[Senate Hearing 117-147]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 117-147

                 OVERSIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL
                    POLICE FOLLOWING THE JANUARY 6TH
                    ATTACK ON THE CAPITOL, PART III

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                 COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                            JANUARY 5, 2022
                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Rules and Administration
    
    
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                  Available on http://www.govinfo.gov
                  
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                 COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION

                             SECOND SESSION

                  AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota, Chairwoman

DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California         ROY BLUNT, Missouri
CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York         MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
MARK R. WARNER, Virginia             RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama
PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont            TED CRUZ, Texas
ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine            SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West 
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                     Virginia
ALEX PADILLA, California             ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
                                     CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
                                     BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee

                    Elizabeth Peluso, Staff Director
             Rachelle Schroeder, Republican Staff Director


                         C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                              ----------                              
                                                                  Pages

                         Opening Statement of:

Hon. Amy Klobuchar, Chairwoman, a United States Senator from the 
  State of Minnesota.............................................     1
Hon. Roy Blunt, a United States Senator from the State of 
  Missouri.......................................................     4
Hon. Charles Schumer, a United States Senator from the State of 
  New York.......................................................     5
J. Thomas Manger, Chief of Police, United States Capitol Police, 
  Washington, DC.................................................     9

                         Prepared Statement of:

J. Thomas Manger, Chief of Police, United States Capitol Police, 
  Washington, DC.................................................    35

                  Questions Submitted for the Record:

Hon. Amy Klobuchar, Chairwoman, a United States Senator from the 
  State of Minnesota to J. Thomas Manger, Chief of Police, United 
  States Capitol Police, Washington, DC..........................    43

 
OVERSIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL POLICE FOLLOWING THE JANUARY 6TH 
                    ATTACK ON THE CAPITOL, PART III

                              ----------                              


                       WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2022

                               United States Senate
                      Committee on Rules and Administration
                                                     Washington, DC
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:34 a.m., in 
Room 301, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Amy Klobuchar, 
Chairwoman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Klobuchar, Blunt, Schumer, Warner, Leahy, 
King, Merkley, Padilla, Ossoff, Cruz, Capito, and Fischer.

  OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE AMY KLOBUCHAR, CHAIRWOMAN, A 
       UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Well, good morning everyone. I call 
to order this hearing, which is the Rules Committee's third 
oversight hearing of the United States Capitol Police, and the 
fifth Rules Committee hearing addressing these issues following 
the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
    I would like to thank my friend, Ranking Member Blunt, and 
our colleagues for being here today. Thank you, Senator Leahy, 
for being here today. You played a major leadership role in the 
Appropriations Committee, in getting the emergency supplemental 
funding that we needed after January 6th. I especially want to 
thank our witness, Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger, who 
joined the Department nearly six months ago after a lifetime in 
law enforcement and is appearing before our Committee today for 
the first time. We are of course grateful to the men and women 
of the Capitol Police for the work that they do every single 
day.
    Tomorrow marks one year since a violent mob staged an 
insurrection in an attempt to disrupt the peaceful transition 
of power while Congress was gathered to certify the results of 
the 2020 Presidential election. That mob desecrated our 
Capitol, the temple of our democracy, and delayed the counting 
of the electoral votes.
    But thanks to the heroism of the people that work with you, 
Chief, thanks to our brave law enforcement officers, we were 
able to finish our work. I will never forget walking down to 
the House chamber from the Senate floor with my friend, Senator 
Blunt and Vice President Pence. It was 3:30 a.m. and we walked 
through that hallway, broken glass on the sides, spray paint on 
the statues, remembering that just that day earlier we had done 
this joyful walk for what is every four years the peaceful 
transition to power, no matter who wins, Democrat or 
Republican.
    There we were alone in that hallway, with two young women 
holding the mahogany box that had the last remaining electoral 
ballots up to the State of Wyoming. While it was a sorrowful 
day, and you lost officers and we had so many people injured, I 
had this moment of thinking, as we walked down that hallway, in 
the end, because of the bravery of your officers, democracy 
prevailed.
    Many of us remember that insurrection for what it was, an 
attack on our democracy. It was also, as we will talk about 
today, a brutal and prolonged physical attack for the law 
enforcement officers who risked their lives to defend the 
Capitol that day. Tragically, five officers who reported for 
duty have since passed away, including Capitol Police officer 
Brian Sicknick, who died the day after the attack.
    Four other officers died in the days and months that 
followed Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood, DC 
Metropolitan Police officers Jeffrey Smith, Gunther Hashida, 
and Kyle DeFreytag. Of course, we all remember Billy Evans, who 
died in an incident unrelated to this attack. Many more 
suffered physical injuries and even more sustained emotional 
trauma from the events of that day.
    We owe it to the Capitol Police officers who defend the 
Capitol every day to make sure that they have the resources and 
support they need to do their jobs. That is why in the 
immediate aftermath of the attack, this Committee convened a 
series of hearings, Senator Blunt and I on a bipartisan basis 
with every single Member of this Committee involved, Democrat 
and Republican, joined forces with the Homeland Security 
Committee and held these hearings.
    Out of that came a bipartisan report that Senator Blunt and 
Senator Peters and Portman and I authored with findings and 20 
recommendations for agencies across the Federal Government to 
be implemented without delay. As we approach this solemn 
anniversary, today we will hear, I know because I have read 
your testimony, that significant progress has been made to 
implement the recommendations that pertain to the Capitol 
Police, and I thank you and all your officers for that.
    The changes made since January 6th, of course, started at 
the top. We said the Capitol Police Board must appoint a new 
Police Chief and they selected you in July. We also have two 
new Sergeants at Arms. In the Senate, Leader Schumer appointed 
General Karen Gibson, who just finished a term as Board Chair 
and who has worked to put recommendations in place.
    In the House, Speaker Pelosi appointed Gen. William Walker, 
who led the DC National Guard on January 6th, and in fact has 
testified before this Committee in that role. As I note, on 
January 6th, we saw 75 percent of officers on duty forced to 
defend the Capitol in their regular uniforms, in plain clothes. 
In some cases, they had less protective gear than the 
insurrectionists themselves.
    That is why we recommended that the Capitol Police have 
enough officers with appropriate training and equipment. In 
July, as I note, President Biden signed emergency funding 
legislation led in the Senate by Chairman Leahy to deliver 
resources to do exactly that. We also saw the former Police 
Chief that day delayed for over an hour trying to get approval 
to call in the National Guard. In an absurd situation, he was 
trying to reach the Sergeants at Arms in order to follow the 
law, who in fact were trying to defend their own chambers at a 
time when shots had been fired and people had been killed.
    Senator Blunt and I introduced a bill, along with a number 
of other Members of this Committee, including Senators King, 
Wicker, Feinstein, Capito, Merkley, Padilla, and Warner, and it 
was signed into law last month, to make it easier for you Chief 
to call in the National Guard if ever such an emergency 
situation would arise again. We will never forget also the 
haunting words of an officer desperately calling over the radio 
that day in the middle of the insurrection, ``does anyone have 
a plan?'' Does anyone have a plan? The answer, sadly, that day 
was, no.
    We recommended that the Capitol Police produce a 
department-wide operational plan for all large scale events at 
the Capitol, and that is now standard procedure. ``No'' will 
never be the answer again. We also heard how officers on the 
front lines were left without critical information. We said the 
Department needed to take significant action to improve its 
handling of intelligence, and it has worked to ensure 
information is shared with the rank and file officers.
    While there is so much to do, including, as we know, hiring 
multiple additional officers, and I am sure you will be asked 
about that today, as well as making sure the Department is 
equipped to respond to the dramatic increase in threats against 
Members of Congress, which have now exceeded, by your reports 
over 9,000 in the last year, more than we have ever seen, 
double, triple what we have seen completely related to what we 
saw on January 6th, and that, of course, is a challenge for 
your Department to respond to.
    To close, I will note that, while today we will discuss the 
steps that have been taken and the work that lies ahead to 
ensure the security of our nation's Capitol, there must also be 
more done to safeguard the future of our very democracy.
    I continue to support the work of the House Select 
Committee to bring the underlying causes of the insurrection to 
light to hold people accountable for what happened. It is 
crucial as ever, in addition to that, that we pass legislation 
to protect the freedom to vote in the Senate. Because at this 
moment, we are dealing with a slew of laws that have either 
been introduced or passed around the country, major overhauls 
to legislation that make it harder for people to vote.
    It is as if what was not accomplished with bear spray or 
bayonets is now being attempted to be accomplished through laws 
that limit voting on the weekend, laws that limit ballot drop 
boxes to one in a major city, laws that literally disband 
nonpartisan voting boards to be replaced by partisan counting 
of the vote. That is what we are seeing across the country 
right now. It is not the subject of this hearing, but it is 
clearly related to what happened on January 6th.
    With that, we look forward to hearing from you, Chief 
Manger, about the progress you have made and the work still to 
be done. Now I will turn it over to my good friend, Senator Roy 
Blunt, and I thank him again on a bipartisan basis for working 
through, and this entire Committee, what we needed to do to 
make the security recommendations for changes, the funding for 
changes, the legal provisions for changes, as well as the 
respect and dignity that your officers deserved and deserve 
every day. Thank you. Senator Blunt.

   OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE ROY BLUNT, A UNITED STATES 
               SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI

    Senator Blunt. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. I know that 
Senator Schumer is on a tight schedule this morning. Are you 
sure? Well, thank you, Senator Klobuchar. I am glad to be here 
today, and I am glad we have the chance to thank Chief Manger 
for joining us and for the leadership he has already provided 
to the Capitol Police.
    The January 6th attack on the United States Capitol was a 
tragic day for our country. Everyone who took part in that 
attack should be prosecuted based on their actions and plans. 
That process continues and I support it. As we approach today's 
one year anniversary of the attack, it is important we keep the 
Capitol Police officers and those from other responding 
agencies, including the DC Metropolitan Police, who were here 
within minutes and made an incredible difference in the ability 
to respond, along with the National Guard, Federal law 
enforcement, and others who we really need to keep in the front 
of our minds as we have this discussion today with the Chief.
    You know, the United States Capitol is our most iconic 
symbol of democracy. The whole world was watching to see how we 
responded to the attack. These officers were the true heroes of 
January 6th. They defended the Capitol and everyone who works 
here bravely and without hesitation. Thanks to their efforts, 
as Senator Klobuchar just pointed out, we were able to return 
to the Senate and House chambers and finish our work. We were 
able to show the world that when our system is tested, it will 
prevail.
    My colleagues and I are profoundly grateful for the Capitol 
Police's continued dedication to the mission to protect the 
Congress. It is our job to honor their service by doing our 
part to ensure that they are never faced with the circumstances 
they were faced with that day. The Committee has held a number 
of hearings with respect to the events of January 6th.
    This is the fifth of those hearings. Throughout those 
hearings and in our subsequent actions, Chairwoman Klobuchar 
and I are proud of the bipartisan way that we have been able to 
move forward to show that we want to ensure the Capitol Police 
have the resources necessary to protect both the Congress and 
the agency's most valuable asset, the officers themselves. 
Senator Klobuchar and I introduced legislation with many of our 
colleagues on this Committee, which passed both the House and 
Senate by unanimous consent and was signed into law by the 
President on December the 22nd.
    This legislation, the Capitol Police Emergency Assistance 
Act of 2021, provides the Capitol Police Chief with unilateral 
authority to request emergency assistance from the National 
Guard and other Federal law enforcement agencies in 
emergencies. As I previously mentioned, we held a number of 
hearings on this subject and released a bipartisan report with 
Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in June 
2021, which outlines several recommendations based on extensive 
interviews with key decisionmakers, firsthand account from law 
enforcement personnel, and the review of thousands of 
documents.
    We have continued to pursue more information on this issue. 
We have also worked with our colleagues on the Emergency 
Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 to provide the 
Department with additional and necessary funding for salaries, 
overtime pay, trauma support, riot control equipment for all 
officers, and specialized training.
    Certainly, Chairman Leahy's leadership on that piece of 
legislation, along with Senator Shelby, made a big difference 
in quickly responding to what was the immediate need of the 
Department after the increased workload and the stress of what 
happened a year ago. Beyond the work of Congress, the Capitol 
Police have been reviewing operations and looking at necessary 
changes within the Department. We twice heard from the 
Inspector General, including last month as he concluded his 11-
month investigation into the Department's preparations for and 
response to the events of January 6th.
    I appreciate today's opportunity to hear from Chief Manger 
on the security enhancements the Department has made over the 
past year, the work being done to improve officer morale and 
retention, as well as the Chief's observations after six months 
in command, and his goals and visions for the Department moving 
forward. One year after January 6, 2021, we acknowledge that 
there have been--there has been considerable progress, but also 
acknowledge, and I am sure the Chief does from his comments 
today, that much work remains to be done.
    We will continue to work together to ensure the Department 
addresses its critical needs and is positioned to be better 
trained, better equipped, and better prepared in the future. We 
owe that to the front line United States Capitol Police 
officers who protect Members of Congress, congressional 
officers, employees, and visitors to the Capitol every day. We 
also, by the way, owe that to their families.
    Chief Manger, thank you for being here with us today. I 
look forward to hearing from you as you reflect on the changes 
the Department has made over the past year and what work 
remains to be done. Thank you, Chair.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much. Now thank you, 
Senator Schumer. I know you were busy with something else, 
Senator Schumer, but I did mention that your leadership in 
making sure we got a Sergeant at Arms in place who is doing a 
very good job, so thank you for that and thank you for your 
leadership. Senator Schumer.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE CHARLES SCHUMER, A UNITED STATES 
               SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

    Senator Schumer. Well, thank you. Let me thank the Chair of 
the Rules Committee, my good friend Senator Klobuchar, for the 
great work she has done in this regard in making our Capitol 
much safer. Let me thank my friend, the Ranking Member, for his 
bipartisan cooperation on this important issue. I thank you for 
the opportunity to speak right now.
    I also want to thank today's witness, United States Capitol 
Chief of Police Thomas Manger. Two thousand twenty-one was one 
of the hardest years ever for our Capitol Police, but Chief 
Manger has done an outstanding job in his first few months, 
ushering in necessary reforms to the Department. He will be the 
first to say the job is not done. But today the Capitol is a 
whole lot safer than it was a year ago, and I commend him for 
his leadership. I feel safe walking around the halls of this 
hallowed building.
    My colleagues, we are here today because one year ago, the 
men and women of our Capitol Police stood on the front lines of 
the unthinkable in America, a violent assault on the United 
States Capitol instigated by former President Trump and carried 
out by a mob of radicals looking to halt the peaceful transfer 
of power. I remember January 6th as if it were yesterday.
    I have said repeatedly over the last year, my experience 
that day was sort of like Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two 
Cities. ``It was the best of times, it was the worst of 
times.'' The best of times because at 4 a.m. that morning, we 
had learned, those of us on the Democratic side anyway, that 
Senators Warnock and Ossoff had won, and we would come back 
into the majority. I could not sleep, got in my car at 7:30, 
got here at 12:30, got on the floor of the Senate at 1:00 p.m. 
as we began to count the votes.
    I was only on the floor of the Senate for about an hour as 
the putative majority leader not even having given a speech, 
when a police officer in a bulletproof vest and with a 
submachine gun strapped across his waist grabbed me firmly by 
the collar like this--I will never forget that grip. He said, 
Senator, we are in danger. We got to get out of here. He had to 
explain to me what the danger was. I did not know, none of us 
knew at that time. We walked through a hallway, went through a 
door, and this was shown on the video camera that was captured 
and they used it at the impeachment trial. I had not seen it 
until they did it then.
    But they showed me walking briskly with police officer on 
either side down the hall where we go through a door. You do 
not see us for 20 seconds and then we are running out at full 
speed. I was within 30 feet of these nasty insurrectionists. 
Had one of them had a gun, had two of them blocked off the 
door, Lord knows what would have happened. That was quite a 
day, and it was even a tougher day, much tougher for our 
Capitol Hill policemen. They were outnumbered. They were 
underequipped.
    Yet their bravery, their quick thinking, saved many lives 
and prevented a violent riot from becoming something even 
worse. It allowed us, when the four leaders met and decided we 
were going to not let these insurrectionists stop us from going 
forward with the counting of the ballots. It allowed us to come 
back that night at 8 p.m. and actually finish the counting. 
Having the insurrectionists object that day to stop the count 
failed. Today we honor those who stepped up that day and 
especially those whom we have lost in the aftermath. We 
remember them and pray for their families. Now, in the year 
since that attack, as has been mentioned, we have gotten a lot 
done in the Senate to strengthen our Capitol Police to assure, 
from a security standpoint, that the violence of that day never 
happens again.
    Early last year, I put in place a new Sergeant at Arms, 
Lieutenant General Karen Gibson, a wonderfully competent person 
with a great deal of experience on both the organizational side 
as well as on the intelligence side. We installed the first all 
women leadership team in the history of the Senate Sergeant at 
Arms. As a member of the Capitol Police Board, Ms. Gibson led a 
diligent search and helped us find the new Police Chief who 
sits here today. It was so important to me that we had a new 
Police Chief who was competent, experienced, and dedicated. I 
am proud that we have found such an individual in J. Thomas 
Manger.
    Last summer, we did a few other things. We passed a 
critical supplemental funding led by Senator Leahy and Senator 
Shelby, providing tens of millions in overtime pay, funding for 
more police officers, hazard pay and retention bonuses for the 
Capitol Police. Just last month, we passed legislation 
authorizing the Chief to summon the National Guard in future 
emergencies without prior authorization. We all know what we 
went through that day trying to get the National Guard to come 
quickly.
    Thanks to his work, the Chief's work, and the new 
leadership of the Capitol Police, the United States today is 
much safer than it was a year ago, although we are continuing 
to work on that vital job of the safety of this Capitol.
    But let us be clear, let us be very clear, January 6th was 
not a mere--not merely a senseless act of a mob violence that 
sprung up spontaneously. It was an attempt to reverse through 
violent means the outcome of a free and fair election. Make no 
mistake, the root cause of January 6th is still with us today. 
It is the big lie pushed by Donald Trump that is undermining 
faith in our political system and making our democracy, our 
country, less safe. The biggest threat to our Capitol, our 
Capitol Police, and our democracy is the insidious, insidious 
motives stemming from the big lie propagated by the former 
President and many of his Republican allies across the country.
    We can and we will continue to make sure the Capitol is 
safe from a security standpoint, but without addressing the 
root causes of the violence on January 6th, the insurrection 
will not be an aberration. It could well become the norm. Just 
like the Senate has the power to pass legislation supporting 
our Capitol Police force, we have the same power and obligation 
to pass legislation to address these root causes that brought 
the big lie to life. That is what my Senate Democratic 
colleagues and I are focused on and committed to doing here in 
the Rules Committee and among our caucus as a whole, and we 
must act. We must act.
    More than at any point in recent history, threats of 
political violence are on the rise. Election administrators--
basically people who are almost like civil servants just trying 
to count the elections accurately--are facing harassment, even 
death threats, for carrying out their duty. Isn't it a sad day 
in the country when the people who in many situations--and 
nonpartisan in many situations, bipartisan--but are simply 
dedicated to counting the votes fairly are threatened. 
Something is very wrong.
    By one measure, nearly a third of those who count the votes 
say they feel less safe on the job and many, many, many of them 
are quitting because they fear for their safety. What has this 
country come to when that happens, when the wellspring of our 
democracy, the fair, unbiased counting of the votes which has 
been part of our hallmark in this country since we have 
started, which is the root of democracy, when that is--when 
people who do that are threatened with violence, what has come 
of our country? We must act. We must act.
    My colleagues, the threats that I have mentioned are the 
symptoms of an illness festering deep within the bones of our 
democracy. Unless we confront the big lie, unless all of us do 
our part to fortify and strengthen our democracy, the political 
violence of January 6th risks becoming little more than a taste 
of dangers to come. All of us have a role to play to protect 
our democratic system. Everyone from our Capitol Police to the 
voting public, to those of us entrusted to serve in elected 
office.
    Again, just as the Capitol Police have taken the experience 
of January 6th to institute reforms for the future, every 
Member of the United States Senate is called on to do the same, 
to reckon with the lessons of that terrible day, and to take 
action to cure America of the disease of the big lie.
    That means passing legislation to protect our democracy 
from subversion and safeguard the right to vote, including the 
John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to 
Vote Act. In the weeks to come, I look forward to working with 
all my colleagues to achieve this goal.
    For now, let me close again by thanking Chief Manger for 
being here, and for leading his Department in making the 
changes necessary to prepare for the future. Let me thank 
Senator Klobuchar, Senator Blunt, and the Rules Committee for 
their role.
    I know it is not easy work. I know at times it has been met 
with resistance. But I commend you, captain, for keeping your 
eye on the big picture and for doing your part to protect our 
democracy. It is my hope the Senate can follow suit in the near 
future.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Leader Schumer. 
Well said. I will now introduce our witness, Mr. Thomas Manger, 
the Chief of the United States Capitol Police.
    Chief Manger was sworn into his current position on July 
21, 2021. He joined the Department following a distinguished 42 
year career in law enforcement, most recently serving for 15 
years as Chief of Police in Montgomery County, Maryland. During 
that time, he was also elected by his peers across the country 
to serve as the President of the Major City Chiefs Association.
    Earlier in his career, he served as Chief of Police in 
Fairfax County, Virginia, where he rose through the ranks after 
first joining the force following his graduation from the 
University of Maryland. I will now swear in our witness.
    Chief Manger, if you could please stand and raise your 
right hand. Do you swear that the testimony you will give 
before the Committee shall be the truth, the whole truth and 
nothing but the truth, so help you, God?
    Mr. Manger. I do.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you. You can be seated. You are 
now recognized for five minutes.

