[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
GIRLS COUNT ACT OF 2013; NAFTALI FRAENKEL REWARDS FOR JUSTICE ACT OF
2014; EMERGENCY IRON DOME REPLENISHMENT ACT; EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER
PERSISTENT AND CREDIBLE REPORTS OF SYSTEMATIC, STATE-SANCTIONED ORGAN
HARVESTING FROM NON-CONSENTING PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE, IN THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA; AND EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN IRAQ
=======================================================================
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H.R. 3398, H.R. 5041, H.R. 5235, H. Res. 281 and H. Res. 683
__________
JULY 30, 2014
__________
Serial No. 113-200
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
or
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
88-916 WASHINGTON : 2014
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC
area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC
20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania Massachusetts
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
TREY RADEL, Florida--resigned 1/27/ GRACE MENG, New York
14 LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TED S. YOHO, Florida
LUKE MESSER, Indiana--resigned 5/
20/14 noon
SEAN DUFFY, Wisconsin-
added 5/29/14
CURT CLAWSON, Florida--
added 7/9/14
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
MARKUP OF
H.R. 3398, To authorize the Secretary of State and the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development to provide assistance to support the rights of
women and girls in developing countries, and for other purposes 2
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3398 offered by
the Honorable Steve Chabot................................... 10
Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to
H.R. 3398 offered by the Honorable Edward R. Royce, a
Representative in Congress from the State of California, and
chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs....................... 18
H.R. 5041, To require the Secretary of State to offer rewards
totaling up to $5,000,000 for information on the kidnapping and
murder of Naftali Fraenkel, a dual United States-Israeli
citizen, that began on June 12, 2014........................... 19
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 5041 offered by
the Honorable Edward R. Royce, the Honorable Brad Sherman, a
Representative in Congress from the State of California, the
Honorable Michael T. McCaul, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Texas, and the Honorable Eliot L. Engel, a
Representative in Congress from the State of New York........ 21
H.R. 5235, To authorize further assistance to Israel for the Iron
Dome anti-missile defense system............................... 24
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 5235 offered by
the Honorable Eliot L. Engel and the Honorable Edward R.
Royce........................................................ 28
H. Res. 281, Expressing concern over persistent and credible
reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from
non-consenting prisoners of conscience, in the People's
Republic of China, including from large numbers of Falun Gong
practitioners imprisoned for their religious beliefs, and
members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.......... 33
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 281 offered
by the Honorable Edward R. Royce............................. 40
H. Res. 683, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives
on the current situation in Iraq and the urgent need to protect
religious minorities from persecution from the Sunni Islamist
insurgent and terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and
Levant (ISIL) as it expands its control over areas in
northwestern Iraq.............................................. 45
Amendment to H. Res. 683 offered by the Honorable Ted Poe, a
Representative in Congress from the State of Texas........... 49
APPENDIX
Markup notice.................................................... 68
Markup minutes................................................... 69
Markup summary................................................... 71
GIRLS COUNT ACT OF 2013; NAFTALI FRAENKEL REWARDS FOR JUSTICE ACT OF
2014; EMERGENCY IRON DOME REPLENISHMENT ACT; EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER
PERSISTENT AND CREDIBLE REPORTS OF SYSTEMATIC, STATE-SANCTIONED ORGAN
HARVESTING FROM NON-CONSENTING PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE, IN THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA; AND EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IN IRAQ
----------
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2014
House of Representatives,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:12 a.m., in
room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward Royce
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Chairman Royce. The committee will come to order.
We meet today to mark up five measures. And I want to begin
by thanking all of our committee members and staff on both
sides of the aisle for the extensive preparation that went into
today's markup.
We appreciate the long hours, including those subcommittees
that held their own markups.
Without objection, all members may have 5 calendar days to
submit statements for the record.
As all members were previously noticed, we now intend to
consider en bloc five measures and amendments provided to your
offices earlier this week. And so, without objection, the
following items are going to be considered en bloc: H.R. 3398,
the Girls Count Act, with a Chabot Amendment No. 50 in the
nature of a substitute to H.R. 3398; the Manager's Amendment
No. 53 to that amendment; then, we have H.R. 5041, the Naftali
Fraenkel Rewards for Justice Act, along with the Royce,
Sherman, McCaul, Engel Amendment No. 130 in the nature of a
substitute to H.R. 5041; we have H.R. 5235, the Emergency Iron
Dome Replenishment Act with the Engel-Royce Amendment No. 62 in
the nature of a substitute to H.R. 5235; we have House
Resolution 281 expressing concern about forced organ harvesting
in the People's Republic of China, and we have the Manager's
Amendment No. 129 in the nature of a substitute to that House
Resolution 281; we have House Resolution 683, lastly, on the
urgent need to protect religious minorities in Iraq, and we
have the Poe Amendment No. 95 to House Resolution 683.
[The information referred to follows:] H.R.
3398
ANS to H.R. 3398/Chabot
ANS to ANS/Royce deg.
H.R. 5041
>ANS to H.R. 5041
H.R. 5235
>ANS to H.R. 5235
H. Res. 683
Amendment to H. Res. 683
Chairman Royce. And after opening remarks by myself and the
ranking member, I will be glad to recognize any member seeking
recognition to speak on the en bloc items here.
Nearly one-third of children around the world have never
had their births registered, one-third. And this has resulted
in whole populations of children growing up in the shadows, not
formally recognized as members of their society. These children
cannot prove their age, their parentage, their citizenship, and
that, of course, complicates their ability to attend school or
receive health services.
For girls, in particular, a lack of documentation can
undermine existing legal protections against their being
trafficked or made child brides. As they grow up, girls without
an official identify face especially high barriers to education
and to entrepreneurship.
And that is why I want to recommend to all of you that you
take a look at Representative Chabot's work here on House
Resolution 3398. It is called the Girls Count Act. This bill
supports efforts to increase birth registration worldwide by
encouraging the State Department and the USAID to work with
countries on improving their civil registries. The bill also
encourages the development of laws and policies to prevent
discrimination against girls and to improve property and
inheritance rights for women.
