good morning and i thank you very much for your indulgence said overlapping hearings we understand that the ranking member has one as well and other members and so with your indulgence we will make this happen and changed the lives of many through a number of these legislative initiatives except committee will now come to order today we are meeting to consider for measures h r forty one seventy nine a bill to mean the homeland security act of two thousand and two to establish an appeal and redress process for individuals wrongly delayed or prohibited from boarding a flight h r fifty nine zero nine and bill to amend the aviation and transportation security act to prohibit advance notice to certain individuals including security screeners of covert testing of security screening procedures for the purpose of enhancing transportation security at airports house resolution eleven fifty resolution expressing the sense of the house of representatives and the transportation that the transportation security administration should in accordance with provisions of the nine eleven commission act of two thousand and seven enhanced security against terrorist attacks and other security threats to our nation's rail and mass transit lines and h r forty seven forty nine a bill to man the homeland security act of two thousand two to establish the office for bombing prevention to address terrorist explosive threats house resolution eleven fifty also includes the provision of enhanced training for transportation security administration  members as you are aware our work securing the homeland is never done and today we take all four bills that will take us forward in our mission to make the homeland more secure the four bills as i indicated are in no particular order h r fifty further sure of the gaps in our testing and evaluation protocols for transportation security seen just in the past year the details of covert tests and evaluations have been disseminated to the screen and workforce thereby tipping off those that were trying to accurately in response retest let me indicate that this is not a bill to overcome employees or to if you will not protect them it is simply to abide the security that we need to have a jury as eleven fift a straightforward resolution but a very important one recognizing that t s a is the lead agency for transportation security and all of the hard work congress did last year to make rail and mass transit security programs more robust in the enactment of the nine eleven bill we must continue to push t s a to fulfill mandates for rail and mass transit security required by congress last week this subcommittee held a very important field hearing in new york city on efforts to secure rail mass transit it was truly  sprints and insightful informative experience we learn much about what is being done to secure the new york transit system and other systems across the nation we also learn what needs to be done and so this legislation comm progress with the national explosive detection canine teams system since most successful attacks on rail mass transit are carried out by using i d s but we encourage them to do more we encourage them to do more training and i think that's important h r forty seven forty nine establishes the office of bombing prevention within the protective service coordination division of the office of infrastructure protection of the department the bill is a bipartisan bill who believes ponces ranking member king co sponsored by chairman thompson the function of the office a bo prevention already exists in the department and this bill establishes in statute the officers sponsible for coordinating the government efforts to deter detect prevent protect against respond to terrorist explosive attacks in the united states and as we know the most likely bomb threat the terrorist threat to our nation's critical infrastructure and transportation modes is from explosives and so as we travel we want to make sure that we are doing it in the right way h r forty one seventy nine the fair accurate secure and timely redress act of two thousand and eight financial establish an appeal and redress process to ensure that the office of appeals and redress of the department homeland security becomes a one stop shop in american public deserves we know what has happened when people have been wrongly detained or stopped from boarding a flight many of my constituents have had that happen even though the amman situation is not exactly the same they pass the process pass muster and unfortunately were taken off the plane this gives the opportunity for there to be a redress this is a reinforcement of our democratic principles and we look forward to that i look forward to marking up these four very important bills of the cooperation of our colleagues from both sides of the out is often said in these forums but it is true homeland security is a bipartisan effort and once again i thank you for your participation i now recognize a ranking member of the subcommittee the gentleman from california to make his opening statement thank you very much your chairwoman jackson lee this morning i'd just like to comment briefly on the legislative measures will be considering h r forty one seventy nine by this quark which would establish a faster appeal and redress process for individuals wrongly delayed or created from boarding an airline flight creates a comprehensive cleared list c c l which ensures those persons misidentified on a watch list to get redress will be cleared by all the h s agencies and other stakeholders in the future i'm told that the majority has accepted a number of our suggestions for updating this list making it as accurate as possible we believe these changes will eliminate the need for continual redress which wastes government resources and obviously frustrates the affected individuals i think the majority for accepting those so i will  strongly support the best redress act of two thousand and eight ms low is h r fifty nine zero nine recently introduced bill attempts to prevent disclosure of covert tested airport security screenings location i agree with the bill intent covert tests that are disclosed are not covert or obviously very little value however we have looked into this with hearings it seems to me the t s a is office of inspections has an established inspection protocol which employs employees a covert team leader and assistant team leader at large airports to monitor the covert tests and ensure that the safety of the terrorists of the public this protocol has proven safe and effective in over twenty three thousand tests if the tests are being compromised the person or persons who divulge the information was disclosing sensitive security or classified information and as we know any authorized disclosure of covert testing information subjects the to the tipster to disciplinary action civil or criminal liability under already existing law one concern i have is a bill of stablish is a secondary team in addition to the covert team leader to monitor the test i'm