OPENING STATEMENT OF J. THOMAS MANGER, CHIEF OF POLICE, UNITED 
             STATES CAPITOL POLICE, WASHINGTON, DC

    Mr. Manger. Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, 
distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for providing 
me with the opportunity to speak about the significant 
improvements that we have made following the events of January 
6th, and to speak about the work that remains to be done.
    I want to begin by acknowledging the men and women of the 
Capitol Police who work so tirelessly to fulfill their mission 
of protecting the United States Capitol, the Members of 
Congress, and the legislative process every day. It is my honor 
to work with these women and men who performed so courageously 
a year ago.
    While I am proud of our officers, the events of January 6th 
did expose critical Departmental failures and deficiencies with 
operational planning, intelligence, staffing, training, and 
equipment. I am pleased to report that we have addressed a 
significant portion of the many recommendations issued to the 
Department. In fact, of the more than 100 recommendations 
issued by the Inspector General, we have implemented and are 
addressing over 90 of them. The staff report issued by your 
Committee listed five recommendations directed to the United 
States Capitol Police.
    I can tell you that the Department has implemented or is in 
the process of implementing each one of them. I am prepared to 
discuss many of the recommendations today, but understanding 
the time limitations, I will focus on the improvements that are 
the most impactful and that address the core of the Committee's 
findings and conclusions. I have provided under separate cover 
for inclusion in the official hearing record a more complete 
formal statement that includes a detailed list of all the 
Departments post-January 6th improvements.
    The Committee concluded that an important contributing 
factor to the breach of the Capitol was the lack of a 
department-wide operational plan for the joint session. An 
important first step we took to address that concern was the 
onboarding of a former Secret Service official with extensive 
experience in major event and national special security event 
planning.
    Guided by his expertise, we now take a multi-phased 
approach to our planning--to our planning process, with a focus 
on information gathering, intelligence, asset determination, 
internal coordination, and most importantly, department-wide 
dissemination of all intelligence and critical information 
before all large and high risk events. This also includes the 
creation of the Department's first Critical Incident Response 
Plan, which now allows us to more effectively and more quickly 
obtain assistance from partner agencies.
    In short, a blueprint for operational planning has been 
created and put into place for all future significant events. 
If January 6th taught us anything, it is that preparation 
matters. Immediately after the 6th, the Department focused on 
the need to strengthen our frontline officers, the Civil 
Disturbance Unit, or CDU. For any demonstration that involves 
violence or the potential for violence, the need for a well-
trained and well-equipped CDU is crucial.
    Recognizing the tactical importance of our CDU officers, we 
have developed a plan to elevate their status and incentivize 
them to remain in the unit. The plan entails the creation of 
eight hard platoons. These platoons will be permanent units 
whose members trained together and are deployed together. We 
have done other things as well to strengthen the CDU and make 
it more effective.
    One such measure is the establishment of the Bicycle 
Response Team, which works in coordination with CDU. We can now 
deploy 100 trained and certified bike officers, as well as 
eight trained and certified officials to complement the CDU 
operations. Of course, our first responders cannot do their job 
without the proper equipment. Therefore, we have reviewed all 
CDU equipment and upgraded it extensively to protect our 
officers and enhance our ability for crowd control. Our 
improvements have touched every component of the United States 
Capitol Police Department, but few changes are as dramatic as 
the ones that we have made to the way we gather, analyze, 
share, use, and disseminate intelligence.
    However, improvements to the Department's lead intelligence 
component, the Intelligence and Interagency Coordination 
Division, began before January 6th. The Department recognized 
that the IICD's decentralized structure had created 
informational silos. The continued focus on this has yielded 
significant improvements, including a nationwide search for a 
permanent intelligence director.
    The Department is in the final stages of that process. We 
should have somebody on board in the coming weeks. The 
development of a United States Capitol Police intelligence 
product that is now shared with the intelligence community. The 
issuance of a daily intelligence report distributed to all 
officers and officials within the Department. A biweekly 
classified intelligence briefing. Coordination with 
intelligence and law enforcement partners in advance of large 
or high profile events.
    The realignment of task force officers to enhance 
intelligence sharing and dissemination. The authorization for 
increased staffing. In fact, we have added eight new 
intelligence analysts. We continue to be forward looking in our 
efforts to ensure that the Department has a strong and proven 
intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination program.
    I want to thank the Committee for its ongoing support 
during this process, in particular your support for the Capitol 
Police Emergency Act. I also acknowledge and appreciate the 
support we have received from the Capitol Police Board.
    Today, I am confident that the United States Capitol Police 
Department has made significant progress addressing the 
deficiencies that impacted the Department's response on January 
6th. While more work remains to be done, the men and women of 
the Capitol Police stand ready to fulfill their mission each 
and every day.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Manger was submitted for the 
record.]
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Chief. I want to 
start by asking, do you believe that the Department would be 
better able to defend against the type of threat that we saw a 
year ago today than the Department was back then?
    Mr. Manger. Yes, absolutely.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you. We had a number of 
recommendations. I am not going to go through them all, but I 
know having reviewed your testimony, our staff has spent 
significant time working with your leadership, and that you are 
making progress to implement the recommendations that are 
pertaining to the police department, is that right?
    Mr. Manger. That is correct. Yes.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Okay. As you know, we had the 
Inspector General, and Senator Blunt and I had the Inspector 
General in about a month ago or so, and he also issued more 
than 100 recommendations, which we truly appreciated. He talked 
about the progress that he knew of that you had made at the 
time.
    We have, of course, after that hearing, as is our job, 
encouraged you to work with him and to report back on the 
progress. Can you tell me where you are in responding to this 
and the progress you have made on his recommendations?
    Mr. Manger. Yes. At the time when the Inspector General 
testified, I think we had about 30 of the 103 recommendations 
that were closed, that were implemented, that we had finished. 
At the time, we also had another 60 recommendations that were 
basically in progress. That we had a detailed plan in place, 
but the plan had not been completed.
    In some cases, the plan will not be completed until the 
Fiscal Year 2023 budget is approved. Some of these, it is going 
to take time. But the plans in place, the work is in progress. 
We had basically addressed over 90 of the 103 recommendations. 
We still continue to work on those.
    We have since, I think, closed another five or six of the 
recommendations. We continue to work on all of them. In fact, 
we have--I have assigned an inspector to work full-time for the 
next several months to look at the recommendations that are not 
completed and to see what we need to do to complete them.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you. Thank you.
    Mr. Manger. We have got to--we have got a plan in place to 
address all of them.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. You understand we are very laser 
focused here, Senator Blunt and myself and the rest of our 
Committee, on that accountability given what happened. We 
appreciate that. I am sure we will have the Inspector General 
back next year and we will continue this review.
    Our report found that 75 percent of the officers, 900 of 
1,200 on duty on January 6th, were forced to defend the Capitol 
in their regular uniforms. Many officers could not access riot 
shields because they were actually locked on a bus.
    The emergency funding legislation signed into law in July 
included significant new funding to improve Capitol Police 
officers' equipment and access to equipment. Do the officers 
now have better access to equipment they need to do their jobs? 
This is something individual officers have spoken to me about 
as well.
    Mr. Manger. We have gotten shields for--new shields because 
some of the ones that we have had were past their expiration 
date, and we deploy those shields every day. In fact, I am sure 
that as you walk around the campus, there is times when you 
pass through a door, and you notice that there is a stack of 
shields behind the door. We have got them deployed around the 
campus in case we need them. We have ordered all new equipment 
for our Civil Disturbance Unit officers.
    That equipment, like many things, is impacted by the supply 
chain issues that are going on. We should have that, my hope is 
this month, but certainly in the coming weeks we should have 
that equipment. That will be deployed. But I think the 
important part of your question is that any officer that would 
be deployed as a CDU officer now would have all their 
equipment.
    It might not be new equipment, but they will not come out 
there without everything they need. We have got new equipment 
on order. We are going to--it is upgraded. It is better. We 
will be deploying that as soon as it comes in, and again, 
hopefully in the next few weeks. But we will send no officer 
out to work CDU without all the equipment that they need.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Okay. You mean Civil Disturbance Unit 
there for people watching.
    Mr. Manger. Correct.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. For CDU. No more locked busses where 
they cannot access it? That was an unbelievable story, just 
horrific. They were looking at the equipment and they cannot 
get it.
    Mr. Manger. That would not happen again.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Okay. We all remember, as I noted in 
the opening, the haunting words of the officer, does anyone 
have a plan? As you note, in recent months, the Department has 
made clear progress with respect to operational planning. In 
your testimony, you called this a game changer, the fact that 
you have this department-wide incident assessment plan.
    Can you briefly expand on what has been done to improve 
preparedness for large events? I know you noted you hired 
someone who has key experience with that. Anything else you 
want to add?
    Mr. Manger. We have an incident action plan prepared for 
tomorrow, for the anniversary of January 6th. This is a copy. 
It is 25 pages long. In it, they are--everybody's 
responsibilities are laid out. This information is shared with 
everyone so that a captain who is in charge of one division 
knows exactly what is going on in the other divisions, as well 
as his or her own.
    We are sharing information better. We are assigning 
responsibilities. People know what their responsibilities are, 
and we have backups to each one of the different commanders.
    The blueprint that has been created is, has--we have used 
it many times since the 6th, and we are very confident that it 
gives us everything we need to ensure that the planning that we 
do, the sharing of information, and that everybody on the 
Department understands what their responsibilities are.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. As I noted, Senator Blunt's and my 
legislation, which importantly was co-sponsored by many Members 
of this Committee, gave you, and in general the Capitol Police 
Chief, authority to request assistance from the National Guard 
in an emergency. It was cloudy at best before a very difficult 
procedure. How will this improve your ability to respond to 
potential future emergencies at the Capitol?
    Mr. Manger. Well, clearly it cuts through the red tape and 
allows the Capitol Police Chief to make that call directly. I 
have spoken with the Department of Defense, and in fact, am 
meeting with them later today to make sure that we have the 
process down, so that if the time ever came that we needed to 
make that call, everyone would know what the expectations are 
on both sides of the call.
    That is very helpful. But I will just say this, that my 
