And each instance is unique. Each and every one is totally unique with a unique set of circumstances. But in this one, given the timing given the lack of information about any credible threat, given all of the ramifications that may have taken place had shots been fired, i believe they acted quickly, bravely and heroically. Before the gentlemen yields back. I got to ask you a question. Ive asked you directly in closed doors and in here whether or not you had somebody with a gun trained on these people that could take them out of the air and yet when mr. Cummings asked the same question in a different way you said no. You told me yes. What is it . We clearly have officers out there with weaponry. In this instance with the gyro copter coming at the capitol did you . And it may have been brief. I you said understand you didnt get much advanced warning. Right. But did you or did you not have guns trained on this gyro copter. Did they have guns on him in this instance. As he was landing. So he was in the air. I would say as he landed. This is why we got to talk to the people who are actually yeah. Reclaiming my time just very quickly. How far was he from the ground . Picking up on where the chairman left off. How far was he from the ground, if you know when you had an opportunity, when the Capitol Police had opportunity to shoot him down. I believe the officer first saw him when he was right above grand statue which is seconds from when he landed. Very well. I yield back. We need further clarification of that. Well now recognize the gentlemen from florida for five minutes. Thank you mr. Chairman and Ranking Member for holding this meeting. What weve experienced just with this incident is again another horrible Communications Failure of the system. And this isnt new. The Ranking Member just cited back in october of 2013. We had the deranged individual, a woman who actually backed into someone at the white house, came across the entire distance of downtown metropolitan d. C. Went through the barriers and the communications failed. Chief dine i wrote you on october 8th right after that. I said we all appreciate and commend your actions. Im contacting you to request your response about concerns highlighted in this tragic act. Number one it is my understanding the secret service, Capitol Police, park service and district of Columbia Police and other agencies have interoperable communications. We spent a quarter of a billion when we did the Capitol Visitor Center in redoing ballards and all of the things after 911. And that failed. Those Communication Systems failed. They failed again. Im stunned. I still this is how we get a warning, okay . This device still has not gone off to this instance. My office is right down the hall here. I overlook. My desk faces out so i can look at the capitol lawn. Im sitting there at 1 20 watching whats coming down. And im on the phone and there is a Police Vehicle not on the road but on the path but coming up the grass. Another officer with his i mean a pretty powerful weapon. Ive got pictures of it. We snapped some of the pictures of it. I said to the staff i dont know what is going on but something is coming down. We never heard a thing. This is the first communication that i got. Let me get the exact communication. I think it was 1 well actually it wasnt until 5 02. Tariffs no there was no notification. This is a message from the sergeant of arms. The capitol have cleared the police activity. We never knew what was coming down. Granted a week before on saturday the 11th. We had incredible notice. Were you here mr. Chairman. No one was hear it was a serious situation someone ended up committed suicide. It worked very well. This thing went crazy. My enunciator went crazy. I got lots of notice but it is working some of the time not all of the time, isnt that right chief dine . It now will work all the time sir and your point is well taken and again i dont think i got a response from you. I asked the staff, where is my letter to dine from the last incident . A lot of people wanted to sweep this under the table. It was an embarrassing situation. But it cant happen again. Faa, a gyro copter can left how many pounds . A small 254 pounds right is it. Its weight is about but it can lift about that much. Thats part of it fall swooss into a category. So you can have a 200 pound individual flying it say . So what capacity does that leave 50 pounds. Its very small capacity. No one knew wafs on the helicopter. You didnt know. Did anyone know what was on the helicopter . We were told some time ago but nobody collects the dots. We didnt know whether it was letters or in fact 50 pounds of plastic explosive. What would that do to the capitol building. It would be devastating. Devastating. So nobody knew wait a second too. I just heard today you said the faa Domestic Network was notified. What time . Who knows when that is . About 1 34 in the afternoon. That was afterwards. After it landed. After it landed. Correct. So there is wrong there on the domestic faa notice. Something wrong with the notice on the Capitol Police. 