concerned that one way to expose a covert test is by having too many government observers covert team leader assistant team leader and secondary team officials that would alert the screeners to their present the bill i think is premature chairman thompson requested the g a o to conduct a review of t s a as current covert testing procedures i understand this report we're supposed to receive from g a o you know about two weeks so i'm afraid i can't support the bill at this time i hope we can work some more bipartisan basis to respond to the concerns that i think we all feel and mr king's bill h r forty seven forty nine establishing the office of bombing prevention a d h s to address the increasing threat from explosives being used by terrorists i believe enhanced government's ability to court the efforts in this area and i obviously would support that reza levon fifty the chairwoman sir resolution to enhance our security against terrorist attack and other security threats to our nation's rail and mass transit lines is a nother step in the right direction and i think we should all support that if i could just mention another subject that the chairwoman and i discussed yesterday i believe that one of the improvements to the u s security would be made by passing the save truckers bill h r fifty nine fifteen this bill focuses on the most intensive background checks for those truckers actually hauling the security sensitive materials that pose the greatest risk without compromising security and i think generally and i've talked about how we need to differentiate between hazmat and security sensitive so that we don't deny job opportunities to a whole group of people that i believe deserve those job opportunities last year we talked about considering this  we need to move on it i would hope this is the same bill that was post sponsored by the chairman of our of our full committee mr thompson and mr king last time and supported by the entire committee so i would hope that we might also be able to work on that in the near future and i am informed that both labor and the industry support that bill so i hope that we might be able to move on that in short order and with that i would  a positive look going forward and we will do so i've asked the respective stamps to engage and as well to engage with labor and others and i think we'll have an opportunity to to look at this very campus and i would think move forward in a collaborative way and so i thank the gentleman for mentioning the legislation and i know that we will have some movement on that and i thank you again i would like to yield back that time and now and like to remind the committee that other members may submit opening statements for the record i now call up h r forty one seventy nine the bill w circulate in advance without objection the first reading of the bill is dispensed amendments in the order listed on the amendment roster if a member is not present to offer an amendment that is listed on the roster the chair will allow the member to offer the amendment when the member returns to the extent practical or not prohibited by the house or committee rules finally amendments that are not on the roster may be offered after there has been opportunity for members on the roster to be offered to the extent practical and not prohibited by house or committee rules i think that your first agreement and i would withdraw my reservation without objection the bill is considered as re and is open for amendments and then in the nature of a substitute h r forty one seventy nine offered by miss clark of new york strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following without objection the reading is dispense with in the name and in the nature of a substitute is considered as base tax for the purpose of the amendment i now recognize miss clarke for five minutes to explain them in the nature of a substitute madam chairwoman ranking member long during my colleagues nearly everyone in the homeland security community agree that having a single comprehensive list of terrorist suspects is an important tool in keeping america safe however there are flaws in how the terrorist watch list is maintained in used most common are the cases of mis identification which occur when an innocent person hits against the list because they have a name that is similar to one in the database with the department of homeland security trip d h s trip but this has had problems in its scope is limited to just the c s a of the agency don't have access to that list this bill grant v h s the tools to create a department wide office of redress in appeals a one stop shop for any individual who feels they are being incorrectly identified as a terrorist whenever they have contact with the government using this office people will get onto a cleared list ensuring they will avoid further and future misidentification when dealing with any department entity we also allow the secretary to enter into intergovernmental memorandums of understanding so this cleared list can apply beyond v h s and work for all government screening entities this amendment in the nature of a substitute provides for a variety of clarifications and technical updates while also providing a few substantial changes to the base bill one of the changes is to allow the secretary to engage in co op in a cooperative agreements with appropriate federal agencies and entities to ensure that legal name changes are properly reflected in any terrorist watch list or database and the comprehensive cleared list to improve the appeal  redress process this will help ensure that these lives remain as accurate as possible even when people get married or otherwise change their names another update directs the secretary to incorporate and integrate the secure flight program into the retreads process implemented by this bill the fast redress act as secure flight each provide means to help travelers avoid unnecessary problems implemented together these programs should virtually eliminate the prospect of flyers being delayed multiple times due to ms identification this is a bipartisan amendment representing the joint efforts of people on both sides of the  i believe it significantly improves the underlying legislation and creates a very strong bill that will help many people throughout america and the world who have been or will be wrongly identified as terrorists i hard on this amendment on helping to move the bill itself to this point in the  process i also asked unanimous consent to submit a letter of support from the nash no business travelers association and i asked my colleagues on the committee to join me in supporting this amendment without objection so ordered you back the balance of my time i think that generally is there any discussion of the amendment small differences because what this is about is making sure that thousands of americans who may have in colorado we had an instance with a gentleman named john thompson there were he was in iraq terrorists but there were like twenty john thom son's in