[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
VARIOUS MEASURES
=======================================================================
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H.R. 2901, H.R. 5206, H.R. 5241, H.R. 5656,
H.R. 5685, H.R. 5710, H. Res. 714 and H. Res. 758
__________
NOVEMBER 20, 2014
__________
Serial No. 113-225
__________
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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
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia GRACE MENG, New York
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
TED S. YOHO, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
SEAN DUFFY, Wisconsin JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
CURT CLAWSON, Florida
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
MARKUP OF
H.R. 2901, To strengthen implementation of the Senator Paul Simon
Water for the Poor Act of 2005 by improving the capacity of the
United States Government to implement, leverage, and monitor
and evaluate programs to provide first-time or improved access
to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to the world's
poorest on an equitable and sustainable basis, and for other
purposes....................................................... 2
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2901 offered by
the Honorable Ted Poe, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas............................................... 56
H.R. 5206, To allow Foreign Service and other executive agency
employees to designate beneficiaries of their death benefits... 76
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 5206 offered by
the Honorable Alan Grayson, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Florida......................................... 78
H.R. 5241, To prohibit United States Government recognition of
Russia's annexation of Crimea.................................. 79
H.R. 5656, To authorize the Feed the Future Initiative to reduce
global poverty and hunger in developing countries on a
sustainable basis, and for other purposes...................... 81
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 5656 offered by
the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in
Congress from the State of New Jersey........................ 95
Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to
H.R. 5656 offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith.. 108
H.R. 5685, To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of
1956 to require congressional notification not less than 15
days after a reward is authorized under the Rewards for Justice
Program of the Department of State, and for other purposes..... 110
H.R. 5710, To authorize the provision of assistance on an
emergency basis for countries affected by or at risk of being
affected by the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease to
effectively address such outbreak at its source, and for other
purposes....................................................... 112
Amendment to H.R. 5710 offered by:
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith............................. 122
The Honorable David Cicilline, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Rhode Island............................... 123
The Honorable Scott Perry, a Representative in Congress from
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania............................. 125
H. Res. 714, Reaffirming the peaceful and collaborative
resolution of maritime and jurisdictional disputes in the South
China Sea and the East China Sea as provided for by universally
recognized principles of international law, and reaffirming the
strong support of the United States Government for freedom of
navigation and other internationally lawful uses of sea and
airspace in the Asia-Pacific region............................ 126
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 714 offered
by the Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Representative in
Congress from American Samoa................................. 134
H. Res. 758, Strongly condemning the actions of the Russian
Federation, under President Vladimir Putin, which has carried
out a policy of aggression against neighboring countries aimed
at political and economic domination........................... 143
Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 758 offered
by the Honorable Eliot L. Engel, a Representative in Congress
from the State of New York................................... 157
APPENDIX
Markup notice.................................................... 184
Markup minutes................................................... 185
Markup summary................................................... 187
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith:
Prepared statement............................................. 188
Material submitted for the record.............................. 190
The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Representative in Congress
from American Samoa: Prepared statement........................ 191
The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Florida: Prepared statement.................. 192
The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress
from the Commonwealth of Virginia: Prepared statement.......... 193
The Honorable William Keating, a Representative in Congress from
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Prepared statement.......... 194
VARIOUS MEASURES
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2014
House of Representatives,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:32 a.m., in
room 2712, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ed Royce
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Chairman Royce. All right. We are going to ask all the
members to take their seats, and this committee will come to
order.
Pursuant to notice, we meet today to mark up eight
bipartisan measures. And I want to begin by thanking all our
committee members. And I want to thank the staff on both sides
of the aisle here for the extensive preparation that went into
this markup today.
Without objection, all members may have 5 calendar days to
submit statements for the record.
And all members were notified yesterday we now intend to
consider en bloc the eight measures and amendments provided to
your offices previously. And so, without objection, the
following items will be considered en bloc: H.R. 2901, the
Water for the World Act; Poe Amendment 110 in the nature of a
substitute; H.R. 5206, to allow Foreign Service officers to
designate death benefits to the beneficiaries; Grayson
Amendment 301 in the nature of a substitute; H.R. 5241, the
Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act; H.R. 5656, the Global
Food Security Act; Smith Amendment 80 in the nature of a
substitute and Smith Amendment 84 to the amendment; H.R. 5685,
the Rewards for Justice Congressional Notification Act; H.R.
