DHS Redefines Term “Resident Expert” As Their Resident Expert Is Unable To Answer Basic Questions
[guest post by Dana]
This past week, Dept. of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary for Screening Coordination, Kelli Ann Burriesci testified before Congress about the Syrian refugees and the visa waiver program. She was sent by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson to testify in his stead because, according to the DHS, she is their “resident expert” in the programs.
Unfortunately, said resident expert was unable to answer even the most basic questions about who is entering our country:
How many Syrian refugees have entered the U.S. in the last year” Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) asked Burriesci.
“Sorry, I didn’t bring any of the refugee numbers with me,” she responded.
Jordon then asked: “Do you know how many Americans have traveled to Syria in the last year?”
“I don’t have that number on me either,” the official responded.
“So you wouldn’t know how many Americans have traveled there and returned?” Jordan pressed.
“I don’t have that number on me,” Burriesci stated.
When asked by Jordan, “How many visa waiver program overstays are there currently in the U.S.,” Burriesci again responded that she does not “have information” on that subject.
The lack of answers led to frustration.
“We’re talking about the refugee issue and the Visa Waiver Program issue and you can’t give us numbers on either program?” Jordan asked.
Rep. Ron DeSantis, the subcommittee’s chairman, exasperated by Burriesci’s lack of knowledge, suggested Burriesci use a lifeline:
“You can’t give us the number of people on expired visas? You have staff? Can they just call DHS so we get it before the hearing is over?” DeSantis asked. “This should not be that difficult.”
Burriesci did not make a call and continued to stumble under further questioning.
An irate Rep. Jordan blasted Burriesci for her lack of knowledge and unpreparedness:
I’ve asked you the number of American’s who’ve traveled to Syria, you don’t know. The number of Americans who may have traveled and returned, you don’t know. The number of Syrian refugees who’ve entered the country in the last year, you don’t know. The number of visa waiver program overstays, you don’t know. The number of visa waiver overstays who may have been to Syria before they came here, you don’t know. And the number of American citizens on the no-fly list and you don’t know. And yet you are the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Screening Coordination, Office of Policy, Department of Homeland Security in front of the oversight committee and you can’t give us one single number to some, I think, pretty basic questions.
Based on Burriesci lack of command over information she was charged to know and to provide to the committee, DeSantis expressed the overall frustrations and concerns of not just the committee, but of the American people as well:
“Islamic jihadists are on the march and 13 people were massacred in San Bernardino, yet DHS seems clueless about what is going on with potential threats to our security,” the lawmaker said. “Congress needs to plug holes in immigration programs ranging from the visa waiver program to the refugee program. The testimony by DHS today gave Americans serious cause for concern about whether our government has a handle on the threats we face.”
I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here when I say that if a senior official and “resident expert” from the DHS is this unable to answer the most basic of questions, and also refers to the K-1 visa as the “K-Y” visa, it’s pretty much guaranteed that someone is, indeed, getting screwed.
(at the 6:17 mark)
–Dana
Good morning.
Dana (86e864) — 12/13/2015 @ 8:34 amCalled “Unplausible Deniability” it is!
Yoda (feee21) — 12/13/2015 @ 8:53 amI blame Obama
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:04 amafraid to call spade a spade
he’s weaksuckerist
https://t.co/YmnMuvUNx1
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:05 amWell, she may not live up to the “expert” part of her job description, but I bet she resides like a champion.
CayleyGraph (353727) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:05 amThey are openly mocking Congress, and Congress is taking it.
Patricia (5fc097) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:09 amwe need to worry less about what sh*theel Islamist nutbags like ISIS will do to us and do much more – including electing a wise and fearless leader – to make THEM fear what we will unleash on THEM.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:10 amRidiculous, absolutely ridiculous.
I’ve never had a job where I would get paid even $1.65/hr for a performance like that….
“Did you clean the bathroom yet?”
Umm, some of it…
“Did you shovel the snow off of the front sidewalk yet?”
Well, there’s not as much snow as there was…”
Obvious incompetence and incompetence in the chain above.