hope is that with the other processes planning that we put into 
place, that there is not going to be the need for a panicked 
call for--in an emergency. That those things will be planned 
ahead of time so that the--we will have better coordination in 
advance.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Okay. You know, we all speak to 
officers in the Capitol, and my colleagues--I know they do and 
thank them every single day. One of the things that we know is 
that many of them have had their vacations canceled, they have 
been working significant overtime, and right now we are down 
officers, and this was something that was happening, all across 
the country honestly, but it is something that you are uniquely 
challenged to deal with. I know the Department is more than 400 
officers short. Could you tell us your plans to change that?
    Mr. Manger. I have short term plans and longer term 
strategies as well. I think the important long term strategy is 
that we intend to hire over 280 police officers in this Fiscal 
Year. In a normal year, we would hire less than half of that. 
But because we want to get ahead of attrition, attrition that 
has increased over the last year, we are going to hire 280 
officers this year.
    Our intent is to hire 280 police officers for the next 
three years. That will get us ahead of attrition, and my hope 
is that will get us to where we need to be in terms of 
staffing. Shorter term strategies are to look at hiring--to 
reemploy annuitants, hiring or allowing for lateral transfers, 
lateral hires from other agencies, and then also looking at 
contract security officers that can assist at particular 
locations where we do not really need armed Capitol Police 
officers.
    We are hoping that that would free up officers to be held 
over less frequently to be able to, you know, get their days 
off as they plan, and address some of the staffing issues that 
are really impacting the morale of this Department.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you. Your long term plan, 
though, is to hire actual officers full-time?
    Mr. Manger. That is correct.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Okay, thank you. Last thing, I 
mentioned the threats against Congress. Many people in this 
very room, Committee Members have experienced them, over 9,000 
threats in 2021 alone. That is an astounding number against 500 
some people. I understand that you have hired these additional 
threat assessment agents. What steps are you taking to protect 
Members of Congress and the people that work with them?
    Mr. Manger. To better coordinate--what we are trying to do 
is have better coordination. We can control and we can do a lot 
when Members are on campus. When they go home, when they go 
home to their home districts, we are trying to work with the 
local officers in those jurisdictions to ensure the safety and 
security of staff there, of offices there, and so we can 
provide advice and provide recommendations in terms of how to 
better secure locations, whether offices or homes.
    But we can also work more closely with the local law 
enforcement partners to solicit their help. The biggest 
challenge I think we have is keeping up with the number of 
threats. I mean, we have--we have doubled the number of 
officers that investigate these threats, agents that 
investigate these threats, and if they continue to go up the 
way they have, clearly, we are going to need additional 
officers to assign to this responsibility.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Okay. Thank you, Chief. Senator 
Blunt.
    Senator Blunt. Thank you, Chair. Chief on the issue of 
bringing in contract employees, Officer Papathanasiou has 
suggested that, the union rep, that this would be a problem for 
them. Do you want to talk about how you are going to going to 
deal with that? Obviously, in my view, a bigger problem for 
them is the overwork and the extended stress of being short so 
many officers.
    But tell me how you plan to work with the officers who are 
concerned about bringing in non-sworn officers to do even parts 
of this work?
    Mr. Manger. I have been in discussions with the union about 
this specific issue. They have mentioned a number of concerns 
and our conversations, and our intent is to try and address 
those concerns because I think where we--what we agree on is 
that these officers need some relief, that we need to allow 
these officers to get more time off, to stop being held over on 
their shifts, to stop being forced to work overtime when they 
would rather be home with their families.
    Again, I have talked about the strategies that we have in 
place, but this, the contract security would be a temporary 
solution until we can get more officers hired. My intent is to 
try and address the concerns that the union has with regard to 
where these contract security officers are assigned.
    Senator Blunt. For that program to really work, what kind 
of temporary program would it be? Would you anticipate a multi-
year bid or a 1-year bid with possible extensions? Or what are 
you thinking about as you begin to think about how you look for 
these contract employees?
    Mr. Manger. Look realistically, I think it is going to take 
us at least two to three years to get up to our staffing in 
terms of hiring new officers. Having that as an option to use 
over the next two or three years, I would like to have that 
option.
    Senator Blunt. Just to be sure we are straight on this, 
hiring the officers to get to the officers you currently are 
allowed to have is the problem here as opposed to the Congress 
saying we are going to give you 100 more officers than you are 
currently capped at. That is an unrealistic moment for us to 
think about. Your goal is to fill the slots that you already 
have been allowed to have and you are 400 short--are you 400 
short right now of meeting that number?
    Mr. Manger. Yes, actually 457 short.
    Senator Blunt. 457?
    Mr. Manger. Yes, sir.
    Senator Blunt. If I understood your thought also of hiring 
280 new officers a year for the next three years, understanding 
that other officers will retire and find other opportunities, 
and you--that number sounds about right to me to get up to 
where you need to be. How long is the training process from the 
time you bring an officer into the training environment until 
you have them available for service?
    Mr. Manger. From the time they are hired to the time you 
can actually deploy them by themselves is close to a year.
    Senator Blunt. Close to a year. Hiring people, annuitants 
who have retired but are willing to come back to work is one of 
your thoughts?
    Mr. Manger. That is correct, because you would be hiring 
back someone who has that experience, and they could go back to 
work, day one.
    Senator Blunt. When you hire laterally, would you just try 
to evaluate the level of training that officer already has and 
then determine what additional training is necessary before you 
put them into the line?
    Mr. Manger. Exactly, yes.
    Senator Blunt. Alright. The--I think every police force in 
America, certainly every big police force in America, has a lot 
of that same challenge of just people leaving either the big 
force for a smaller force in some other community, or leaving 
with frustration of this whole idea that somehow defunding the 
police was ever any real option for the country.
    The Inspector General has testified before us that he 
thinks that in his view, restructuring toward the United States 
Capitol Police was more of a protective agency instead of a law 
enforcement agency.
    I am not absolutely sure I know what he means by that, but 
why don't you give us your sense of what after six months on 
the job, what is your vision of what the Capitol Police Force 
would look like two years from now and five years from now, and 
maybe even longer? If you have thought through the way that 
this force should function to best do its job?
    Mr. Manger. Well, thank you for asking that question. 
First, I think that where I agree with the Inspector General is 
the fact that we need to expand and enhance our ability to 
investigate threats against Congress, to provide protection to 
Members against Congress, to our counter surveillance 
activities, to enhance security in the home districts, as I 
have mentioned. In that regard, we need to expand our 
protection capabilities. But we--make no mistake, we continue 
to have to be a police department as well.
    The difference between the United States Capitol and the 
White House or the CIA or, you know, other facilities is that 
we are open to the public. Someone can walk in off the street 
now, not now because of COVID, but someone could walk in off 
the sidewalk, come through the doors and say, I'd just like to 
look around, I want to walk around.
    We deal with the public every day. We deal with 
demonstrations every day. We have to respond to crimes most 
days. We are handling demonstrations. We are making arrests. We 
are staffing posts. We do crowd control, visitor control, 
employee screening, crime prevention, response to calls for 
service, crisis negotiations, all of which are part of being a 
police department. While I agree that we need to expand our 
protection capabilities, I do not think that we can walk too 
far away from our police responsibilities as well because they 
will remain.
    An answer to your question about where I think we need to 
go, one of the ways that I believe that we need to expand our 
protection capabilities is to take this, the work that we do in 
terms of investigating threats, take our intelligence 
responsibilities, and make those investigatory and intelligence 
responsibilities and create a new bureau, have a new Assistant 
Chief, an additional Assistant Chief. You would have, I think 
our dignitary protection and protection responsibilities have 
grown--that continues to grow. The need there, the case--the 
workload has increased.
    Uniformed services will always likely be the largest bureau 
that we have. But looking at intelligence and investigations 
and creating a new bureau with its own Assistant Chief, I 
believe, is the direction that we need to go. This then speaks 
directly to the IG's recommendation that we ought to move 
toward more of a protection focus because that--this would 
allow the Department to do.
    Senator Blunt. Thank you. I have more questions later if we 
have time for a second round. Thank you, Chairwoman.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Blunt. 
Next up virtually is Senator Warner, who is the Chair of the 
Intelligence Committee, who also has played a very important 
role in our responses since January 6th and before then to 
other threats to our Capitol and our democracy. Thank you, 
Senator Warner.
    Senator Warner. Well, thank you, Chair Klobuchar. First of 
all, let me echo what I said at our last hearing. I want to 
thank you and Ranking Member Blunt for the way that you have 
conducted both the initial investigation and how the Rules 
Committee has really stepped up in terms of the assessment of 
making sure we protect the Capitol on an ongoing basis. Thank 
both of you.
    I also want to highlight Chief Manger, at least to see you 
remotely. We had the opportunity to work together when I was 
Governor and you were Chief in Fairfax, and people still talk 
about your operations. We went through, you may recall those 
challenging three weeks plus of the sniper incidents that 
terrorized, frankly, the whole region. But I know you are the 
right person for--at this critical moment and in terms of the 
evolution and direction of the Capitol Police.
    I want to pick up as Chair Klobuchar just indicated and 
Senator Blunts line of questioning about the structure. I know 
you are about to name this new Deputy Chief who will be--take 
on that role of intelligence. Could you expand that a little 
bit? When do you expect to name that individual? Also talk to 
us about, you know, the intelligence functions of the Capitol 
Police.
    Will they be, mostly be feeding intelligence from other 
entities rather than doing their own intelligence work? Would 
you pursue, if there is indication of some kind of organized 
threat, will you pursue that up versus FBI? Talk me through a 
little bit more of the role and structure of this intelligence 
unit.
    Mr. Manger. Yes, sir. The--first we have--you may be aware 
that we did have a Civilian Director of Intelligence on January 
6th. That person left in the weeks following the 6th. We have 
been doing a nationwide search. We are making, going to make a 
final selection in the next couple of weeks, and my hope is 
that we have someone in place shortly thereafter. We have a 
very competent Acting Director in place now.
    I think the changes that we have made in our, the way we 
gather, share, disseminate intelligence, the big--there has 
been a lot of change, but the big thing is how we use 
intelligence. One of the problems, of course, on the 6th was 
that we had information and it was not acted upon.
    Intelligence is the only use that, real intelligence is if 
it is actionable, and you can actually--and it can actually 
help you formulate your plan in terms of how you are going to 
deal with the situation. We have now, which we did not have on 
the 6th, we have our own intelligence analysts, we put eight 
new ones in place in the last few months, that have the same 
training as an FBI analyst, as a Homeland Security analyst.