5710, the Ebola Emergency Response Act; Smith Amendment 82;
Cicilline Amendment 51; and Perry Amendment 45; House
Resolution 714, regarding the peaceful resolution of maritime
and jurisdictional disputes in the Asia-Pacific region;
Faleomavaega Amendment 22 in the nature of a substitute; and,
last, House Resolution 758, condemning the actions of the
Russian Federation toward neighboring countries; and Engel
Amendment 68 in the nature of a substitute.
[The information referred to follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Royce. So 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.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman Royce. Yes. Let me recognize the gentleman from
California.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Reserving my right to object to the
unanimous-consent request.
Chairman Royce. Yes, Mr. Rohrabacher.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Let me just note that the State Department
has taken enormous efforts to prevent Members of this body from
going to certain parts of the world. And, in this case, we are
talking about Erbil and getting firsthand knowledge of what is
going on in Kurdistan and the threat that we face in that
region.
Not only have I been thwarted in my efforts to do this, to
get a firsthand look and get firsthand knowledge of this threat
to our security as well as to the stability of an entire region
of the world, but I know that you and Mr. Engel have been
thwarted in your attempts. The chairman of our Foreign Affairs
Committee and the ranking member, as well as people who have
been involved in these issues for decades have been thwarted by
the State Department, unelected bureaucrats, from going to get
firsthand knowledge.
All this while our allies--for example, the members of the
British Foreign Affairs Committee of their parliament--have
been given free ride to go there and see what is going on and
make their determinations of what policy their government
should have.
Now, I will be going to that region sometime soon, but let
me note that the arrogance of our State Department in trying to
prevent us from having firsthand knowledge is unacceptable. And
if it continues, I will personally object every time there is a
unanimous-consent request from this administration for any
funds that will go toward the State Department. And we cannot
tolerate these types of roadblocks and hampering of our ability
to have the congressional oversight over American policy that
we are expected to have.
Now, let me note, this is not just a problem with this
administration. So I hope my friends do not think that I am
saying this in a partisan way. I am not. We have had this
problem in the past. And it is time for us to make sure that
the legislative branch can do its job, that we can do our
responsibility in representing the interests of the American
people and that, as I say, the unelected appointees who think
they are the czars of foreign policy better not try to oversee
democracy, or some of us will prevent any type of legislation
from coming through that they want to come through this body.
Mr. Connolly. Would my friend yield?
Mr. Rohrabacher. I certainly would.
Mr. Connolly. I just want to say to my friend from
California, at least speaking for this gentleman on this side
of the aisle, I couldn't agree with him more. It is not the
role of any executive-branch agency to prevent the legislative
branch from undertaking its constitutional responsibilities.
And while we delegate a lot of responsibility to the State
Department in the execution of foreign policy, correctly so,
and there are constitutional boundaries that we must not
overstep in the delegation of those responsibilities as
specified also in the Constitution, we have a separate but
equal role in the Constitution. And the State Department and no
executive-branch agency must interfere with the execution of
those responsibilities.
And if those responsibilities include our travel to areas
we feel need to be examined, that is our business. That is the
legislative branch's constitutional right, and it cannot be
interfered with. So I support the assertion being made by my
friend from California, and I would hope the State Department
would relent.
Thank you.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Thank you very much.
And, with that, I withdraw my--do I? No, I still remain----
Chairman Royce. I appreciate--if I could reclaim my
recognition, and I will speak to this issue at this time.
Mr. Rohrabacher. That is correct. Yes, sir.
Chairman Royce. First of all, let me say that this has been
an ongoing problem for members of this committee.
Let me also articulate an observation here, that I believe
that part of the problem has not only been with the State
Department but with the government in Baghdad that has made it
increasingly difficult for Members to fly, obviously, directly
into Erbil. And we have had close discussions recently and I am
working with Members here right now on both sides of the aisle
and with our Ambassador in Baghdad in order to work around this
problem to make certain that, in the future, our Members can
travel to Erbil.
Let me say also that, with respect to the conduct of the
government in Baghdad, myself and Eliot Engel are introducing
legislation today which, for the first time, will provide
temporary authority for us in the United States, for the
President, to provide weapons directly to the Kurdish Peshmerga
forces fighting ISIS on the ground.
And the reason we are doing this--not only, again, is it
difficult for Members to fly into Erbil because we are blocked
by the government in Baghdad for doing so directly, but it has
also been the case that, as over a 600-mile front the Peshmerga
fight against ISIS, they fight without the weapons that they
need to properly defend themselves.