I encourage all members to support this good bipartisan
measure.
Next, we consider the Naftali Fraenkel Rewards for Justice
Act of 2014, introduced by Mr. Lamborn and by Mr. Sherman.
On June 12, 2014, three Jewish teens were kidnapped and
murdered by Hamas terrorists. One of the boys, Naftali
Fraenkel, was a dual American citizen. While Israel battles
Hamas rockets from Gaza, Israeli Security Forces are searching
for the perpetrators of these brutal killings.
I have met with a family member of one of these young men.
These killers must be brought to justice and we should be doing
all we can to assist Israeli authorities to ensure that that
happens.
To that end, this legislation endorses the use of the State
Department's Rewards for Justice Program, in consultation with
Israeli authorities, to assist in this case. The Department
considers the program to be a key tool in fighting terrorism
and it could help in this case.
Importantly, this legislation also includes important
language from Mr. McCaul to ensure that the committee is kept
fully informed about developments with the Rewards Program.
Next, I want to thank Ranking Member Engel for his
leadership in authoring H.R. 5235, the Emergency Iron Dome
Replenishment Act. Scores of Israeli civilians were killed in
their country's 2000 conflict with Hezbollah. I remember well
the rockets slamming into Haifa when I was there. I went down
to the Rambam Trauma Hospital. There were 600 victims in that
one hospital alone. This was all a result of the Iranian- and
Syrian-made rockets that the terrorist organizations used to
target Israeli civilians.
Today Hamas is engaged in a similar murderous effort with
its rocket attacks at Israeli communities, again provided by
Iran, but in this case with very little success, thanks to
Israel's Iron Dome Antimissile Defense System. With the Iron
Dome, Israel has reportedly intercepted Hamas' missiles with a
once unthinkable success rate of 90 percent. This has allowed
Israel to safeguard its population centers, its neighborhoods,
its schools, and its hospitals. These are the targets they
attack, not military installations. These rocket attacks--
missile attacks--always come on civilian targets. And that has
saved innocent lives.
Thus, we stand today not in support of continued U.S.
assistance to Israel for the Iron Dome, but with legislation to
ensure that this system is well-supplied and equipped to handle
future threats.
And I want to thank the ranking member again for leading
this important bipartisan bill, which I am proud to cosponsor.
In turning to House Resolution 281, the promotion of human
rights is a task the committee takes very seriously. Regardless
of where the violations occur, it is our solemn duty as members
of this committee to speak up and fight for human dignity and
for respect.
In the People's Republic of China the horrendous practice
of forced organ harvesting continues unabated. We know that
prisoners sentenced to death, regardless of whether they
received a fair trial or not, are forced to sign a piece of
paper that supposedly demonstrates their informed consent. We
also know that the Communist Party of China has undertaken a
severe and brutal crackdown of Chinese citizens whose only
crime is to exercise their natural right to practice religion.
House Resolution 281, authored by Chairman Emeritus Ros-
Lehtinen, condemns the practice of forced organ harvesting in
its entirety and calls on the government of the People's
Republic of China to permit a transparent and independent
investigation of their organ transplant system. The resolution
also encourages the State Department to include greater detail
on forced organ harvesting in its current reporting.
Finally, just as importantly, this resolution encourages
medical professionals to educate their patients about the
dangers of transplant tourism.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute, the Manager's
Amendment here, builds upon the changes made by the Asia-
Pacific Subcommittee. These changes are noncontroversial and
have the support of Falun Gong practitioners.
And I want to thank my colleagues, Mr. Chris Smith and Mr.
Dana Rohrabacher, for your helpful input.
Finally, we turn to House Resolution 663, introduced by Mr.
Vargas from California. This committee and the Terrorism and
Middle East Subcommittees have been very active on the crisis
in Iraq. For months we have sounded the alarm to the
administration over ISIS's increasing strength and threat that
ISIS poses to Iraq, to the region, and to U.S. interests.
Allowing terrorists to grow to military strength has real
deadly consequences, and few are feeling the terror of that
reality more than Christians of Mosul. Mosul Christians have
worshiped in the city for over 1,600 years, but they now have
been given an ISIS ultimatum: Convert or die. Most have fled to
Iraqi Kurdistan where they continue to live in jeopardy.
This resolution reaffirms Americans' commitment to the
universal right of religious freedom for all and urges the U.S.
Department of State and the Kurdish regional government and the
Iraqi Government to protect groups facing such peril under the
current ISIS offensive.
I now would like to go to our ranking member, Mr. Eliot
Engel of New York, for his remarks.
Mr. Engel. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this
important markup. Thank you for the bipartisan collaboration
you have brought to all of these measures and for working with
me on what I consider a vital measure, the Emergency Iron Dome
Replenishment Act.
Since early June, Hamas and other terrorist groups have
launched thousands of rockets against the Israeli civilian
population centers as well as Ben Gurion Airport and the
Israeli nuclear reactor at Dimona. In this time, the Iron Dome
Antimissile Defense System has intercepted 492 rockets. At
$82,000 per interception, Israel has spent more than $40
million in 6 weeks. The Iron Dome is Israeli-developed but
American-financed, and our financing is vital to the safety of
the people in Israel.
The Secretary of Defense recently requested $225 million in
supplemental funding for Iron Dome. The Senate Appropriations
Committee has introduced legislation that fully funds this
request. It is time for the House to do the same. I hope that
this authorization language puts us on the path to meeting
Israel's needs when Israel needs us most.
I support the Royce amendment to this legislation. This
provision focuses on a replenishment strategy for all of
Israel's missile threats, whether they be from Hamas,
Hezbollah, Syria, or Iran. The amendment also adheres to the
recent agreement between the United States and Israel to begin
co-production of the Iron Dome interceptors and other
components.