    We are speaking their language. We are sharing information. 
We have got people embedded in the FBI, embedded with DHS, and 
we have got task force officers on different task forces with 
the FBI. We are actually now plugged in to all the places we 
need to be plugged into. But we are also doing, while we are 
still sharing information and getting information from Homeland 
Security and FBI, we are not just totally dependent on them 
anymore.
    We have our own folks that are also doing research and 
doing our own analysis. Basically, we have--we are, you know, 
staying connected to our partners in the Federal intelligence 
community, but we are not just passive recipients anymore, we 
are active in the intelligence community, and we are active in 
terms of sharing our information and making sure that all the 
information that we get, gets down to our folks, both the 
officials and the officers.
    Senator Warner. Chief, that means you are--but the 
investigatory role is not something that Capitol Police is 
going to take on, that will still be reliant upon the FBI or 
DHS or other partners, right? You may have the analysts, if 
there is an active plot that, the pursuit of those plotters, 
though, would be the FBI, not the Capitol Police, is that 
correct?
    Mr. Manger. For the most part. But I would say this that 
when we get information about threats against Congress, that is 
a priority for us. We will take those cases and we will run 
with them. Occasionally, the FBI helps us with those cases. 
Occasionally, Homeland Security helps us with those cases.
    But they have to prioritize things too. Our priorities are 
always the ones that are threats against Congress. In some 
regard, we do, we in fact are taking the lead role on some of 
these cases if they have to do with threats against Congress.
    Senator Warner. One last question, I know my time has 
expired, but one of the things, I think we have gotten better, 
but we still have room to grow in terms of the intelligence 
community's willingness to share information on a regular 
basis.
    My hope, and can you speak to this for a moment, do you 
have interoperable systems so that you do not have to be 
reliant upon an agency, a partner to kind of brief you in 
person versus at least having some of your agents, analysts at 
a clearance level enough that they can real-time get that 
intelligence that may be being looked at from the FBI or 
against some other agency that may even have a broader reach?
    Mr. Manger. Yes, we do. I mean, we are--we have daily 
intelligence briefings with our partners around the region. As 
I mentioned, we are plugged in to the FBI. We remain plugged 
into Homeland Security. We remain partners with everything that 
MPD is doing and Washington, DC's Homeland Security. We are 
absolutely connected and are speaking the same language and 
sharing information on a daily basis with all those partners.
    Senator Warner. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Senator Blunt. Senator Leahy.
    Senator Leahy. Thank you, Senator Blunt. I want to thank 
you and Chair Klobuchar for the bipartisan way in which you 
have held what is really a very important series of hearings 
about the violent insurrection of January 6th. You know, I have 
enjoyed all these years of working with both of you. Chief, I 
am glad to see you here and I have enjoyed the conversations we 
have had. I think back, I am beginning my 48th year here in the 
Senate, but I look at January 6th of last year, I never 
thought, I never thought I would see a day like that, a violent 
mob driven by the rhetoric and the lives of a disgraceful 
former President of the United States.
    They attacked our seat of Government. They threatened not 
just the lives of the Senators who are here in this room, but 
of congressional staff, of Capitol Hill reporters. Chief 
Manger, you know so well the dedicated law enforcement officers 
are sworn to protect the Capitol, the people who work here, and 
what they face. Because I have served here so long, I have come 
to know most of these officers over the years, dedicated, 
hardworking people. Both in uniform and in plain clothes. In 
fact, one of the officers who died, I first knew him as a 
teenager.
    You know, this hits home. This is a Capitol family here. 
Hundreds of these heroes help to protect the Capitol. Still on 
the ground today, they are vigilant in upholding their oath to 
protect and serve. I certainly see it as President Pro Tempore 
of the Senate, those who protect the Office.
    But some are no longer walking here. The officers of the 
Capitol Police and the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police, who 
gave their lives protecting our lives. They cannot be out of 
our thoughts or our prayers. Their sacrifices should not be 
papered over by those who want to pretend nothing happened.
    Chief, you came out of retirement to take on an immensely 
important job at a really unenviable time, and I praise you for 
doing that. I know that you sit before us as a representative 
of the force you lead, a force that is struggling today with 
morale and with memories of that day and with staffing 
shortages. You have spoken as recently as this weekend about 
the staffing shortages facing the Capitol Police.
    Last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee released a 
legislative branch bill for Fiscal Year 2022 to provide many 
million dollars more. That is pending, and I hope we can 
finally move these appropriations bills forward. Senator Blunt 
has been very helpful on the Republican side in the 
Appropriations Committee and strongly supported the extra $100 
million that we put in the last bill.
    But if Congress fails to reach an agreement to pass the 
Fiscal Year 2022 spending bills, if you are held to last year's 
spending levels, how would this lack of increased funding 
impact the Capitol Police's ability to protect the Capitol?
    Mr. Manger. Senator, it would impact just about everything 
that we are trying to do in terms of making and sustaining 
improvements, especially in the areas of intelligence, threat 
analysis, dignitary protection, and security infrastructure. It 
would--we would have to suspend our health and wellness 
initiatives that we have started.
    But I think the biggest impact would be our inability to 
increase our staffing, which is so critical. All we would be 
able to do is just replace the people that left. We cannot 
survive and continue, we have to increase our staffing, as I 
talked about before. That would be the biggest impact.
    Senator Leahy. I commend both those Republicans and 
Democrats who joined with me last year to get the extra money 
for the Capitol Police, and I hope that we can all come 
together, both parties, to get appropriations bills through 
this year so that you will have the additional funding that we 
have put in there. Tell me how you use some of these additional 
resources, which will, of course, disappear if we get stuck 
with a continued resolution.
    Mr. Manger. First, the retention bonus that we were able to 
provide officers, I think is going to really have a great 
benefit. Over 90 percent of our Department signed an agreement 
to stay for another year, minimum for another year. This will 
definitely slow down the attrition in the upcoming year, so it 
will allow us, hopefully as we hire more.
    The retention bonus was one of the ways that we were, I 
think, were able to use that to help with our staffing issues. 
Hazard pay, anybody that was here on January 6th got hazard 
pay. We got the new CDU equipment.
    Cell phones for every police officer. One of the big issues 
was officers were not getting intelligence information. They 
get intelligence briefings every day on their cell phones and 
operational information every day on their cell phones. There 
are training initiatives that we want to get to.
    Replacing and replenishing equipment that was deployed--you 
know, deployed on the 6th. We have been able to do that as 
well. That money has gone to good use and has really put us in 
a much better position than we were in.
    Senator Leahy. Well, I thank you, Chief. Chair, I thank you 
and in a few minutes I will open the Senator Floor for the day 
in my capacity as President Pro Tempore, but then I am also 
going to be speaking to a lot of Senators this week in both 
parties. Let us get these funding bills through. Certainly, you 
are an example of a Department that needs it. Chair, thank you.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Leahy. 
Again, we all appreciate you and Senator Shelby's work to make 
sure that this Chief and his officers have the resources that 
they need. Thank you so much. Next up, someone who has been 
incredibly active on this Committee, and we appreciate his 
work. Senator Merkley of Oregon. He is here remotely.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank 
you, Chief Manger, for your leadership and efforts to implement 
the recommendations of the Rules Committee and the Homeland 
Security and Government Affairs Committee, as well as 
recommendations from the Inspector General's Office to enhance 
security of our Capitol complex.
    I want to directly thank the men and women of the Capitol 
Police Force for their heroism on January 6th and their service 
and resiliency in the aftermath of that very dark hour. You 
have made a lot of progress in this past year, as this hearing 
is highlighting, and there is challenges to come that are also 
part of this hearing.
    I wanted to just touch on a couple of things. First, I 
wanted to be clear about the number of officers who are 
currently on the force. You had mentioned the numbers were 
short, but how many officers are on the force currently?
    Mr. Manger. I am going to have to get back to you with that 
number, but here is what I will--I can tell you though. Over 
the past year, 153 officers either retired or resigned from the 
Department. We have 175--on any given day, we have 175 officers 
that are on some type of leave. Many of those are out due to 
COVID.
    Basically, we are 400, and I may have said 457--it is 447, 
Senator, short, of where we need to be. I would think that we 
are somewhere between, somewhere around 1,700 that we have, 
between 1,600 and 1,700 that we can actually deploy at a post 
or assign to a responsibility.
    Senator Merkley. Thank you. That really puts it into 
context, both the shortage and also your desire to hire, I 
believe you proposed hiring an additional 280 officers this 
coming year. Do you see, apart from the issue of funding, 
assuming there is adequate funding, is that a feasible 
objective to achieve?
    Mr. Manger. I believe it is. It will be a challenge. There 
is no question. I mean hiring that many officers. The real 
challenge is to make sure that you hire the right officers. 
That we are hiring good quality candidates.
    We have a plan in place to get them trained and so that, 
because that has been the choke point in the past, is actually 
getting them through the training and the national or the 
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. We have got a plan to 
get all the officers through training.
    I think some positive news is that so far we have not had 
difficulty in getting--in recruiting people. We are getting 
plenty of people who are showing interest in wanting to be a 
part of our organization. We are still very selective about who 
we end up hiring. But I do believe it is realistic and we are 
going to do everything we can to, and we have got a plan in 
place to get 280 folks on board.
    Senator Merkley. Right. No, I am glad to hear that. The 
Inspector General and Mr. Bolton made the recommendation that 
all the members should obtain and maintain a security 
clearance. You mentioned that intelligence is coming through to 
the officers on a daily basis.
    Although that may not necessarily mean security clearance 
rated intelligence, but is that is that part--do you feel like 
that that is a recommendation that should be fulfilled, that 
each person obtain a security clearance? If so, do we need to 
have some sort of way to prioritize those security clearances, 
given that the security clearance process is completely 
backlogged right now?
    Mr. Manger. The answer to the second part of your question 
is absolutely yes, we would have to have some method to get 
those done. This is really where it comes down. I believe that 
it certainly has, that recommendation has merit, but I am 
concerned about the fact that I am trying to hire 280 officers. 
If that security clearance process slows that--slows the hiring 
process down, that is a concern to me.
    I do know that there are--we already have many of our 
personnel that have security clearances, and they are--
certainly I can look at assignments and say yes, someone in a 
particular assignment would need a security clearance.
    But I also think that as we hire new officers, not every 
single officer in every assignment would actually need a 
security clearance. While I think long term, I think we can 
look at that, in the short term, I am concerned about it 
holding up the hiring process. Do we really--you know, actually 
focusing on where we need the officers that actually would 
require a security clearance.
    Senator Merkley. Well, no, I absolutely agree. It should 
not be a requirement to get folks on board. But as you get them 
on board and you really need those clearances, please raise to 