They fight with small arms against armor and artillery and
mortars. They cannot obtain, or they have had a great deal of
difficulty obtaining the anti-tank missiles they need, the
artillery pieces they need, that they are willing to buy, the
long-range mortars they need, the armor they need.
And after months of watching these brave men and women--and
30 percent of these battalions are made up of women, female
fighters--after watching them hold off these attacks from ISIS,
it is long past time that our Government figure out a way to
help those who are bleeding and dying on the ground to actually
turn back the ISIS battalions, to help them get the weaponry
they need.
So let me assure Members on both sides of the aisle that we
are going to continue to move forward with our initiatives in
this legislation which Mr. Engel and I have drafted. I urge any
members here who are concerned about the situation faced by the
Peshmerga or over these arguments about our engagement with
those doing most of the fighting on the ground there in Iraq,
please cosign our legislation.
We now move back to remarks on the items under
consideration en bloc. And I will finish my little statement
here on each of the measures before us briefly, if I could. You
all have been provided the text of the legislation.
So we have eight measures by the members before us. Let me
turn first to Water for the World.
We have 750 million people lacking access to safe drinking
water. This bill will ensure that existing U.S. investments in
water are effective and sustainable by authorizing and
clarifying the responsibility of two existing advisory
positions and prioritizing our water programming, placing a
greater emphasis on its impact and its sustainability.
And I want to thank Representatives Blumenauer and Poe for
their good bill. And I see Mr. Blumenauer here. If he would
stand, and I just wanted to thank him for his engagement with
this committee. [Applause.]
And this provides strategic direction to this program and
improved oversight. And we have put a lot of time and effort
into it with Mr. Poe.
We have H.R. 5206, this death beneficiaries provision. And
I want to thank Mr. Grayson and Mr. Smith for their close
collaboration on the amendment, which will now allow Foreign
Service officers to select the beneficiaries of their death
gratuity after giving priority to widows and dependent
children.
H.R. 5241 is the Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act. I
want to commend Mr. Connolly and Mr. Chabot for their work on
this bill. And, frankly, Russia's annexation of Crimea is a
clear violation of U.N. charter. And Moscow's formal commitment
to respect Ukraine's sovereigty is violated by what they have
done, as well. They signed that as part of the 1994 Budapest
Memorandum.
So the U.S. has never recognized, obviously, the illegal
annexation in the past of Estonia or Latvia or Lithuania by the
Soviet Union, and, by that same argument, we should not
recognize this act of aggression either.
H.R. 5656 is Feed the Future. In an effort to break the
current cycle of dependency on U.S. international food aid,
USAID has begun investing in programs that develop agricultural
practices in key countries, particularly this applies to
Africa. This bill, as amended, captures the best attributes of
this current strategy while providing a roadmap for future
work. It enhances congressional oversight. It forces greater
collaboration across the many agencies engaged in food and
agricultural assistance. And I want to thank Mr. Smith for his
leadership in bringing this measure forward today.
We have the Rewards for Justice, H.R. 5685, offered by Mr.
McCaul, to ensure that Congress is kept fully informed of
developments in the State Department's Rewards for Justice
Program, which offers rewards for information leading to the
apprehension of terror suspects. I had successful legislation
last Congress to expand this program, and Mr. McCaul's bill
adds critical oversight.
We have H.R. 5710, Emergency Ebola Response Act. And though
there are signs of progress in Liberia, the Ebola epidemic
continues to spread throughout West Africa, leaving a trail of
human and economic destruction in its wake. It is clearly in
the interests of the United States to support a coordinated
international effort to contain the outbreak of its source.
I will mention the French delegation was here meeting with
us yesterday.
This bill provides a framework for that response. It sets
out policy priorities, it provides key authorities, and it
authorizes vital funding. And I want to thank Chairman Smith
and Ranking Member Engel for their work on this important
measure and recognize the contributions made by Mr. Cicilline
and Mr. Perry. I encourage members to support the bill and the
amendments.
We go to House Resolution 758, condemning the actions of
the Russian Federation. We thank Mr. Kinzinger for introducing
this bill. Obviously, Russia's continuing political, military,
and economic aggression against Ukraine, as well as Georgia and
Moldova, needs to be called out. Unfortunately, the U.S. and
international sanctions imposed on Moscow have not yet
convinced Putin to reverse course and end his aggression
against Ukraine. We need to keep the pressure up.
And, lastly, House Resolution 714, South China Sea
Resolution.