And they don’t understand why Obama is the best thing that ever happened to the firearms industry…
MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:14 amI’m just upset with myself that I did not have the foresight to buy stock in those companies…
MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:17 amFBI counter-terrorism expert John Guandola says “the San Bernardino terrorists attended the Islamic Center of Riverside, which he says is a “a Muslim Brotherhood Center… there are over 2,200 Islamic Centers and mosques in America and the “vast majority of them are a part of this network — they’re hostile.”
…“over 75%” of these centers, based on their property records, are a part of the “Muslim Brotherhood network” since they are “owned by the North American Islamic Trust, which is the bank for the Muslim Brotherhood here.”
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:27 amThis is contempt of Congress and the House really needs to start holding them in civil contempt and jailing them on the spot, under their independent authority.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:34 amSpeaker cheese doodle is not going to hold anyone in civil contempt unless they are a tea-bagger, Kevin M.
mg (31009b) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:01 amI don’t know about you guys, but I have nothing but confidence in the Federal government because that table had 2 women and 2 men. That’s all the proof I needed to protect America!
Dejectedhead (81f962) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:02 amTwo possibilities are most likely. 1.) Department of Homeland Security is trolling Congress. 2.) DHS’s “expert” was just let out of the little padded room they’ve kept her in for 7 years.
I save you the trouble of figuring that out with this little anecdote. Trey: did you finish with the dishes?
Trey: Dishes?
Jack (ff1ca8) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:06 amHonestly, I think it’s a good thing that the government doesn’t know how many Americans have travelled to a particular country in a year. The apparatus needed to know that would be staggeringly invasive.
I mean: if I were to fly to Turkey and then travel overland to Syria, how would the US government *know*? Unless it were actively following me around, or monitoring transit across the Turkish-Syrian border (which I would imagine that not every country bordering Syria would allow it to do).
Now, *estimates*, maybe. But those estimates, like all estimates, should be taken with a grain of salt – and without understanding what the estimates are based on, would be questionable in any event. (Moreover, I’m *really* not convinced that DHS, or any agency, should be discussing *in public* how it goes about making such estimates – as there doesn’t seem to be a good way to do it without implicating intelligence capabilities).
aphrael (6d9217) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:11 am#4: Colonel, Kerry’s right hand articulation is acceptable, but shouldn’t the little pinky on his left hand be raised? Being a great athlete requires attention to all the details, nothing is insignificant if you seek perfection.
Was this taken after he broke his leg bicycling? He looks a little wobbly.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:13 amThese complaints about Ms Burreisci not knowing anything are beside the point. She works for an administration that is transforming America, and the old ways of dealing with problems have been tossed aside, along with all the rest. More specifically, to achieve what Obola wants she simply doesn’t need such trivial details.
But at least she isn’t senile. When Hillary! testified regarding Whitewater and missing evidence that turned up years after it was subpoenaed, the phrase “I don’t recall” was her mantra. Knowing that you don’t know something is better than not being able to remember anything.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:23 amHow is stamping a passport: Aphrael/Turkey, then going to his computer and entering the same “staggeringly invasive”? At least this dopey Dept. of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary for Screening Coordination, Kelli Ann Burriesci, would have some starting point. I question where they find these people. I also question how the hell they name their jobs, it’s ridiculous.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:26 amHonestly, I think it’s a good thing that the government doesn’t know how many Americans have travelled to a particular country in a year.
The libertarian side in me leans in that direction too, certainly when dealing with nosy, intrusive government entities like the IRS, the Department of Education, the EPA, etc. Moreover, intelligence information is only as good as, or only as worthwhile as, the people who are screening that material. When our government is awash in politically-correct nitwits — most of them oozing liberal biases — like those who allowed Nidal Hasan (in the US military, and NOT in an agency like, say, Health and Human Services) to spew anti-US, pro-Sharia rhetoric until it was too late, what in hell is the value of information even when it’s obtained through tricky, high-tech methods?
Mark (f713e4) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:27 amNo body has the right to leave the country, do whatever they please, including treasonous activity, and get back into the country no matter what.
I thought I stood in line at the airport coming back from Jamaica so US officials would know exactly where I had been.