I, once again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for working with me
on this legislation and urge my colleagues to support it.
Let me next thank Representative Chabot for introducing the
Girls Count Act. Around the world over a third of children
under the age of 5 have no registration of their birth.
You know, it is interesting because I remember my
grandmother, who was born in Europe, telling me that she didn't
have a birth certificate. And when I asked her when her
birthday was, she wasn't quite sure. She said she thought it
was sometime in December.
So, most of these children are girls. Someone who doesn't
exist on paper faces particular vulnerabilities. They often
can't get official documentation and they become easy targets
for child labor, human trafficking, and child marriage.
H.R. 3398 will ramp up efforts to get more children
registered. It authorizes the State Department and USAID to
work with local governments to ensure equal access to
registration programs. Getting children registered at birth
helps get them off to a good start, and I urge my colleagues to
support this bill.
I also support H.R. 5041, the Naftali Fraenkel Rewards for
Justice Act. Naftali Fraenkel was an Israeli-American teenager
who loved basketball, music, and ping pong. He was on his way
home from school when two Hamas terrorists kidnapped and
murdered him and two other Israeli teenagers.
The Israeli Defense Force, partnering with the Palestinian
Security Forces, searched for the teenagers for weeks in
Operation Brother's Keeper. Israeli authorities named two
suspects. Both belonged to Hamas.
We must use every tool we have to find Naftali's murderer.
To this end, this bill would authorize the Secretary of State
to offer and pay a reward to anyone who furnishes information
leading to the arrest or conviction of an individual for their
role in Naftali's kidnapping or murder. Again, Naftali was an
American citizen. So, we have extra special reason to be
concerned about this.
I would like to commend Representatives Lamborn, Sherman,
and McCaul for their work on this important issue.
I also support H. Res. 281, introduced by my friend, Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, and the Royce amendment to that resolution. This
measure shines a light on disturbing allegations that China has
engaged in organ harvesting from prisoners, including Falun
Gong practitioners and ethnic Uighurs.
Forced organ harvesting is an unconscionable violation of
human rights. The targeting of individuals based on their faith
or ethnicity is equally deplorable and must not be tolerated.
In 2012, Chinese authorities committed to ending the
practice of transplanting organs from executed prisoners. Last
year the government announced plans to create a voluntary organ
donor system. But today we have no evidence that China is
living up to its word on either count. I hope the State
Department will continue its good work of reporting on human
rights practices in China, including allegations of organ
harvesting from political prisoners.
And finally, I would like to thank Representative Juan
Vargas for introducing H. Res. 663, expressing the urgent need
to protect religious minorities in Iraq from persecution by
ISIS. Last month the leadership of ISIS announced that the
Christians of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and one of the
world's oldest Christian communities, must convert to Islam,
pay a protection tax, leave, or face execution. Understandably,
most of Mosul's 35,000 Christians are fleeing to territory
controlled by the Kurds.
People of all faiths should be alarmed by this situation in
Iraq. This measure reiterates our commitment to the protection
of religious freedom and calls on the State Department to work
with the international community to help find safe havens for
those trying to escape ISIS. It also calls on Iraq to establish
a special representative for religious minorities. As thousands
suffer under the brutality of ISIS, we need to look for ways to
protect the basic rights and dignity of all Iraqis.
So, Mr. Chairman, thank you again for holding this markup
and for working with us in a bipartisan manner.
Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Engel.
We go now to members seeking recognition. I see Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen, the chairman of the legislation condemning the
practice of forced organ harvesting on the part of the
government of the People's Republic of China. I will recognize
her.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I
would like to thank you and Mr. Engel for bringing forth these
measures today, including the House Resolution 281, which I
introduced last year, calling on China to end its inhumane and
gruesome practice of organ harvesting of prisoners of
conscience, especially the Falun Gong.
The Communist regime in China has been engaged in a violent
and targeted campaign against Falun Gong spiritual
practitioners. These individuals who promote truthfulness,
compassion, and tolerance are being detained in re-education
and labor camps, in detention centers, in prisons, where they
are routinely tortured, abused, and beaten. And then, they are
executed by the regime for their organs in what has to be one
of the most egregious and unimaginable violations of the right
to life.
The United States must do more to end China's wonton human
rights violations and its persecution of Falun Gong and other
religious minorities and prisoners of conscience. This
resolution will raise awareness on the dire situation of human
rights in China, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
I also want to speak briefly on two Israel-related measures
before us today. I was in Israel with my colleague Ted Deutch
when the bodies of three Israeli teens, Eyal, Gilad, and
Naftali, were found riddled with bullets, murdered by members
of Hamas. We attended their funeral and sat Shiva with
Naftali's family, and we told them that the United States
Congress would support Israel in its efforts to bring justice
to the Fraenkel family.
Authorizing funds for the Rewards for Justice Program is a
step in the right direction. We must also help the entire
Israeli nation as it remains under constant threat from Hamas
and others, as we are seeing in Gaza today. And that is why
Ranking Member Engel's bill to authorize more assistance to
Israel for the Iron Dome recognizes the vital need for Israel
to defend itself and protect its citizens against the rockets
of Hamas.
Since Operation Protective Edge began, Hamas has launched
over 2,600 rockets at Israel's population centers, including
Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. But Iron Dome has shielded millions of
innocent Israeli civilians from Hamas' indiscriminate rocket
attacks, and we must continue to support this vital program.
And that is why this measure is so important.
I am also pleased to support two other human rights
measures today, H.R. 3398, authorizing the Secretary of State
and the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development to provide assistance to support the
rights of women and girls in developing countries, and House
Resolution 683, on the need to protect religious minorities in
Iraq from persecution by the terrorist group ISIL.
Women and girls bear the lion's share of many global
problems as poverty, being victims of human trafficking, and
having a lack of access to education. Empowering women and
girls throughout the world to overcome the significant
challenges that they face and to fulfill their potential as
valuable members of society must be a priority for the United
States. When the rights of women and girls are protected,
societies are better off economically and socially, and the
world is better off because of it.