And I want to take a moment before concluding our remarks
here to thank the gentleman from American Samoa, Mr.
Faleomavaega, for his nearly 4 decades of service in Congress
and on this committee.
And I want to thank him also for his authorship of House
Resolution 714, which rightfully calls for a peaceful
resolution of the ongoing territorial disputes in the South
China Sea--a critical commercial hub rife with shipping lanes,
energy resources, fishing territories. And this is a blueprint
to get us back to a peaceful resolution.
So thank you, Mr. Faleomavaega. And you will be missed.
[Applause.]
I now recognize our ranking member, Mr. Engel of New York,
for his remarks.
Mr. Engel. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Let me, before I make my remarks on the bill, just quickly
talk about two of the things that you mentioned.
I am glad that our bill giving the arms to the Peshmerga is
going in, is being introduced today. It is something that
affects all of us, and we have been frustrated about it for
some time.
Flying to Erbil, when we were in the region, I remember how
we couldn't go there because there was just so much red tape it
became ridiculous. And so I hope--I am sympathetic to what Mr.
Rohrabacher had to say. I think it is ridiculous that there are
restrictions placed on Members of Congress to do this.
But thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important
markup and for the bipartisan approach, as always, you have
brought to all of these measures.
Firstly, let me express my strong support for H.R. 2901,
the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act. I applaud Mr.
Blumenauer and Mr. Poe for their hard work on this bill, which
has garnered more than 100 bipartisan cosponsors.
The United States and our partners have helped provide
clean water to millions of the world's poorest people. Despite
that progress, more than 750 million people still lack access
to clean water and 2.5 billion don't have proper sanitation
facilities. This bill will help target our investment in water-
development programs where they need it most, and I urge my
colleagues to support it.
Next, I want to thank Congressmen Grayson and Smith for
their leadership in introducing H.R. 5206. This legislation, as
amended, would allow Foreign Service officers killed in the
line of duty to designate the beneficiary of their death
gratuity if they have no surviving spouse or children. This
will obviously give our diplomats benefits similar to that
provided to our servicemembers, and I urge my colleagues to
join me in supporting this measure.
Mr. Chairman, I also support H.R. 5241, legislation
introduced by Congressman Connolly to prohibit the United
States from recognizing Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine.
This brazen act is one of the most serious violations of
international norms since the Second World War.
Putin's nonsense rings hollow when he talks about trying to
protect ethnic Russians and that is the reason for his
aggression. It reminds me of the same thing that Adolf Hitler
said in 1938 when he went into the Sudetenland supposedly to
protect ethnic Germans. Dictators always use this as an excuse,
and the world shouldn't be fooled by it. We need to send Putin
a clear message that his forcible takeover of Crimea, an
integral part of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, will never be
recognized by the United States.
Next, I strongly support H.R. 5656, the Global Food
Security Act of 2014. Around the world, 842 million people are
hungry. Malnutrition causes about half of all deaths of
children under 5. That amounts to 3.1 million children each
year.
I had a discussion earlier in the week with the USAID
Administrator, Rajiv Shah, who said that this bill was one of
his priorities and very, very important. And I want to thank
you, Mr. Chairman, for your personal help and intervention in
making sure that this is on the calendar. I think we are doing
good work by passing this bill.
USAID's Feed the Future Initiative, championed by
Administrator Rajiv Shah, is only a few years old, yet has
already delivered real results in fighting world hunger,
poverty, and malnutrition. This bill, authored by
Representatives Smith and McCollum, authorizes this proven
approach to food security.
Mr. Chairman, I also support H.R. 5685, the Rewards for
Justice Congressional Notification Act. And I thank Congressman
McCaul for his work on this issue. Quite simply, this bill
would require the administration to notify Congress when it
authorizes a reward under the Rewards for Justice Program. The
committee already passed this language as part of H.R. 5041,
the Naftali Fraenkel Rewards for Justice Act, and we should do
so again.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you for including the
Ebola Emergency Response Act, H.R. 5710, in today's markup.
This important legislation provides key authorities in support
of the ongoing American response to the outbreak of Ebola in
West Africa. It also asserts our committee's jurisdiction over
this issue by authorizing the International Disaster Assistance
Account at USAID.
I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman--Mr. Chairman
Royce, Mr. Smith, and Ms. Bass, for their hard work on this
bipartisan legislation and encourage all of my colleagues to
support it.