colorado that would be caught up again and again and again without an ability to clear their name or continue to be delayed and so i appreciate congresswoman clark's  efforts here this is something that clearly we had a issue in colorado and this will this will facilitate travel still allow us to get to the bad guys but make sure that those who are law abiding americans don't continually be caught up in these lists so i just thank the ranking member for working with and with clark congresswoman clark and i support this amendment and ask that there be the time has expired and i recognize myself for five minutes of which i will not use into town with eaton graduate the gentle lady from new york and to emphasize although we are far from being special but the difficulty of having individuals have a pathway of appeal because we know a number of our colleagues and i think it is publicly known senator ted kennedy representative john lewis have  had similar circumstances that have continued over and over again i've questioned those distinguish individuals they've promised us that their whole commitment is to this nation and to the protection of the homeland so we realize that this is needed  it is imperative to match homeland security with civil liberties and civil rights responsibilities and to give a pathway of appeal is the appropriate vehicle one of the appropriate vehicles to ensure that that occurs so i no other roster members have been presented on this bill are there any amendments to the amendment in the nature of a substitute no further members the questions on the green to the image in the nature of a substitute all those in favor say aye all those opposed say no and the pain of the chair the eyes have it in the men women in the nature of a substitute as amended nature of a substitute is agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the  the question of curves on the adoption of the bill all those in favor say aye all those the polls say no in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it and adoption of the bill is agreed to as amended is agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table i now move that the bill as amended be forwarded to the full committee with a favorable recommended all those in favor say aye all those opposed say no in the opinion of the chair the i's have it and the motion is agreed to in the bill as amended is ordered to be forward it to the full committee with a favorable recommendation without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table the staff is authorized to make any technical and conforming changes the subcommittee will now subcommittee will use a roster for amendment during consideration of each of the measures being considered today i have an amendment in the nature of a substitute was circulated in advance the clerk will designate section one section one provision of advance notice of covert testing to security screeners i offer them in the nature of a substitute the clerk will report the amendment in the nature of a substitute strike call after the enacting cause and insert the following section one short title this act may be cited as the catching operational vulnerabilities by ensuring random testing act of two thousand eight or the covert act of two thousand and eight section two prohibition of advance notice of covert testing to security screeners i ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as written so order without objection the reading is dispense with in the amendment in the nature of a substitute is considered as base tax for the purposes of amendment i now recognize myself for five minutes to explain them and in the nature of a substitute over the past year this committee has learned several efforts to undermine the integrity of covert testing of t s a screening checkpoints covert testing faced systematic problems over the past several years with incidents such as the notification email from mike rest of it's to t s a field staff in april of two thousand and six other reported incidents at jackson evers international airport and san francisco international airport we are well aware that this committee has investigated and probe t s a extensively as to why those actions occurred of course it was explained that they were innocent actions and that they would be addressed internally any efforts to compromise these important evaluation testing f it should not be tolerated my amendment in the nature of a substitute bills on the strong legislation offered by mr lowy and ensures that covert testing and evaluation cannot be undercut by the actions of those that seek to wig weaken the system this legislation is necessary because the current structure has been unsuccessful in deterring tipoffs first the n s a ensures that the protection of covert testing and evaluation procedures applies to all modes of transportation not just aviation i indicated earlier in my remarks that we this subcommittee held a very productive feel hearing in new york it was evidence by the presentations made by a witnesses including commissioner kelly of the n y p d and chief lambert of the houston metro police system that more strength needs to be given to mass transit and this is a step in that direction second the n s a also requires that the secretary conduct an impact study and issue a report that provides recommendations on the implementation and execution of this bill and assessment on the results covert testing a summary of best practices on how to best integrate covert testing and evaluat into other training and testing programs and recommendations for additional personnel training necessary to fulfill this act if we choose to ignore these past disclosures we provide future opportunities to compromise a worthy program that should educate the workforce and ensure the security of our transportation systems and the nation we've always indicated that the buck stops with the department of homeland security and frankly with the committees of jurisdiction in the senate and the house how can we provide the appropriate oversight if we do not have procedures in place that allows the covert testing to continue without tanked if you will this legislation i believe goes a very very long way in opposing that taint albeit the good intentions of the employees and managers of the transportation security administration i don't believe that you can have the system intact if you don't protect against notice and so this legislation is a known problem this is a solution to a known problem it is not a solution lacking for looking for a problem we're not looking to disrupt the management of t s a but what we are doing is clearly trying to respond there are three incidents that we already know of this made the terror a four and it's important for the employees at t s a to recognize that we are trying to make a better solution so with that i will yield back the remaining time distinguished ranking member seek recognition on them i recognize the gentleman for five minutes thank you very much jim madam chair and i think