But we must also make the protection of religious
minorities a priority as well. What we have seen in the past
weeks in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, including the
crucifixion of Christians and, most recently, the ultimatum for
Christians to pay taxes, leave, or face death, goes against
every principle we stand for in our beloved country. This is a
calamity that threatens the existence of all Iraq's Christians,
and we must not allow it to continue.
I urge my colleagues to support these measures before us
today, and I thank you again, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member.
Chairman Royce. We go now to Mr. Gerry Connolly of
Virginia.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I simply want to
thank you and Ranking Member Engel for the way in which you
have conducted not only this business meeting, but this
committee. You have brought us together. You have tried to find
common ground. You have carried everything out in a spirit of
civility and bipartisanship, even when we do disagree. I think
that sets a tone and a model for the Congress. I wish every
committee would emulate what we have been able to achieve in
this committee. And I just salute you for the style and tone in
which you have comported yourself and set a standard for all
the rest of us.
I certainly join you and Mr. Engel in support for all of
these resolutions.
And I particularly want to thank my friend Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen for her resolution on China. The persecution of
minorities, Christian minorities, the persecution of indigenous
groups like Falun Gong, and the odious practice of harvesting
organs after summary justice and executions of prisoners'
bodies; I just think is one of the most odious practices of any
country in the world. And I salute Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for her
leadership of this and am delighted to join with her in support
of the legislation.
One final thing, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chabot and I are today
introducing the Crimea Non-Recognition Act. It is a very simple
bill, four paragraphs, but it is Congress directing the U.S.
Government that it must not, cannot recognize in any way,
shape, or form the illegal annexation of Crimea. I am going to
be circulating that bill with Mr. Chabot in a ``Dear
Colleague.'' Any of our colleagues who would like to get on the
bill, just let us know. We will be glad to give you a copy and
put you on.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you.
We go to the chairman of the Asia Subcommittee, Mr. Steve
Chabot of Ohio.
Mr. Chabot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
calling this important markup today.
I would like to, before I get into my remarks on H.R. 3398,
thank Mr. Connolly for his leadership on the Crimean Act. He
came to me on that issue, and he has been the primary driver on
it, and I commend him for that, working on it in a bipartisan
manner.
I also would like to reiterate his comments about the way
you have handled this committee. I know it means a lot more
when it comes from somebody on the other side of the aisle, but
Mr. Connolly is exactly right, which I wouldn't say all the
time. But Foreign Affairs----
Mr. Connolly. It only hurts the first time, Steve.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Chabot. I know. That is a good point.
But on this committee we do have a tendency to agree. I
have seen you on another committee on TV sometimes, and I have
to say I don't necessarily agree with you there. But, in any
event, I do think, Mr. Chairman, that you have gone out of your
way to make this committee actually work. You know, they talk
about Congress being dysfunctional. This committee clearly is
not and I think does work in a bipartisan manner for the best
interests of the country. And I think the American people are
well-served by that, and you are a driving force in that. So,
thank you.
And I am supportive of all the measures before the
committee today. I will just focus for a moment on H.R. 3398,
which a number of other members have already mentioned, the
Girls Count Act of 2013, which I introduced along with 44 of my
colleagues, including about a dozen members on this committee,
bipartisan.
It is estimated that there are 230 million children across
the globe whose births were never recorded. It is particularly
acute in Africa. The lack of a birth certificate restricts the
ability of children from engaging in a number of fundamental
rights which we take for granted here in the United States.
In order to address this issue, H.R. 3398 directs the
Department of State and USAID to provide technical assistance
to develop a birth registry/birth certificate program. Helping
to ensure that every child has a birth certificate will aid in
a host of areas, including, but not limited to, access to
voting rights, land tenure rights, health services, education,
and will help support efforts to thwart human and sex
trafficking, and aid in identifying displaced persons. H.R.
3398 would also aid in international adoption cases.
Despite the fact that almost all countries require some
type of birth registration prior to the government's issuance
of identifying documents, like a birth certificate or driver's
license, nearly one-third of all children under the age of five
worldwide have never had their births registered.
As Chairman Royce already emphasized, for girls, in
particular, this lack of birth registration increases the
barriers they face to receive education, healthcare, and it
increases their vulnerability to trafficking and sexual
exploitation.
The legislation also authorizes the State Department and
USAID to support programs that are designed to protect girls'
legal rights, particularly economic and property rights, and to
build legal and policy frameworks to prevent discrimination
against women and girls and improve property and inheritance
rights.
Mr. Chairman, I support the committee amendment. I thank my
colleagues for broad bipartisan support of the legislation. I
urge an aye vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Chabot.
We go now to Mr. Brad Sherman of California, ranking member
of the Terrorism and Nonproliferation Subcommittee.
Mr. Sherman. Well, first, I want to associate myself with
the comments of the gentleman from Virginia in his lavish
praise and justified praise of our chairman and ranking member.
And I associate myself with that, in the fervent hope that that
will lead them to support my bills as they come before the
committee. [Laughter.]
As to H.R. 4051, the bill introduced by Ted Cruz and
supported by Senator Menendez in the Senate, which passed just
a couple of days ago, and which I introduced in this House, we
do have an amendment in the nature of a substitute. It does
move from requiring and mandating that a reward be given for
information leading to the appropriate treatment of those who
killed an American, Naftali Fraenkel. And so, it does perhaps
give the administration more leeway. But I think we ought to
pass it in this form. It is the form that has the greatest
consensus not only in this room, but also with the
administration. And I am confident that the State Department
will use this authority to seek the conviction of the criminals
in this case.
I support all the bills before us today, though I do want
to bring to the committee's attention one concern I have about
Resolution 281, dealing with China. And that appears on page 3,
most of the way down the page, where it says, ``Whereas,
researcher and journalist Ethan Gutmann estimates that
approximately 65,000 Falun Gong adherents may have been killed
for their organs from 2000 to 2008.'' If there is a general
consensus, we could replace the words ``approximately 65,000''
with the words ``large numbers of.''