I would also like to express my support for the amendment
offered by Congressman Cicilline in the en bloc, which
recognizes the critical contributions made by health workers in
the fight against Ebola.
Next, I would like to thank Mr. Faleomavaega for
introducing H. Res. 714, which reaffirms the strong support of
the United States for peaceful resolution to disputes in the
South China Sea and East China Sea.
The United States is a Pacific power. We have a vital
interest in freedom of navigation and overflight in these
disputed areas and unimpeded lawful commerce. These rights are
universal, not granted by some states to others. The East and
South China Sea disputes must by resolved diplomatically and
without force or coercion. Territorial claims and arbitration
of those claims should be based in international law.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Mr.
Faleomavaega for all of his contributions to this committee.
Mr. Faleomavaega and I are classmates. We both came to Congress
back in 1988. We have been on this committee ever since then,
and we have worked so closely together.
I was just at a party, a farewell party I guess, that he
had in his office last night. I was reminiscing with him and
his wife about all the trips that we all took together in those
early years with my wife and me and all the good times we had.
So, Eni, we are going to miss you, but we hope that you
will continue to come around and give us your advice and
counsel. We really love you, and we really think that you are
just a Member's Member.
Over the years, Mr. Faleomavaega has served with great
distinction as both chairman and ranking member of the
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. He was talking about the
importance of Asia for the United States long before anyone
decided we needed a pivotal rebalance to the region.
So, Eni, you will be missed. We love you, and we wish you
the best in your future endeavors. [Applause.]
Mr. Chairman, I would also like to express my support for
H. Res. 758, a resolution introduced by Congressman Kinzinger
that condemns Russian aggression in Ukraine and other areas.
This resolution reaffirms our position that Russia's
aggression is unacceptable. But I support taking even stronger
action. We need to dial up the pressure on Russia and expand
our assistance to Ukraine, including the provision of lethal
aid and defensive weapons.
At this moment, Ukraine faces an ongoing invasion of
Russian military forces, daunting economic challenges, and the
prospect of a harsh winter ahead. This crisis ranks among the
greatest threats to European security since the Second World
War.
Vladimir Putin's aggression poses a direct threat to the
interests of the United States and our allies, and I look
forward to working with the chairman on legislation to confront
this crisis in Europe's largest country. Nobody is proposing a
land war or any kind of war with Putin, but there are sanctions
that can be had that can really make him understand the
economic sanctions, that there is a price to pay for his
aggression.
And, finally, before I close, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank
my friend Congressman Brad Schneider for his service to the
people of the 10th District of Illinois and to this committee.
Brad came to Congress ready to work, full of ideas, and
with a real commitment to getting things done. Through his
leadership and bipartisan work with Mr. Meadows, this House
considered an important bill to block Hezbollah's access to the
global financial system. He and Mr. Collins also introduced and
passed legislation to improve Israel's QME, or qualitative
military edge.
I have always appreciated Brad's thoughtful approach and
his sound advice. I have gotten to know him very well and have
relied upon him numerable times for so many important things.
Brad, this committee won't be the same without you. We wish
you well and Godspeed. [Applause.]
And, finally, Mr. Chairman, in closing, I would like to
thank you once again for your bipartisan leadership of this
committee. I am very proud of the members on both sides of the
aisle of this committee, and I truly can say that I think the
Foreign Affairs Committee is the best darn committee in all of
Congress.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [Applause.]
Chairman Royce. Well, thank you, Mr. Engel.
There is one unfortunate development on the floor calendar,
and that is that they have moved the votes up and we are going
have a vote in about 10 minutes. I would encourage the members,
we can submit statements for the record, but as I recognize you
for comments, I would hope you would be succinct.
And so who is in the queue here?
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
I will put my statement in the record, and I just wanted to
give a good shout-out to a true American treasure.
Eni, we are going miss you a lot. And I did not know that
you had met Elvis. You are a cooler dude than I thought.
Thank you.
Chairman Royce. I think we should go right to Eni.
Mr. Faleomavaega?
Mr. Faleomavaega. Mr. Chairman, my distinguished ranking
member, I want to thank you for including House Resolution 714
for markup, and I appreciate your support of my amendment in
the nature of a substitute, which will be considered today.
Since 2012, I have called for a peaceful and collaborative
resolution of maritime territorial disputes in the South and
East China Seas. Many of my colleagues, both Republicans and
Democrats, have stood up with me on this issue, and I want to
especially thank Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Chairman
Steve Chabot for their leadership on this matter.