us the need to be able to clear the path so that those who need 
those clearances can get them to fulfill the full range of 
their potential contributions to the force. Thank you very 
much.
    Mr. Manger. Thank you.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Merkley 
and Chief. Next up, a very constructive Member of this 
Committee as well, Senator Capito, thank you for being here.
    Senator Capito. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I 
want to thank the Chief on behalf of a grateful recipient of 
the service that you and the United States Capitol Police 
provide on this campus and in our districts in many times to 
look at the security of our own offices in our own homes.
    Sometimes I want to express our deep appreciation and 
gratitude. Thank you, and I hope you will pass that along. I 
read through your statement, and I read a news clip, I guess, 
this morning talking about the scars that are remaining from 
the Capitol Police, from the January 6th incident, a terrible 
incident.
    How is the morale? I mean, how many of your officers have 
actually asked for additional mental health? Do you feel you 
have the capacities for that? I know you have increased that. 
Where is your level of concern right now, a year later?
    Mr. Manger. One of the priorities we had was to make sure 
we had programs in place to deal with not only just the daily 
stress of the job, but folks that were actually, who have gone 
through traumatic incidents, who experienced that trauma. We 
have instituted a robust peer support program.
    We have met--we are in the process of hiring, I think we 
have already actually hired a couple trauma counselors. We have 
got formal programs in place now where, so that officers can 
seek that help. I cannot tell you how many have sought that 
help because it is confidential. Because when they----
    Senator Capito. I was just looking for a general bar. Is 
there a great take up of this or--?
    Mr. Manger. I think that a fair number of officers have 
made them--have availed themselves to these services. I think 
as they hear from other officers how much these programs have 
helped, it may encourage more officers to seek that help as 
well. You know, I am glad you asked about the morale issue. You 
know, morale for someone who has been a cop for over 42 years, 
morale is always--what I have learned is, it is in the eye of 
the beholder.
    You are always going to have cops that, you know, will tell 
you morale is worse than it has ever been. But you have other 
cops that every day they show up, no matter what happens, they 
are happy to be there and love their job. It is really, but 
what it comes down to is, and I think for us is we need, these 
officers need to believe in their hearts that this Department 
cares about them, that what happened on January 6th when the 
Department let them down in so many ways, that the Department 
will take responsibility for fixing those failures and for 
making sure that that never happens again.
    That is going to take time. For some officers, you know, 
they have seen some of the improvements and I think that, you 
know, they appreciate it. But for other officers, perhaps a 
little more cynical, perhaps they are going to wait till the 
first time we are tested again. Are we ready for that test? It 
is one of my responsibilities to make sure we restore that 
confidence, you know, for the officers in the Department.
    Senator Capito. Let me ask you this, a lot of in the 
retrospective that we have done in this Committee and other 
Committees, there were on the intelligence side questions as to 
was social media paid enough attention to, you know, in the run 
up to January the 6th. What adjustments have you made in terms 
of the coordination between you and other agencies in terms of 
the social media monitoring?
    Mr. Manger. This is one of the areas where we are taking 
more responsibility and we can focus on--and we are not trying 
to find, you know, worry about, you know, something that is 
going on in a foreign country. What we are worried about and 
what we are paying attention to is threats against Congress and 
threats against the Capitol. That can be--that is our focus.
    While you have other intelligence community folks that are 
looking at anything and everything, we have got folks in place 
now that are paying attention to those kinds of threats, those 
statements that, you know, cause concern. We have got folks 
that not only are looking at that, that are watching for that, 
but we are also then making sure that if it crosses that line 
in terms of being a crime, you know, what someone says in 
social media, that we follow up on that with an investigation.
    Senator Capito. Is that different? I mean, has that changed 
over the last year? That is a new addition----
    Mr. Manger. Yes, we have got more people that are doing 
that.
    Senator Capito. Yes, good.
    Mr. Manger. Well, I think before the 6th, I am not sure we 
had anybody doing it, but we certainly--but we have got, I 
think, eight or nine people in place now that are doing that 
with more on the horizon. Our biggest challenge right now is 
keeping up with the caseload in terms of the threats against 
Congress, the ones that cross that line where we do have to do 
a criminal investigation.
    Senator Capito. Well, thank you again. I know I did want to 
ask about, I know you have been asked about the 400 openings 
that you have talked about and the recruitment. You know, I 
know that there--probably law enforcement in general, I do not 
know what the female ratio is, but I am sure it is quite low.
    I noticed that too in the Capitol Police, so I am hoping 
that you are making special efforts to diversify the work force 
as you have got this opportunity to hire more people. It is a 
great career, and I am certainly grateful as I stated. Thank 
you so much.
    Mr. Manger. Thank you.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Capito. 
Next up, Senator King, who brings his strong sense of 
independence to this Committee, and we appreciate him as well. 
Senator King. I am going to give Senator King a minute here.
    Senator King. I am sorry. Yes, now I am on.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Good. You are all good.
    Senator King. Okay, thank you. Chief, I hope you will 
convey our appreciation to the men and women of the Capitol 
Police. Whenever I am interacting, my sort of standard comment 
is thanks for looking after us and that we really do appreciate 
it. In the day to day politics, it is hard sometimes for people 
to realize that. Please convey the deep appreciation and thanks 
from all of us that we care about what they do, and we 
appreciate what they do for us.
    A couple of things. You touched on the issue of security 
clearances, and that is a problem throughout the Federal 
Government, although I must say it is better now than it was 
two or three years ago. One of the questions that has plagued 
us is reciprocity.
    Do you have a situation where somebody has a security 
clearance from another Federal agency but then when they come 
to apply to you, they have to start all over again? Or do you 
have a reciprocity arrangement where if they are cleared for 
state or the FBI, they are also cleared for the Capitol Police?
    Mr. Manger. We--if it is done by some either Department of 
Defense or the FBI, typically if it is done by any Federal 
agency, I would think that that would suffice for us.
    Senator King. Okay, well that--I would urge you to look 
into that because it sounds, it does not make much sense, but 
believe it or not, there are plenty of places where that 
reciprocity is not honored, and it really delays the process. 
As you say, you can have a good recruit, but they get 
discouraged by the length of the security clearance process and 
go on and find another opportunity. In this economy, we cannot 
afford to lose good people.
    A couple of other questions and observations. In terms of 
your planning, it seems to me that one of the things that we 
learned on January 6th is there was a lack of pre-planning, in 
other words, a lack of imagination. We have to have people that 
are thinking the unthinkable and saying, okay, what happens if? 
What do we do?
    I hope that is the case. My question is, do you feel that 
we have adequate communication and coordination with other 
agencies that might be important either from an intelligence 
point of view, such as the FBI or the other intelligence 
agencies, or with law enforcement, DC Metropolitan Police, the 
National Guard. Are there--are we working on preexisting 
coordination and communication plans so that we do not have to 
make it up on the fly in the case of an emergency?
    Mr. Manger. The answer to that question is, yes we are. In 
fact, it has become a part of our, the blueprint that we use in 
terms of our pre-planning for these events, to reach out to 
those partner agencies to ensure that we are sharing 
information. That if we plan, we believe that we are going to 
need their help, that we plan for that well ahead of time so 
that we are able to do. We end up doing tabletop exercises.
    We end up getting the commanders over here to show them 
exactly where we need their folks deployed and what 
responsibilities that we are going to give to them. Absolutely, 
that is part of our planning process now.
    Senator King. I hope that extends to the intelligence side 
as well. You mentioned you are developing some of your own 
intelligence capability, but we have, as you know, enormous 
intelligence capabilities throughout the Federal Government. My 
concern is we still tend to have silos. They are excellent 
silos, but they are still silos. I hope that the coordination 
includes pre-event intelligence.
    Mr. Manger. It does. You know, one of the problems that we 
identified shortly after the 6th was the fact that we, even 
internally we had intelligence silos within our organization. 
Those are gone. With the briefings that we have with our 
partners multiple times a week, any silos that existed 
previously certainly do not now.
    Senator King. Final question that I remember we discussed, 
not you and I, but this was discussed in a prior hearing, and 
that is work with the Architect of the Capitol in terms of the 
physical infrastructure and the ability to seal the building 
effectively. Again, we are back to silos.
    I hope that there is a close relationship between your 
Department and the Architect of the Capitol because your job, 
your people's job could be a lot easier if we had Lexan windows 
and metal doors that could easily be closed in the case of an 
emergency.
    Mr. Manger. You know, one of the things that the Architect 
has done is to make sure he is hearing everybody's voice. He 
has brought experts in to do reviews and provide 
recommendations. But he has also ensured that everybody has 
been able to lend their voice to their concerns about physical 
security. I think that that has all been part of his planning 
process.
    Senator King. Great. Well, thank you very much, Chief, and 
thanks again to all of your people for the great work that they 
do on our behalf. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator King. 
Next up, Senator Cruz, thank you for being here.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Madam Chair. Chief, welcome.
    Mr. Manger. Good morning.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you for your service. I want to start 
by thanking the heroic service of the men and women who serve 
alongside you. We are approaching a solemn anniversary this 
week and it is an anniversary of a violent terrorist attack on 
the Capitol, where we saw the men and women of law enforcement 
demonstrate incredible courage, incredible bravery, risk their 
lives to defend the men and women who serve in this Capitol. We 
are grateful for that courage. We appreciate the selfless 
sacrifice of the men and women who keep us safe.
    I will say, my view is that anyone who commits an act of 
violence should be prosecuted. Anyone who assaults a law 
enforcement officer should go to jail for a very long time. I 
think that is a principle that is true regardless of the 
politics of the violent criminal, whether they are right wing, 
left wing, or they got no wings at all. If you assault a cop, 
you ought to go to jail for a long, long time.
    I hope we get some agreement that that should be true 
regardless of the political context that ostensibly and 
purportedly justifies that violence that we will stand with the 
men and women in blue. I thank you for your service. I thank 
the men and women who serve with you for their service.
    Mr. Manger. Thank you.
    Senator Cruz. As we reflect on what happened a year ago, it 
is also worth asking, as we have, as this Committee has, as 
Congress has, as I know you have, what could have been done 
differently, what could have prevented the breach of the 
Capitol, what could have prevented the riot getting as far as 
it did. Let me just start with that question, with the benefit 
of hindsight, what could have been done to better secure the 
Capitol to stop the riot outside and prevent them from 
penetrating as far as they did?
    Mr. Manger. I think that clearly documented intelligence 
failures, there were leadership failures within the Capitol 
Police Department. If--folks, if the intelligence had been 
acted on the way it should have been and we would have had 
