sharkee69's MyC-SPAN

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey, and National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen testified at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on terrorist threats. They testified that they had no information ISIL was plotting attacks in the U.S. but said they were concerned with homegrown terrorists radicalized through the Internet to carry out violent attacks. They noted how adept ISIL was with using the Internet and social media as a recruiting tool. Secretary Johnson talked about the need for the U.S. to counter ISIL’s strong propaganda machine. They also said that there was no specific intelligence that ISIL was trying to come into the U.S. through the Mexican border. Topics included student visas.

*The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an extremist Sunni militant group that has called itself the Islamic State.

The House Select Committee on Benghazi held its first hearing. They heard testimony from Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Gregory Starr, whose position was created after the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. He talked about changes made to improve security at foreign posts, but added that risks can be reduced, not eliminated. Two security experts, Todd Keil and Mark Sullivan, who served on a State Department independent panel also testified. Mr. Keil criticized the State Department for its risk management process.

Patricia Smith and Charles Woods, whose sons were killed in attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, testified at a hearing on State Department involvement before, during, and after the attack. Both witnesses said that the government lied to them about the events surrounding their sons' deaths and that they wanted Congress to continue its investigation.

Following a 230-189 vote in favor of a continuing budget resolution to keep funding government operations, Republican leaders spoke to reporters about provisions to defund the Affordable Care Act and urged the Senate to also pass the legislation.