And the reason I would suggest that, but I am not going to
put it in a formal amendment, is we have reached out to the
human rights community and we can't find anybody other than
Ethan Gutmann that comes anywhere close to or is willing to
support this 65,000 figure. So, while it is true that that is
the figure given to us by Ethan Gutmann, I think the resolution
would be better if we avoid using a figure that doesn't have
general support in the human rights community.
I have worked with the author on this a bit. And again, I
am not going to offer a formal amendment.
I will yield to the chair.
Chairman Royce. We can probably talk after the markup today
then.
Mr. Sherman. We could do that as well.
Chairman Royce. All right.
Mr. Sherman. I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Sherman.
Other members seeking recognition? We have Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. First of all,
thank you for bringing to the committee a number of very
important pieces of legislation.
I want to thank Chairman Chabot for his bill, the Girls
Count Act of 2014. Documenting the birth of baby girls is
extremely important, having accountability. It does lead to, as
he pointed out, a greater ability for other rights to be
exercised as that girl grows older into a young woman.
While the bill doesn't address it, I continue to be deeply
concerned about the missing daughters worldwide. Some estimates
put it as large as 200 million. Mara Hvistendahl has recently
written a book in which he documented that there are about 164
million girls in Asia who have been killed through sex-
selection abortion; it is 200 million worldwide. And the hope
is for greater documentation or greater affirmation of the girl
child because gender discrimination begins in the womb. So, I
thank him for his very important piece of legislation.
I want to thank Chairman Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen for her very
important bill, H. Res. 281. As the chairwoman has done many
times in the past, as I have done many times in the past with
the human rights subcommittee, 20 years ago we had a hearing on
organ harvesting and Harry Wu brought an individual here who
was a member of the Chinese police, who was smuggled out of
China and told how people were lined up and killed in order to
procure organs--kidneys, whatever the need was, that person was
killed in order to obtain that organ which was, then, sold to
someone else at a very, very high price.
With the Falun Gong, as the chairwoman has pointed out, the
Falun Gong have been targeted in an insidious way to harvest
their organs. They are killed with impunity. And this
resolution I think at long last really puts us on record as
saying clearly and unambiguously this is something that the
likes of Josef Mengele, Dr. Mengele, did during the worst days
of the Nazi regime. So, I want to thank her for that important
one.
Juan Vargas, thank you for your resolution. We know that
Christians are being targeted. ISIL certainly has been
beheading, killing, and maiming Christians, raping Christian
women. It is because they are Christians. It is genocide. And
there has been a failure both on the Bush administration and
now on the part of the Obama administration in speaking out
clearly about this genocide against Christians. And I thank him
for doing his very important resolution.
And finally, on the issue of replenishing the protection of
Israel by way of missiles, let's not forget that just 2 days
ago Khaled Meshaal, leader of Hamas, told Charlie Rose, when
asked, ``Do you want to coexist with the State of Israel?'' the
Hamas leader said in a completely matter-of-fact manner,
``No.'' It is clear that Hamas doesn't want peace. It doesn't
want reconciliation. It does not want coexistence. It wants
only the total demise of Israel.
And let me also remind everybody, and I would encourage
everybody to reread the Hamas Charter, which is filled with
anti-Semitic invective. Article 13--and I just quote this in
pertinent part--
``Initiatives and so-called peaceful solutions and
international conferences are a contradiction to the
principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. There is
no solution to the Palestinian question except through
jihad. Initiatives, proposals, and international
conferences are all a waste of time and vain
endeavors.''
So says Article 13 of the Hamas Charter. So, we are kidding
ourselves if we think there is any possibility or probability
that a negotiation can be engaged in with people who are firing
missiles, digging tunnels, terror tunnels.
And again, this legislation, again put by the ranking
member, clearly says we need to replenish the Iron Dome
capabilities. So, the 500 missiles that have been shot down by
that system, these missiles are not going to stop anytime soon.
I appreciate it, and I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you.
We go now to Mr. Ted Deutch, ranking member on the Middle
East and North Africa Subcommittee, of Florida.
Mr. Deutch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thanks to you and
Ranking Member Engel for once again working in a bipartisan
fashion to bring up these good bills. And I associate myself
with the many comments that have already been made praising
your leadership of this committee and the way in which you
conduct the markups and our hearings.
I offer my support to all of today's measures, and I will
just make some brief comments on a few.
First, I would like to commend my friend, the ranking
member, for his leadership on the Emergency Iron Dome
Replenishment Act. I am proud to cosponsor this critical piece
of legislation that will authorize the administration to
provide additional support for Israel's Iron Dome Missile
Defense System that is saving the lives of tens of thousands of
Israeli civilians every single day.
For the past 23 days, rockets have rained down from Negev
to the Galilee and Eilat and Sderot, in Jerusalem and in Tel
Aviv. Iron Dome has intercepted nearly 90 percent of rockets
before they could strike their intended targets, homes,
schools, airports, hospitals. It doesn't really matter where
they land to the Hamas terrorists who fire them.
The vital partnership between the United States and Israel
on missile defense is the single reason Israeli civilians'
lives aren't lost every single day. And hardly a day goes by
that we don't hear messages of thanks from the Israeli people.
I would also like to thank Chairman Royce and Mr. Sherman
for their work on the Naftali Fraenkel Rewards for Justice Act.
It seeks to hold accountable those responsible for the heinous
murder of an Israeli-American teen.
Chairman Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen and I were in Israel to
mourn with the Fraenkel family at Naftali's funeral and at
their home. This family and the families of Eyal and Gilad
deserve justice for this senseless act of terror.
Finally, I offer my strong support to the resolution
introduced by my friend, Mr. Vargas, expressing the urgent need
to protect religious minorities in Iraq. The Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant's march through Iraq has terrorized
millions, with over 1,000 killed in June alone and nearly 2.8
million Iraqis displaced.