enough people here, I think it would have been a different 
story.
    One of the things that we have, one of the changes that we 
put into place is that with a few phone calls, I can get double 
or triple the number of police officers we have--trained, 
equipped police officers--here to assist us in our 
responsibilities to protect the Capitol and protect the Members 
of Congress.
    You know, as--and we will be tested again, Senator. I mean, 
and I do not know who it is going to be or when it is going to 
be, but we will likely be tested again. But what will be 
different is that we will be paying much more attention to the 
information that we gather ahead of time. We will be putting 
together a better plan. We will be getting the help that we 
need, preplanned, here on campus before we need it, not making 
panicked calls later on.
    I say that and not in any way criticize the folks that were 
here on the 6th. They had a very difficult challenge, and I am 
the--I frankly have not been looking behind me, I am looking 
forward about what we need to do to make the changes. But 
clearly, when you look at the recommendations, when you look at 
what happened, we did not have the people, we did not act on 
the intelligence, and we just were not prepared the way we 
should have been.
    That is going to change. That has changed, and the next 
time that we are tested, we will not be making those same 
mistakes.
    Senator Cruz. Well, and let me say, one of the things we 
have seen the last two years is a dramatic increase in threats 
directed at lawmakers, and those threats are bipartisan, 
directed at Republicans and Democrats. The Chairwoman and I 
have discussed this at length. Let me say, the Capitol Police 
does a tremendous job working to deal with those threats and 
working to keep us safe.
    We are grateful for that. The two areas you identified for 
improvement were intelligence gathering and manpower. On the 
manpower side, you talked about the ability to surge additional 
resources. What are the sources of those additional officers to 
surge on the manpower side?
    Then let me ask second, on the intelligence side, what more 
do we need to do on the front end to anticipate the specific 
threats that we need to be ready for?
    Mr. Manger. In terms of surging staffing here, we have got 
Federal partners, we have got state and local partners, we have 
got the National Guard, all of whom we have coordinated with 
since the 6th, all of whom we have sat down and said, okay, 
when we need help, here is how we are going to do it.
    One of the things, and I thank both the Senate and the 
House for passing the supplemental. We have included and there 
was funding so that if we asked for state and local help, and 
at one point for one event we had an additional 400-500 police 
officers, trained Civil Disturbance Unit Police officers here 
to enhance our capability. We were able to offset the expenses 
from those partners so that when we make the request, we are 
going to get a yes. Metropolitan Police Department and Chief 
Contee could not be--we could not find a better partner than 
the MPD.
    I speak with the Chief fairly frequently. Anything that we 
need is again, the answer is yes from MPD. But we know we need 
to talk ahead of time to plan for these things. Which takes me 
to your second question about the intelligence and what we are 
doing on the front end. We did not--prior to the 6th, we were 
not sharing information the way we should be, and we were not 
disseminating it to our own people the way we should be. We--
the only--intelligence is only useful if you act on it.
    When you get intelligence, you need to say, okay, how does 
this impact our operational plan? What are we going to do--we 
have heard this. We have this intelligence. We believe it is 
credible. What are we going to do about it? Those are changes 
that we have made and put into place so that we are sharing it, 
we are acting on it, we are using it, and we are disseminating 
it to our own officers.
    I, you know, we are going to get tested again and, but we 
have put things into place to make sure that we will not be 
impacted by intelligence failures or failure to plan ahead, 
failure to imagine, or failure to have enough people here. 
Those are things that we put into place that I am confident 
that when we are tested again, we are going to be fine.
    Senator Cruz. Thank you, Chief.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Cruz. 
Thanks for the focus on members' security, and we will continue 
to work together on that. Next up is Senator Padilla, such a 
leader on voting rights on this Committee with his past work as 
Secretary of State for the State of California. Thank you, 
Senator Padilla, for being on today.
    Senator Padilla. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. Before I get 
to a couple of questions that I want to prioritize, I want to 
take the opportunity to comment on something that Senator Cruz 
just raised. I mean, I appreciate the fact that he recognized 
last January 6th, I believe he called it riot and referenced 
rioters. I believe it was an insurrection personally. We can 
discuss and debate what the proper terminology is, but even if 
it was just a riot, we saw the results of that incident.
    We saw violent attempts to disrupt Congress, to disrupt the 
process of certifying the election results, and in its part of 
the greater peaceful transfer of power. We saw violence. It was 
deadly violence. We saw attacks and assaults far beyond insults 
and disrespect toward Capitol Police officers.
    If we are in agreement on a bipartisan basis to recognize 
January 6th for what it was, then we should also agree on a 
bipartisan basis to ask some questions. Was it organic and 
spontaneous or was it organized and premeditated? If it was 
organized and premeditated, you are going to have a hard time 
convincing me otherwise that we have to ask the question, who 
was behind it? Who organized, who incited this? We had the 
opportunity to set up an independent, bipartisan commission to 
answer those very questions, but unfortunately, our Republican 
colleagues would not vote to do so.
    Now I and so many people across the country eagerly await 
the results of the Committee that was established in the House, 
a bipartisan committee which seeks to answer some of these 
questions. But let me now transition back to the topic at hand, 
the issues at hand and some of the questions that I was hoping 
to raise. First, in the context of this information, Chief, I 
thank you for your service at this time of this agency and for 
your more than 40 years of work at law enforcement.
    The topic of disinformation has been raised by some of my 
colleagues already in this Committee. I will not repeat them. 
But I do want to highlight one specific question, the role of 
disinformation in the lead up to January 6th is one thing, but 
what has been done since last year's insurrection is another.
    I am referring to the former President of the United States 
and his political allies seeking to whitewash in fact what 
happened. Some floated publicly, claiming that those who 
attacked the Capitol were just, ``peaceful protesters.'' 
Perhaps nobody knows just how false those claims are than the 
women and men of United States Capitol Police who were beaten 
and bloodied defending the people inside this building and, 
yes, defending democracy itself.
    Chief, what do you say to those who continue to perpetuate 
the lie that last January 6th just was not that--excuse me, it 
just was not that bad? What do you say?
    Mr. Manger. We are not concerned about political ideology. 
We are concerned about behavior, we are concerned about people 
that break the law. People who break the law--there are 
extremists on both sides of the spectrum that are breaking the 
law, and we are here to protect the Capitol, protect the 
Members of Congress. That is our mission.
    I would say to anybody that wants to come to this Capitol 
and peacefully demonstrate, we will protect your right to do 
so, but anybody that comes here and decides they want to break 
the law, that we are going to do everything in our power to 
stop you and to ensure that the Capitol and the Members of 
Congress remain safe.
    Senator Padilla. Chief, I did not think I needed a follow 
up question to that, but apparently I do. Do you think what we 
saw in the Capitol last January 6th was just another day, just 
people exercising their constitutional rights, or was it 
unacceptable, fatal violence?
    Mr. Manger. As I watched the events of January 6th, I was 
at the time retired, I was at the time watching it on TV, and I 
was horrified by what I saw. I saw police officers being 
assaulted. That is the reason that I am sitting here today is 
because I wanted to do what I could to help this police 
department and to better protect our Nation and the Capitol and 
what this Capitol represents.
    Senator Padilla. Thank you for that. Clearly we have some 
work to do. One other quick question, Madam Chair. I know my 
time is up. I want to recognize that Senator Capito raised the 
concern of the questions about the mental health of the women 
and men of the United States Capitol Police. I share in that 
and standby ready to support any additional resources or 
support that we can offer. I do have one question about 
physical health.
    We know that businesses, organizations, entities both 
public and private across the country have been impacted by the 
COVID-19 pandemic, whether it is individuals who are not able, 
willing to work because they have not been vaccinated or people 
who are not able to work because they have contracted COVID-19.
    Chief, can you talk about vaccination levels within the 
Department and what steps we are doing to encourage vaccination 
rates for those who are not vaccinated yet?
    Mr. Manger. We are, I think we are over 70 percent of our 
employees are vaccinated. But like every agency that we just 
had a call of law enforcement agencies around the region 
yesterday, we are being hit hard by folks of both vaccinated 
and not vaccinated with this latest variant that are testing 
positive.
    We have got dozens of officers that are out in isolation, 
and we have got dozens of officers that are, have been out long 
term with the impacts of COVID. It has affected our staffing 
levels. Again, with everything else that, all the other 
staffing challenges that we have, COVID is wreaking havoc as 
well.
    Senator Padilla. Well, thank you for your responses, Chief, 
and thank you for your service. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Very good. Thank you, Senator 
Padilla. Senator Blunt, you have a few more questions. Thank 
you.
    Senator Blunt. I do have, Chair. Thank you for the time to 
ask a few more questions. Chief, there have been some concerns 
expressed about individuals and senior leadership jobs in the 
Department. You have been there six months. What are you doing 
to address those concerns among the officers themselves?
    Mr. Manger. Right after the 6th, the Chief of Police 
resigned. Both Sergeant at Arms in the day or two after the 6th 
were gone. In the weeks after that, there were--our Director of 
Intelligence left. Our--we had an Assistant Chief retire, we 
had two assistant--two Deputy Chiefs retire. We had our 
Director of Security Services, the two--two high ranking 
civilian directors in our agency, intelligence and security 
services, left.
    When I got here, if you look at the top level of our 
organization and the top 11 people sworn and civilian in our 
organization, six were gone. I had less than half of the 
leadership positions with the folks that were here on the 6th.
    As soon as I got here, the first thing I--my first order of 
business was to assess my leadership team and assess and look 
at who was here just biding their time, waiting to see what 
happens, and who was here working as hard as I was going to 
work in improving, making the improvements this agency 
required.
    For the past six months, I have made that assessment. I 
made that assessment, you know, in light of discussions with 
the Sergeant at Arms, in light of discussions with past Police 
Chiefs, past Capitol Police Chiefs, I have made it in light of 
the no confidence votes that the union held.
    I took--I considered all that information. But what--the 
bottom line when I assess someone's performance, I look at what 
have they done since the 6th. What have they done to help this 
agency, to improve this agency.
    I have made those assessments, and I know that part of my--
I know the part of my leadership team that is working as hard 
as I am to make the changes that need to be made. I know that 
there are still a lot of people that have differing opinions. I 
still understand that the union stands by its vote of no 
confidence.
    But the fact of the matter is, Senator, that a vote of no 
confidence is not an objective evaluation of someone's 
performance. It has meaning, a vote of no confidence has 
meaning. But I am trying to evaluate people's performance 
objectively in terms of what they are doing to help this 
organization.
    As I move forward, I do think we need, I need to add an 
Assistant Chief to my leadership team for all reasons I talked 
about, that move toward being a more protective agency. As I 
make my decisions about where we are going to be in six weeks, 
six months, six years, I am now at a point where I am ready to 