When the world is a safe place, then act like it is a safe place,
MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:58 amWhen there are wars and murders about,
Then act like it.
not helpful.
http://therightscoop.com/trump-says-scalias-remarks-are-racist/
narciso (732bc0) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:58 amsorry for the double post, strikingly we find very little information about where mrs. burriesci, comes from, I say that because there is another official by that name, who has served in dhs,
narciso (732bc0) — 12/13/2015 @ 11:01 amShe said that she had only prepared to answer K-1 visa questions, then couldn’t answer K-1 visa questions. I don’t think she answered any questions.
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 12/13/2015 @ 11:05 amDemocrats… are they around us only for their comedic value? https://t.co/VJSCX4kKjZ
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/13/2015 @ 11:18 amThere was no accusation that the testimony was false?
seeRpea (ecb07d) — 12/13/2015 @ 11:19 amwell there was nothing substantial enough to be considered testimony, it was much like ‘the argument clinic;
narciso (732bc0) — 12/13/2015 @ 11:21 amsorry python is inspiration,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yci3Fa6zDLg
also the ministry of silly walks
narciso (732bc0) — 12/13/2015 @ 12:18 pmKelli Ann dumbass should be pictured I think
Kelli Ann dumbass should be famous
happyfeet (831175) — 12/13/2015 @ 1:06 pmnot exactly the best and brightest, totally ill prepared. will no doubt be given a bonus
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelli-ann-burriesci-20655a3
Peterk (ded1e4) — 12/13/2015 @ 1:10 pmhttp://www.bupipedream.com/news/52744/from-binghamton-to-the-department-of-homeland-security-bu-alumna-shares-her-story/
Peterk (ded1e4) — 12/13/2015 @ 1:11 pmI was going to say this Govt employee is overpaid, but perhaps she answered exactly the way her boss told her to. So yes, definitely a bonus in her future.
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 12/13/2015 @ 5:04 pmthanks Peter K, I think,
narciso (732bc0) — 12/13/2015 @ 5:09 pmPeterK, you’ve convinced me. A CC permit is on my Xmas list.
She didn’t mention unicorns and mermaids. Perhaps they’ll have her back for an extended session.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 12/13/2015 @ 5:36 pmthe fish rots, well you get the point,
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/obama_is_not_who_we_are.html
narciso (732bc0) — 12/13/2015 @ 6:00 pmShe got the job because she knew a guy who she met at a bar….
Roux (012993) — 12/13/2015 @ 8:07 pmthings that make you go hmm:
https://pjmedia.com/blog/deobandi-roots-of-san-bernadino-jihad
narciso (732bc0) — 12/13/2015 @ 8:50 pm@narciso (Deobandi roots San Bernadino jihad)
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/world/asia/in-conservative-pakistani-city-a-saudi-girl-who-stood-out.html
See also:
http://www.geocurrents.info/cultural-geography/deobandi-islam-vs-barelvi-islam-in-south-asia
Sammy Finkrlman (4d9cfa) — 12/13/2015 @ 9:10 pmI’m an EXPERT, and I don’t have THOSE NUMBERS “ON ME”.
Gus (7cc192) — 12/13/2015 @ 10:55 pmThere is a VIOLENT WAR coming. WE…we…. will not take this shit FOREVER.
don’t think she was sent to give answers. she was sent to stall and obfuscate. she should be held in contempt. does Congress not have ANY tools they can use except against baseball players?
SD Harms (c7dded) — 12/14/2015 @ 2:12 amThey funded her job for another two years. They can go and hold their limp weenies as far as she’s concerned.
nk (dbc370) — 12/14/2015 @ 2:43 amWe missed the last Q and A:
“Q: why can’t we fire you?”
A: I know too much.”
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (5e0a82) — 12/14/2015 @ 9:11 amSo, some think it wasn’t ignorance and incompetence,
Just outright disrespect and refusing to cooperate.
I am not sure if that is better or worse,
They need to be fired up the chain of command in either case.
If I am too naive to catch on to their game,
Does that make me look bad or them?
Truly, those of this world are more cunning than those of us who aren’t.
MD in Philly (not in Philly) (deca84) — 12/14/2015 @ 9:35 amK-Y visa? Please tell me that’s a joke.
Rochf (f3fbb0) — 12/14/2015 @ 9:51 amNo a metaphor.
narciso (732bc0) — 12/14/2015 @ 9:55 amIt’s a clue. What did she do to get that job.
Steve57 (50e6a1) — 12/14/2015 @ 1:18 pm