistleblowers at the fbi are afforded adequate protection. I thank director comey for coming before the committee today. I have known the director for years. I know he shares my respect for the constitution and my faith in American People that we can rise above the divisive rhetoric of fear, because were americans. We should be better than that. And i believe we are. Thank you. Since this is an oversight hearing, i would like to swear. Do you let me start over. Do you let me start over again. Do you affirm that the testimony you are about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god . Thank you. I assume the director of the fbi needs no introduction but i would like to read a short introduction. Its a pleasure to introduce you to the committee. Director comey became the director of the fbi 2013. You served as deputy general and u. S. Attorney in new york and an assistant u. S. Attorney in virginia. He is a graduate of william mary and the university of chicago law school. Welcome. Proceed with your testimony, however long you want to take. Thank you, mr. Chairman, members of the committee, its good to be back before you. As every member of this in the knows, the fbi has a very broad array of responsibilities to address a staggering array of threats that face our country in terrorism and counterintelligence and in criminal matters. The key to us doing that well is the great people of the fbi. And i so appreciate your support for them. They are the magic of the fbi. The best part of my job is to get to know those people and to watch them work. And so im very grateful for the support of this committee for those good folks. What i thought i would do is start with our top priority, which is Counter Terrorism and tell you a little bit more about how were approaching the attack in San Bernardino. The members of this committee know very well that the terrorist threat we face today comes at us from a number of groups most prominently today from the group that calls itself the Islamic State. The threat from the Islamic State has three dimensions. One, they aspire to send operatives to attack the United States and its allies. Second, they aspire to attract people to come to the socalled caliphate to fight and achieve glory somehow from being in that savage place. Last, where they cant send or attract, inspire, direct, they hope to radicalize in their home and to kill innocent people on behalf of these terrorist groups. In paris, we saw one dimension of that threat, which was the sending of operatives to attack and kill innocent people. In San Bernardino we saw last week a different dimension, which is the home grown radical extremist, radicalizing in place in order to kill innocent people on behalf of a Foreign Terrorist Organization, to claim a Foreign Terrorist Organization and try to give it credit for acts of violence. To find home grown violent

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