talk more publicly about what we need, come to the Oversight 
Committees, go to the Capitol Police Board about changes that 
need to be, organizational changes that need to be made. 
Because I cannot make an organizational change without approval 
from Capitol Police Board and this Oversight Committee.
    The time is now to have those discussions, to talk about 
the bigger plan, and understanding that not everybody is going 
to agree with my assessment, not everybody is going to agree 
with the direction that I may want to go, but I am the one 
responsible for this Department, and I am the one responsible 
for the safety and security of this campus.
    The decisions I make are not--I have no predisposed notion 
about anybody. I made these decisions based on the last six 
months of my assessment of my leadership team and my assessment 
of the Department and where we need to go to be in a better 
position to fulfill our mission.
    Senator Blunt. Well, thanks, Chief. I think that is--I am 
very supportive of one, understanding all the vacancies you 
already had when you came to the job, and two, taking that time 
to evaluate not only who you had, but what you needed. I think 
I speak for the Chairwoman of the Committee and certainly I can 
for myself, and we are looking forward to working with you as 
you come up with any reorganizational structure, that as you 
pointed out, this Committee would have to approve.
    But after decades of work as a Chief of Police and after, 
now you are beginning to get in the second six months of your 
work here, beginning to make some of those permanent decisions, 
I think is important and we look forward to working with you on 
those. I think my last question would be, of the unresolved 
recommendations from the IG or from the five big 
recommendations we made in our June report, which do you think 
are the most important to try to resolve as quickly as you can?
    Mr. Manger. The intelligence recommendations, the 
operational planning recommendations, and making sure that we 
have got the CDU situation squared away. Those were the top 
three, I think, priorities.
    Senator Blunt. Good. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Chair.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Thank you very much. I just have one 
or two more questions here, and then we will let you go back to 
your work, Chief. I want to thank you for being here today.
    The first question I have is a pretty straightforward one 
about training. It is one of the things that we identified as 
an issue, the Inspector General in his reports identified the 
need for consistent training, and I have had individual 
officers actually in the last year talk to me about that, what 
kind of training they had had leading into this.
    Some of that includes officers not receiving Civil 
Disturbance Unit, as we say CDU training, since they left the 
academy. Also, the Inspector General raised concerns about 
maintaining up to date certifications for specialized roles 
such as intelligence analysts, K-9 officers, and others. How 
has the Department improved access to and prioritization of 
training, and what are your top priorities for expanding 
training?
    Mr. Manger. With the specific issues that were brought up 
in the recommendation from this Committee's report, those have 
been squared away. We have made sure that we have got those 
certifications in place, and we have got a process in place to 
make sure that that is sustained.
    I could tell you that we have got--I have so many training 
priorities, I mean, you know, during my six months here and the 
assessment I have done, I think ``we need to start doing more 
of this, more training here, more training there''.
    The biggest challenge I have is this staffing problem. You 
cannot do training if you are so short of staffing that you 
cannot pull people off a post to send them to training.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Because you not only have the 
trainers, of course, but then you are pulling people off the 
front lines to have them trained, and so it is kind of a 
chicken and egg. You need to get these people in place.
    Mr. Manger. Exactly. But here is what we have done. We have 
got a--we just are getting four, and they are called VirTra 
machines. It is basically a virtual training program. We are 
going to put a VirTra machine in headquarters. We are going to 
put one up in the Capitol. We are going to put--we are going to 
deploy a couple other of these machines.
    We are going to be able to--we will not have to pull an 
officer off a post all day. We can pull them off for a half 
hour and say, go through this training program, whether it is 
de-escalation, whether it is use of force, whether it is--these 
virtual training implements are great for a number of areas.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Sometimes it is better to do training 
for a shorter period of time anyway instead of sitting there 
all day.
    Mr. Manger. Right, and you can do it without impacting 
staffing. We have got--one of the things I also want to do is 
focus more on leadership training. I do not think that this 
Department, like many Departments, does enough leadership 
training, and I am talking about leadership for first line 
supervisors as well as for commanders.
    I want to make sure that we develop the leaders in this 
organization so that whenever I do leave, that the Sergeant at 
Arms, the Oversight Committees are going--can look at it and 
say, you know, what, we have got three or four or five people 
within that organization that we believe could be the next 
Chief. That is my goal.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Very good. Can you talk briefly, 
about how on January 6th, and I noted this at the beginning, it 
was not only the Capitol Police. There were other law 
enforcement agencies that stepped in. Everyone from the United 
States Marshals Service to the New Jersey State Police, not to 
mention the National Guard, of course, outside of law 
enforcement in Maryland and Virginia and DC.
    Can you talk about the importance of maintaining strong 
relationships with law enforcement partners in the Capitol 
region? I think that is one of the reasons there was so much 
interest in you for this job because you have those 
relationships, and what steps have been taken to improve the 
Department's coordination and mutual aid agreements?
    As a former prosecutor, I had 45 police departments in my 
county and I was very well aware of how some of the smaller 
suburban areas and towns needed those mutual aid agreements and 
needed to pair up with other Departments. But this is, of 
course, a major city to major city. Could you talk about the 
mutual aid agreements?
    Mr. Manger. Yes. If I can hearken back. So often, you know, 
we have folks with so much seniority here. Let me hearken back 
to my younger days when I was a brand new Police Chief in 
Fairfax County and Chuck Ramsey was the brand new Police Chief 
in Washington, DC. It was Chuck Ramsey that said, hey, we have 
a big event coming, can you, Chief Manger, send us 150 trained 
CDU officers to assist with this event.
    He called in regional partners around the Capital Beltway 
and was able to get again 800-900 police officers here to 
supplement what he needed. I am a big believer in using the 
resources that we have in this region and have done it my whole 
career. When I got here, I made those same phone calls to 
people that I have known for a long time who were leading the 
agencies around the Beltway, and I said, can you help? The 
answer was immediately yes.
    We have put in a formalized process to request that 
assistance, and you know, and ensure that we get the help that 
we need. I have got the same relationship with MPD, the same 
relationship with our Federal law enforcement partners, Park 
Police, and the United States Secret Service, and we have that 
relationship with the National Guard.
    All these things have been formalized, put in place, and we 
are talking about it ahead of time, so there is not going to be 
a panicked call, you know, on the day of, it is going to be a 
more orderly planning process for the events that were--that we 
think are going to be challenging to us.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Okay, thank you. Just one last 
question, the FBI and the Department of Justice continue to 
investigate the events of January 6th. This is outside of the 
work, of course, being done in the House, the thorough work, 
and they have brought over 700 criminal cases related to the 
attack. We just heard from Senator Cruz in his support for 
these prosecutions, as well as many others on this Committee.
    Is the Capitol Police continuing to work in coordination 
with the Department of Justice in its investigations and 
prosecutions? Do you agree that it is particularly important to 
hold accountable those who attack Capitol Police officers?
    Mr. Manger. I am a firm believer that the biggest deterrent 
for criminal activity is if people think they are going to face 
consequences for committing a crime. I think that anytime you 
have police officers assaulted and anytime you have a situation 
like we dealt with on January 6th, people do--you know, if they 
committed a crime, they should be prosecuted. We have been 
working closely with the Department of Justice.
    We are working--and this ties into, we have not talked 
about it, but you know, as you know, we have, we are starting 
to have field offices around the country and our relationships 
with the local prosecutors there, and the fact that we will 
have attorneys assigned to those field offices, all that is 
enhancing our reputation with--for prosecution of threats, 
cases, and other cases involving our mission here to protect 
the Capitol.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. Well, thank you very much, Chief. You 
know, we heard today about the progress you have made and most 
importantly, the progress that your officers and what they have 
done here. We wish, I know Senator Blunt and I wish we could 
have them all in front of us to thank them, because we know in 
the end, while you are the Chief, it is individual officers 
that are the ones on the front line making decisions every 
single day about how to handle situations.
    I think that on January 6th last year, they did not have 
the support that they needed, whether it is the equipment, 
whether it was a plan, whether it was a direction on that day, 
and yet they still valiantly did their job. I just want to 
reiterate, while you are a witness today, we see all of them 
before us as well, and we mostly, my memories of them with the 
cuts on their faces, the looks on their faces, trying to get 
Senators to safe locations, trying to assure people that they 
needed to stay where they are and it was going to be okay, and 
doing the work of even clearing that chamber with the help of 
others and other frontline staff people so we could go back and 
finish our job that night.
    This was not just about, you know, bread and butter doing 
your job, this was actually about saving our Republic, and ``it 
is, what to me, makes'' the Capitol Police such an important 
agency and such a unique and special agency for our country. I 
want to thank you. We are going to continue asking you 
questions as this goes along. As you know, I will have you back 
again next year.
    We will continue to work with the Inspector General. I know 
that is not always easy, but it is really important that we 
continue to have that oversight, and we encourage you to 
continue your work in recruiting and retaining officers. That 
appears to be the number one challenge ahead for you and many 
other Chiefs across the country, as well as finding new and 
different ways of using your resources and those around the 
country to protect Members, which we have seen, of course, to 
be under more and more threats.
    We thank you for that as well. With that, Senator Blunt, 
you want to just say a few words here at the end.
    Senator Blunt. Well, thank you, Chair, and thank you for 
having this hearing. I think it is a good opportunity for us to 
talk to the Chief and to think about the great, extraordinary 
bravery and service that the Capitol Police force provided not 
only on January the 6th, but frankly, every single day.
    Again, I want to express my great appreciation to their 
families as well. When they leave to come to work at the 
Capitol, their family has no idea what they are going to face 
that day, and that is the case for law enforcement everywhere, 
but the tempo here is such now that I think it has been a 
particularly challenging time for families as well.
    But Chief, as I said just a moment ago, we look forward to 
continuing to work with you and to talk about your plans for 
reorganization and what we can do to move forward, and 
certainly to do everything we can to encourage you as you try 
to recruit members to get this force back to the level that it 
needs to be for the safety of everybody involved, and 
particularly for the safety of the officers in the job they do. 
Thank you, Chair and thank you, Chief.
    Mr. Manger. Thank you.
    Chairwoman Klobuchar. The record will remain open for one 
week. Thank you again, Chief. We are adjourned. Thank you.
    [Whereupon, at 11:30 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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