1 23, you had the guy under arrest. We never knew. I mean im not afraid. Ive been here through 9 11. If they want to take me out, take me out. Give me a chance. Give our staff a chance. Give us notice. Make this thing work. Okay . Again i dont think its too much to ask that we get this thing right. And there is a lot at stake, not just saving members of congress. Weve got new threats. I brought up the drone before the drone landed on the white house. The white house they still dont we had another jumper didnt we just recently . How long before we get the fence increase. I told you weave got a great welder. Ive got the name of adt. We can get them in here to put in systems but we still dont have the fence secure do we. How long sir in the summer the attachment will be attached this summer. Okay. Yield back the balance of my time. Thank the gentlemen. Now recognize the gentlemen from massachusetts mr. Lynch for five minutes. Before you do that this letter has to be in the record at this point. This is my letter to chief dine. Ask unanimous consent to do that the only email i got at 5 00 after it was all over. And one more thing. Would you yield just a second for the benefit of members . I sent you back and i was told afterwards staff said you didnt get it. I have searched my messages to see if an alert was sent out on this incident . The staff told me we cant respond to you that you only send these alerts out. So i sent this out the same day after the well the day after the incident finding out if anything had been sent and i missed it. But there is no way for us to contact you. We need a way to contact you. Thank you. Were going to recognize the gentlewoman from the district of colombia for five minutes. Thank you. This is an important hearing. You cant have an incident like this and not have a hearing. And i know that witnesses understand this. I certainly appreciate the work they do. And i think essentially gentlemen, the problem you are facing is getting ahead of risks and threats that may be unbelievable. But that is what the congress and for that matter the public expects you to do. I mean we are fortunate that that gyro copter didnt have a chemical or an explosive in it. And of course we know that you knew it did not. And we know and this is why i have a question first. I believe we know that it was not possible for existing technology that keeps the violation of an air space, that we can go we can catch a helicopter. We can catch a small plane. But technically do we have the technology to capture wigamados that apply below that air space that is more typical . What the faa provides to the surveillance capability is radar feeds. And radar that the faa uses for our purposes to separate air traffic is filtered to ensure that that controller is able to safely separate traffic transiting the regions airports and air space. This very small of aircraft flying through is not something that the controller would ordinarily pick up in the course of carrying out their aircraft separation activities. So you see im not going to ask Law Enforcement on the ground to do the impossible. But i am going to ask Law Enforcement on the ground to tell us ahead of time what the impossible is. Were asking you to do star wars type thinking about who could fly like you fly a kite. And if we dont think about it, we know who will be thinking about it. So i am interested in separating out what is technically possible and what is technically not possible. And i want to know why congress hasnt been asked for the capability to fly below that usual air space where by the way if anybody gets into that air space we send National Guard planes up in the air right away instantly. If we dont have the ability to do something tantamount to that then the only people who really know it who can get ahead of the game for us are those of you who are on the ground who dont have that capability. And who therefore have to think about risks that only Law Enforcement frankly has the capability to envision. And i want to know why the congress hasnt been asked for that for the means to provide that capability . Congresswoman norton what i was referring to is the faas surveillance capability that is provided to this whole government effort. The entire network is not limited to that and i would defer to my colleagues from dod. Im prepared to answer that for you but i need do that in a closed session. It would be very important to know can we do it. To say to people on the ground if you see it in a few seconds, take it down. That is not what happens if i try to fly a helicopter into the air space. So it seems i want to give you the same capabilities, same time that those who have tried to pierce our air space have found they just cant do it. So we dont see you having to shoot down much up there because you have the technology to do it. And in closed session we need to know that and we need to know it now. And one of the reasons we need to know it now is the first thing i find that officials do when they dont have the capability is they keep the public out. And we know how to make sure nobody gets hurt and nobody gets in. Im not accused you of doing that but i have to tell you it is often the first reflex. We seem to work on a casebycase basis. Now we know probably that chief dine that our Police Officers because he said they saw it only a few seconds and then they had to get themselves together. But the casebycase way assures us that there will be a terrible thing to happen and then we take care of it. Im trying to find out if we can get the capabilities before you have the obligation even to do something about it because it hasnt occurred yet. And i will be interested in that in closed session. But i am interested in closing down the capitol. When anthrax occurred i had to goen en go on the house floor and literally embarrass the police to get the capitol open. It was closed for months because the Capitol Police couldnt think of a way to keep it open. It was terrible to have the capitol itself close. And i want to make sure. I have seen no evidence that the capitol is being closed those grounds are being closed. And i want assurance that that is not taking place. Thank you the gentle woman. Anyone conveyor to comment on that . Can people go where they were able to go before . Yes, maam. Thank you very much. The gentlemen from michigan for five minutes. Thank you chairman and thanks to the panel for being here. And i think we understand you have to be right all the time and they have to be right once. So we appreciate the fact of what you deal with. However this i just have relatively flu questions that could be asked without going into some closed session. First of all to director clancy, im having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that secret service had recognition of this gentlemen and his intersection to fly here