The persecution of Christians in Mosul, including the
violent removal of families from their homes, and the threats
to either pay taxes, convert, or die, has caused thousands to
flee to Kurdish-protected areas. The Christian community in
Iraq has existed and thrived for 2,000 years. Prime Minister
Maliki has condemned the violence against Christians, but he
must do more to protect them.
And this Congress must speak out for religious tolerance
and freedom in every corner of the world.
Again, I would like to thank all my colleagues for their
work on today's measures, and I commend the chairman for
continuing to work in a bipartisan way. And I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank your, Mr. Deutch.
We now go to Mr. Ted Poe, Judge Ted Poe, who is chairman of
the Terrorism and Nonproliferation Subcommittee.
Mr. Poe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like, first, to talk about the persecution of
religious minorities bill. I want to also commend Mr. Vargas
for this legislation.
In Iraq, especially where ISIL is, it is open season on
Christians. Christians are being murdered, threatened, and
persecuted by this radical terrorist organization. The world
needs to be aware that persecution of Christians occurs in many
places, but right now it is occurring in Iraq.
And I also want to thank the chairman for his support of my
amendment in this legislation that takes out the phrase ``Prime
Minister Maliki's government,'' takes his name out. It
shouldn't be his government. He has got to go. So, that
amendment will just say ``the Iraqi Government,'' instead of
``Prime Minister Maliki's government.''
I also want to comment on the legislation by the chairman
and the ranking member regarding Iron Dome. I was in Israel
last year. I saw the operation of one of those batteries of
Iron Dome. It needs to be clear to Americans and the rest of
the world that the Iron Dome is a defensive missile system. A
defensive missile system that shoots down rockets that come
into Israel, Iranian rockets that come from Gaza shot by Hamas.
It is not an offensive weapons system. They are trying to
defend their homeland from this terrorist organization, and
Iron Dome works. We need to support them, not with just more
materials, but verbally and politically, and let the world know
the United States stands by Israel's right of self-defense.
Hamas wants to destroy Jews, wants to destroy Israel. That
is why they are attacking them. And every time there is a
ceasefire by so-called world leaders, Hamas reloads. They get
more missiles from Iran, and then they are ready for the next
round of missiles to be fired into Israel.
Hamas needs to be defeated. They are not a country. They
are a bunch of thugs and terrorists who want to eliminate the
Jews in Israel. They should be recognized as such. And they are
a foreign terrorist organization. We need to deal with them
accordingly.
So, I commend the Israelis for defending their country
because it is the absolute right of every nation to be left
alone. And that is all the Israelis want to do, is be left
alone. Whether it is Hamas or whether it is Hezbollah or
anybody else, we should support them materially, politically,
and verbally for doing what any country ought to do, is to
protect their people from criminals and terrorists.
And I will yield back with that, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Royce. Mr. David Cicilline of Rhode Island.
Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to begin by
thanking you and Ranking Member Engel for your continued
commitment to working across the aisle and for marking up
legislation before we recess for a month on these important
subjects.
I am particularly glad to see forward momentum on a number
of important bills, such as House Res. 281, expressing concern
over persistent and credible reports of systemic, state-
sanctioned organ harvesting; H.R. 3398, the Girls Count Act,
and all of the other bills that we are considering today.
In particular, I want to thank the chairman and the ranking
member for bringing before this committee the Emergency Iron
Dome Replenishment Act. Like so many, I am deeply troubled by
the ongoing violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories
and strongly condemn Hamas' use of rockets against the State of
Israel and its despicable use of civilians, including women and
children, as human shields to protect their military assets. My
thoughts and prayers are with all the innocent civilians who
live in danger as long as this conflict continues.
There is no question that Israel has a right to defend
itself against any attack on its sovereignty and its people.
One of the reasons why Israel has been able to keep its
civilian death count comparatively low is due to the
effectiveness of the Iron Dome Antimissile Defense System,
which intercepts dangerous rockets headed for Israeli
population centers.
Up until this point, the United States has provided over
$700 million in foreign aid to Israel to support the Iron Dome.
We have had the opportunity to see video of the Iron Dome at
work, intercepting rockets midair.
Since the beginning of the escalation of violence in June,
Iron Dome has intercepted about 500 rockets, approximately 90
percent of those rockets classified as threats. And the cost of
these interceptions is very high, approximately $82,000.
United States Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel supports
Israel's request for $225 million in supplemental funding for
Iron Dome. And I am very proud that this committee is about to
put some additional pressure on the appropriators to fund this
lifesaving program. At the same time, I think we should use
this opportunity to recognize that it has become even clearer
than ever before that the United States has a vested interest
in supporting a swift resolution to this crisis. Violence and
revenge are never the answer and will only serve to undermine
efforts to advance peace and security in the region.
And I thank you, Mr. Chairman. With that, I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Cicilline.
We now go to Mr. Cotton of Arkansas.
Mr. Cotton. I want to speak in support of the Emergency
Iron Dome Replenishment Act on behalf of two groups, Arkansans
and America's troops. Arkansans living in places like El
Dorado, Texarkana, Mena, and Huntsville would demand a system
like Iron Dome if they were being attacked by Islamic
terrorists across the borders of the State of Arkansas or
invaded through tunnels coming into the State of Arkansas. They
would demand that kind of swift action.
They would also regret, as we all regret, civilian
casualties, as we see today in Gaza. But we should all make no
mistake that there is one party responsible for every single
civilian casualty, and that is Hamas.
Hamas commits double war crimes every day it attacks. It
attacks Israeli civilians with indiscriminate rocket, missile,
and mortar fire. And second, it sites its missiles and rockets
and mortars at mosques and churches and synagogues and
hospitals and schools.
Hamas is not a country. It is not a legitimate negotiating
partner. It is a terrorist organization that must be destroyed.