that in some ways your amendment is an improvement over the base bill but i still have a concern about the bill itself  and i would like to say something about the supposed case involving mr rest of it from everything i can find my rest of  thousand and six have been to the benefit of all of us back the matter is the e mail was sent out without his knowledge innocent as he learned of it he called it back then there's been concerns as to whether or not there were tip offs of covert testing and during his time of inspector general he made reference to the fact that some of his testers got the impression some of the testers got the impression that their tests were compromise however his words are we were never able to substantiate that so i would just like the record to reflect that we have good men and women working over the department of homeland security if there is an effort by any individual to violate the covert testing as i suggested there are already appropriate sanctions to be brought against those individuals and as i say i would hope that we would await the report that this committee or the chairman o committee asked for from the g a o on the state of covert operations or covert testing before we enact legislation to respond to the problem for which they've asked we've asked them to give us further discussion on this amendment for what purposes of the gentle lady from new york seek recognition madam gere i want to just be committed i recognize that young lady for five minutes thank you very much weak on the amendment yet you know i believe that this bill is necessary because the current structure has been unsuccessful and deterring tipped it was we need only to look at the e mail incident of april two thousand and six or the incidents that were reported by these back to general at jackson evers international airport san francisco international airport insist the inspector general has confirmed to committee staff that missed the rest because e mail damaged the integrity of their tests we have been briefed and expect their final report shortly in addition committee staff has been briefed on the g a o is finding and this legislation will strengthen what we know is a vulnerability in the system the it just may argue that those who provide an unauthorized disclosure already subject to penalties but disciplinary action was taken in response to the jackson every step up only after pressure from congress madam cheare it is very clear that if we are going to release a cure homeland  and our ability to to respond to terrorism covert testing and evaluation is an essential an integral part of being able to to effect that we can not waver in our commitment to making sure that this process is left pristine and this amendment in the nature of of a substitute does just that it does not restrict the director in any way from doing the work that he asked to do madam chia you back the balance of my time to lay the yields back i thank the gentleman from colorado for his support of the legislation as well let me  myself an additional five minutes thank the general a d for her point and expression of an incident that occurred but i also think the backdrop of what occurred in the past leads us to want to curate in the future and even though there been internal mechanisms put in place i think it's an important notice from the congress to all agencies dealing with security that we cannot have effective measures we can out of have effective protocols we cannot have a impenetrable process if we leave to the internal mechanisms resolution of the interference with covert testing so again this is not a reflection on the work of the transportation security administration or maybe the intentions of some of the management that wanted to have  a perfect response but it is all duty and our responsibility to ensure that this is a system that works we have the duty and responsibility to ensure the safety of all americans and with  no further rostrum is being presented on this bill are there any amendments to the amendment in the nature of a substitute hearing no further minutes the questions on the on agreeing to the amendment in the nature of a substitute all those in favor say aye all those opposed say no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it and the minute in the nature of a substitute  is agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table the question now occurs on adoption of the bill all those in favor say aye all those opposed say no and the bill is adopted as a minute in the opinion of the chair the eyes have been in the adoption of the bill as amended is agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table subcommittee will now take up the third measure a notice to be considered at today's meeting i now call it house resolution eleven fifty the resolution was circulated in advance without objection the first reading of the resolution is dispense with i would like to remind members of the s per my agreement with the ranking member of the subcommittee will use a roster for amendments during consideration of each of the measures being considered today no roster amendments being presented on this resolution are there any amendments to the resolution the question now occurs on the adoption of the resolution all those in favor say aye all those opposed say no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it in the adoption the resolution is agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table subcommittee will now take up the fourth and final measure a notice to be considered at today's meeting and that is h r forty seven forty nine and now call up h r forty seven forty nine the bill was circulated in advance without objection the first reading of the bill to dispense with would like to members of the subcommittee that per my agreement the ranking member of the subcommittee will use a roster for him is doing consideration of each of the measures being considered today no roster amendments have been presented on this bill are there any amendments to the b the question now occurs on adoption of the bill all those in favor say aye all those oppose and the opinion of the chair the eyes have any adoption the bill is agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table for what purposes as the gentle lady from new york seek recognition madam chad like to ask for rico to vote to be forwarded on all bills before adding all bills a recorded vote is ordered pursuant to committee rule five c for the recording for the proceedings on the amendments will be postpone and as i thank all of the members who are present for what has been an enormously productive and creative markup i was promoted we thank you ms clarke we thank the ranking member mr bill brock as this markup now period in cooperation with the ranking member and members on both sides of the aisles but we will have a time frame of today into next week again with the cooperation of  e ranking member to record the votes on these bills and i thank the committee and again this markup is a