intentions to fly here and land on the capitol. Some time before 2014 in fact early 2014 that secret service interviewed mr. Hughes based upon some information he was putting out back in august, september and october of 2013. So with that in mind. With that lead up to it. Plus the day of the flight there was also phone calls made from the tampa newspaper to secret service. My question is did the secret Service Share all the information that it should have with other relevant Law Enforcement agencies with responsibility for the d. C. Air space . Yes congressman. On october 4th our Denver Field Office did get a call from an individual who knew of mr. Hughes plan. This is october of 2013. We relayed that information to our partners at Capitol Police and that day we also the following day we went and interviewed that individual to get more details. As we got more details we realized mr. Hughes the subject here, lived in tampa bay. We sent our agents down there to interview him. He denied any interest in any of our protectees. Denied any interest in the white house and denied any he had no indication that he would be flying up in the washington d. C. Area. We did do additional interviews with the Additional Associates who corroborated the first call we received in denver that he did have some aspirations to do this. But again there was no indication any of our protectees or any of our protective facilities were that he had the intent to to this. But we did share the information. But you shared it with with them. So chief dine you had that information back in early 2014 that there was an individual of interest at least that had some idea to fly and bring letters to congress in a very unusual way . Yes, sir. The secret Service Shared that information with us. And yes, sir. What did Capitol Police know about mr. Hughes and his intentions prior to him landing on the Capitol Grounds zwoent getting this information . What else came through that should have highlighted something happening . Subsequent to us that being case essentially closesed or suspended by us and the secret service, nothing up until minutes before he landed. As i had mentioned earlier. We got a fairly cryptic email and a phone call that was not date or time specific talking about whether or not were we aware of this and whether or not he had a permit. Thath that was literally minutes before he landed. April 15th as im seeing a timeline here. An individual made a call to secret Services Tampa field office to warn of hughes plan. Was that information shared with you . Sir, on october 15th. We received a call from an individual who did not give any time or date or specifics this was april 15th that i have here. April 15th yes, sir. Okay. An individual had called our Tampa Bay Office and asked specifically for a specific agent. We said the agent is no longer assigned to the office and this individual said well just let him know i called. There was no specifics to mr. Hughes or this flight. So the Tampa Bay Times then reporter called secret service on april 15th at 1 00. Thats correct, sir. He landed at 1 23. So weve got 23 minutes still. Was there any notification. Let me ask chief maclean to join in as well. Any notification that someone indeed is starting this flight, on his way, is livestreaming it, he may be coming over your territory . Is there any action that can be take even with the park service in stopping someone flying low . To answer the first part of the question the United States park place did not have an aniationableany ax actionable prior. Leaves me with great concern that when information is given crack pot or otherwise and then the day of the event takes place we have information that is given. And still this person is able to make it all those miles and more importantly across the restricted air space. Coming across our monument area, coming across leading up to our capitol itself and then lands and nothing happens until this person is on the ground. I yield back. Thank the gentlemen. Now recognize the gentlemen from massachusetts mr. Lynch for five minutes. Thank you mr. Chairman, i thank the Ranking Member. This is not good. This is on top of a lot of other incidents that weve been talking about at the white house as well. You know i get the feeling that just as before 9 11, if you visited an airport in the United States we had very little security going on. Yet if you visited bengurian airport or Leonardo Davinci airport or heath row, those countries had dealt with terrorism before us. And they were all tooled up. They had heavy weapons and metal detecters and yet we were lulled into a false sense of security. I get the sense that were behind the curve again. You know you visit any of these committees involved in hardening our facilities overseas. And you go into any major capitol in europe or the middle east or africa. And they are taking precautions that we are not. And it is and i know there is a balance between Public Access and security. But we have gotten to the point where i am worried about the president. Im worried about his family. Im worried about the security on the grounds here at the capitol. Im worried about the Supreme Court across the street. And i just have to say that, you know, we had advanced notice. Albeit you had to connect the dots and you had to talk to each other. This was not good. And a fellow has been able to fly in here and land a gyro copter on the lawn. It is not good. And i know we got a bunch of reasons why it happened and seems like we got some excuses. But that is just not good enough. And i have a lot of respect for the panel. Individually. But and i dont know if its a lack of communication between departments, but we got to do better. Dear god we got to do better. Is there anything that weve done since this guy landed the gyro copter on the lawn. Is there anything that weve done that we would do differently if that were to happen today and someone with nefarious intent a terrorist, were to do s