And if world leaders want to stop civilian casualties, they
would support Israel and its operation in Gaza, or perhaps they
would fly to Damascus and demand that Bashar al-Assad stop his
genocide. Or maybe fly to Baghdad and demand action to stop the
cleansing of Christians out of Mosul. Or perhaps maybe fly to
Moscow where Vladimir Putin is supplying thugs that are
shooting civilian airliners out of the sky.
Second, I want to thank or I want to support the Iron Dome
Act on behalf of America's troops. In 2006, I was deployed with
the 101st Airborne at Camp Falcon in Iraq. We took regular
mortar and missile fire into our base. Unfortunately, there was
little in the way of a defense against that fire. Our defense,
jokingly, was big base, little bullet.
One day American troops are going to face that same kind of
fire coming into bases, and the Iron Dome will be there to save
them. For that, we should all be proud of and supportive of
this bill, and we should be thankful to our Israeli partners.
Chairman Royce. We go now to Mr. Juan Vargas of California.
Mr. Vargas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, too, want to add my
voice to those that have commented how this committee, Mr.
Chairman, is led by you and Ranking Member Engel in a
bipartisan way for the betterment of our country and our allies
around the world.
In particular, I want to thank you for bringing forth House
Resolution 663 for a vote, and to thank my colleagues who have
commented positively on this resolution. I introduced this
resolution out of a deep concern for the plight of religious
minorities in Iraq as the Sunni Islamist terrorist group ISIS
began to expand its control of northwestern Iraq.
In particular, after the fall of Mosul and the Nineveh
plain region to these insurgents, the Iraqi Christian community
began facing harassment, persecution, and displacement from
their homes. The Iraqi Christian community has a long and rich
history in the region, dating back thousands of years. And to
lose their homeland during this humanitarian crisis would be a
grave injustice. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, over 50
percent of Iraq's Christians have fled their historical
homeland.
I have been in contact with leaders in the Chaldean-
American community who have shared many disturbing stories of
targeted persecution against their friends and loved ones back
in Iraq. After ISIS established its control over northwestern
Iraq and declared a caliphate, these Islamic terrorists warned
Christians living under its jurisdiction to either convert to
Islam, pay an outrageous religious tax, or be executed.
Since this declaration, over 10,000 Iraqi Christians have
packed their belongings and fled to neighboring communities in
Kurdistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. The last 1500 families
to leave were robbed at an ISIS checkpoint, and there are
reports that there are no more Christians living in Mosul and
certainly no more masses. This mass exodus represents the
largest forced displacement in the Middle East since the
Armenian genocide in Turkey about 100 years ago.
We cannot be silent in the fact of this horrific crime
against humanity, and I truly commend this committee for
shedding a light on this important topic.
This type of barbaric behavior is nothing new to ISIS. In
Syria they burn churches and kidnap bishops in the Christian
city of Maaloula. Their brutal intolerance is also a break from
a long tradition of the Muslim/Christian coexistence of the
region.
ISIS has also set its targets on other religious
minorities, Shiites and unsupported Sunnis. I strongly believe
we must provide immediate protection and humanitarian
assistance throughout the Nineveh plain to Iraq civilians
fleeing this persecution.
I also want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and express my
strong support for all the legislation presented today,
especially the Iron Dome Replacement Act, which authorizes
additional assistance to Israel for their Iron Dome Antimissile
Defense System. I stand unequivocally with Israel as it defends
its citizens from an onslaught of over 2,000 unprovoked rockets
from Gaza since June 12th, 2014. While the Iron Dome is used to
protect innocent Israel citizens from indiscriminate rocket
fire, Hamas continues to cowardly use Palestinian civilians as
human shields in order to protect their military arsenal.
The atrocities occurring under Hamas are a clear violation
of international humanitarian law and must be condemned by all
nations. Thus, in light of the realities on the ground and
Hamas' unwillingness to accept peace, I fully support Israel's
ongoing operation to destroy Hamas' terror infrastructure. With
the Iron Dome intercepting over 400 rockets in the last 6
weeks, I fully support the supplemental funding before us today
that will further enable these capabilities. Israel remains our
stalwart ally in the region, and we must support their efforts
to protect their civilians.
I thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Vargas. And again, we thank
you. We want to express our appreciation for your authorship of
the Iraqi religious minority resolution here.
If I could exercise the chairman's prerogative and make a
very brief announcement here? I usually don't announce events
for members, but tomorrow we have a very important briefing.
Many on this committee have been focused on the human rights
disaster in Syria. Tomorrow we will have a truly exceptional
briefing in this room with a Syrian defector who has taken tens
of thousands of photos of the catalogued corpses of tortured
Syrian political prisoners.
And ``Caesar'' will testify in anonymity, in fear of Syrian
authorities, but he will deliver a powerful message that what
is happening in Syria is an unmitigated humanitarian disaster.
He wanted to come and tell this story and he brings his photos.
And I hope all members can attend.
Thank you.
And we go now to Mr. Schneider of Illinois.
Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for bringing us
here today. But, also, let me associate myself with the
previous remarks of many of my colleagues, thanking you,
thanking the ranking member, for how this committee has
conducted its business. And not just the two of you; I think
all of the members of the committee have shown the ability to
work together in a bipartisan way, making sure that we, as a
committee, as a Congress, protect human interests around the
globe, making sure we work toward better human rights and a
more just world. So, it is an honor to serve with you, but this
has been an example, I hope, for the rest of the Congress of
how a committee can work.
I am honored and proud to support all of the measures
before us today. I commend Mr. Chabot for the Girls Count Act.
As Mr. Engel said earlier, I know my grandmother, who came when
she was five from Kiev, her birthday was marked by its
association with Passover, but Passover moves on the calendar.
So, we never knew her exact birthday. Giving young women or
women around the world that identity is crucial.
I also want to commend Mr. Sherman for the Naftali Fraenkel
Rewards for Justice Act. I think it is crucial that we bring
the perpetrators of that heinous crime to justice, and as soon
as possible.
Let me touch a little more deeply on the Iron Dome
Replenishment Act. I had the privilege last year to visit
Israel and visit the Iron Dome, meet with many of the officers,
commanders in charge of the batteries.
Sitting at lunch with them, I was next to an officer who
shared a story, how he was a relatively-new father, and before
Iron Dome, he sat during an air raid alert in a bomb shelter
holding his newborn son to his chest and thinking of the threat
and concerns, not just for his son, but for Israelis throughout
the country.
A couple of years later, he was able to join the troops
that are manning the Iron Dome System, a system that was
created in Israel but developed with U.S. financial support,
and wouldn't be possible without our support. And he told how,
in 2012, being in charge of an Iron Dome battery, how the
difference in feeling, protecting his son, but knowing he was
also protecting all Israelis throughout the country from the
ongoing assault of rockets from Gaza.
Since Israel unilaterally and completely withdrew from Gaza
in 2005, 10,000 rockets have been fired indiscriminately at
civilian targets inside Israel. Since just July 2008, over
2,000 rockets have been fired at Israel. Air raid sirens ring
out on average every 10 minutes, causing concern, causing
worry, causing unnecessary and unremitting stress.
Hamas is not shooting at military targets. Hamas is aiming
directly at civilians, at homes, at schools, at hospitals.
Hamas is acting in violation of international law by targeting
civilians in Israel, but also by using civilians in Gaza as
human shields to protect their rockets.
The world needs to speak out. I am pleased to be joined in
a letter to the UN by over 100 of my colleagues calling for
those rockets, those stockpiles of rockets to be eliminated in
Gaza.
But, until they are eliminated, Iron Dome is shielding
Israelis by reducing the impact of rockets and saving lives not
just in Israel, but in Gaza, by allowing Israel to carefully
and selectively target, knowing that their citizens are
protected by the Iron Dome. I strongly support and am pleased
to be a cosponsor of the bill making sure that the United
States continues to fund this crucial weapon system, protection
system.
I would also like to speak directly to my good friend Juan
Vargas and thank him for introducing the bill protecting
religious minorities in Iraq. Mosul at its peak not too long
ago had 60,000 Christians. It was a vibrant community. It was
an important community.
To hear today that there are no longer any Christians
living in Mosul, as the world sits quietly by, is simply
unacceptable. Religious minorities everywhere in the world must
be protected. I am proud that this body today is standing up
and speaking out in a strong voice, protecting religious
minorities and, again, declaring our support for people around
the world, and working to make this a better place.
And with that, I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you.
We go to Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida.
Ms. Frankel. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, I wanted to say that I support all the bills and
resolutions before us today. And I, like my colleagues, thank
the chair, the ranking member, for your bipartisan efforts,
and, also, my colleagues for their bipartisan efforts.
As to the terror attacks by Hamas on Israel, the Iron Dome
will go a long way to help. With that said, Israel's defense
must be more than the Iron Dome. And I would like to add a
comment in this regard, Mr. Chair.
The situation in Israel and Gaza is tragic and sorrowful,
too many innocent men, women, and children on both sides of the
border dying and suffering because of the terrorist actions of
Hamas. I know that a permanent ceasefire is what decent, humane
people would eventually hope for, but it cannot be
unconditional. We cannot ask Israel to cease fire while Hamas
maintains its infrastructure of destruction.
And for that reason, Mr. Chair, I want to reaffirm my
support and join my colleagues' support for Israel's right to
defend its citizens, not only from the rocket attacks, but also
from Hamas' tunnels of terror. No nation would accept the
perpetual threat of terrorist launching attacks and kidnappings
from underground tunnels.
Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge of the
Israeli Defense Force, they have identified 32 sophisticated
underground attack tunnels, each with multiple shafts and
openings. The tunnels were built by Hamas for the sole purpose
of infiltrating Israel in order to murder and kidnap Israeli
civilians and soldiers.
Last week 10 Hamas thugmen emerged from a tunnel near
Israel's Kibbutz near Ahm and killed four Israeli soldiers
before they were killed themselves and returned fire. Hamas
militants have infiltrated Israel six times this month through
hidden tunnels. Officials have reported that tunnels are
stocked with tranquilizers, handcuffs, syringes, ropes, and
other materials used for abductions. The tunnels also hold vast
quantities of explosives and other military equipment meant to
be used in mass casualty attacks.
It is shocking to learn that Hamas has spent upwards of
$100 million on these tunnels at the expense of Palestinians in
Gaza. The Hamas leadership cares more about killing Israelis
than it does about helping Palestinians.
Construction materials delivered by Israel, meant for
Palestinian civilians, have been systematically diverted by
Hamas. Since the beginning of 2014 alone, more than 4,000
trucks carrying 181,000 tons of gravel, iron, cement, wood, and
other supplies have passed through Israel's Kerem Shalom
crossing in Gaza. Yet, instead of building schools, clinics,
and homes, Hamas has used much of the material to build tunnels
aimed at annihilating Israel.
And as I have said before, and I have heard my colleagues
say today, Hamas is to blame for the violence in the Gaza and
Israel, and they must be stopped.
I thank you, Mr. Chair, and I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you, Ms. Frankel.
Any other members seeking recognition?
[No response.]
Hearing no further requests for recognition, the question
occurs on the items considered en bloc.
Those in favor say aye.
Those opposed no.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the
measures considered en bloc, H.R. 3398, H.R. 5041, H.R. 5235,
House Resolution 281, and House Resolution 683, are agreed to
as amended.
Without objection, each of the measures as amended is
ordered favorably reported as a single amendment in the nature
of a substitute. Staff is directed to make any technical and
conforming changes.
And that concludes our business for today.
And I want to thank our ranking member, Mr. Engel, and all
of our committee members for their contributions and assistance
on these markups.
This committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:15 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Material Submitted for the Record