I also thank each of you for agreeing to move this
resolution forward. This will be the last resolution introduced
by me, and it is my sincere hope that, given the importance of
this resolution, that the House will consider it before the
113th Congress ends.
I have served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee since
I first came to the U.S. Congress in 1989. For as long as I
have served, it has been and continues to be my belief that the
United States should pay more attention to the Asia-Pacific
region. Two-thirds of the world's population resides in the
Asia-Pacific region.
We should also pay particular attention to the ongoing
tensions in the South and East China Seas. Although the United
States Government is not a claimant in maritime disputes in
either the East China or South China Seas, the United States
has an interest in the peaceful, diplomatic resolution of
disputed claims in accordance with international law and
freedom of navigation and overflight and the free flow of
commerce, free of coercion, intimidation, or the use of force.
In 2002, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which
is ASEAN, and China committed to developing an effective code
of conduct. But, regrettably, China has increased oil
exploration in disputed areas, implemented measures which
attempt to change fishing regulations, cut the cables of a
Vietnamese exploration ship, used guns to threaten Vietnamese
fishing boats, warned an Indian naval vessel, rammed Japanese
patrol boats, fired shots at a Philippine fishing boat, killed
a Taiwanese fisherman, established Sansha City, conducted
military exercises in the South Chinese Sea to flex its muscle
and deter other claimants, and declared an Air Defense
Identification Zone, ADIZ, over the East China Sea. And this is
just the tip of the iceberg, I submit, Mr. Chairman.
I commend Vietnam for its peaceful but courageous stand,
which led to China's withdrawal of the Chinese HD-981 oil rig.
And I also commend Taiwan and Japan for peacefully reaching an
agreement and jointly sharing fishing resources in their
overlapping EEZs through the East China Initiative, which
demonstrates that resolution can be achieved through peaceful
means.
And as our Savior said and taught us, hopefully, in the
Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the peacemakers, for they
shall be called the children of God. And as I leave this
distinguished committee and this great institution--and I have
had the privilege and honor and will remember you all, truly,
as peacemakers--I hope I will be remembered as a peacemaker, as
well. I believe in peace, and I thank you for the opportunity I
have had to associate with each of you.
And for those who have served with us in this distinguished
committee, it has been my distinguished honor to serve as
chairman. Steve Chabot on the Subcommittee on Asia and the
Pacific, I am going to miss him and each of you. But I have
every confidence that you will continue to be instruments for
good for a great Nation and ultimately to promote peace
internationally.
With that, I yield, Mr. Chairman. [Applause.]
Chairman Royce. Thank you.
And we go now to Mr. Chris Smith.
Mr. Smith. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. I will be very brief and
ask that all of my statements be made a part of the record.
To Eni Faleomavaega, thank you for your service.
Eni and I have served on many committees together over the
many years. And he has provided an education, I think, for all
of us, particularly on nuclear testing and the deleterious
effects it has had, continues to have on people in the South
Pacific.
So thank for your good work, and we will miss you, Eni.
Very briefly on the Global Food Security Act, H.R. 5656,
let me thank Chairman Royce and Eliot Engel, Chairman Royce for
scheduling this important markup, for the helpfulness of the
committee staff: Piero Tozzi, Joan Condon, Katy Crosby, Tom
Sheehy, Ed Burrier, Doug Anderson, Janice Kagayutan,
legislative counsel Mark Synnes. I don't think there is a
better legislative counsel on all of Capitol Hill. I have been
on a number of committees in the past and he does the best work
I have ever seen.
I want to thank my prime cosponsor, Betty McCollum, and her
staff, Kelly Stone and Jean Holcomb, and, of course, Ranking
Member Karen Bass, with whom we do everything in a very
bipartisan way.
This is important legislation. It is urgent legislation to
help provide a durable solution to global hunger by authorizing
existing national food security programs and then laying out a
roadmap for the future.
We held a hearing on March 25th of this year on the
critical first 1,000 days of life, from conception to the
second birthday. We have been working African leaders on that
for well over 7 years. And that is the key time, if you want to
save lives and if you want to hopefully have a live that is
filled with immunity against malaria and a whole lot of other
things going forward, that is when you have to fortify these
children with good food and good supplementation.
In Nigeria--and I was in Abuja this year and spoke in a
conference--in Nigeria alone, 562,000 kids die every year as
either stillborn or neonatal deaths. That can be cut to a very,
very small number. Every death is important--every life is
important. Every death, hopefully, can be averted. But we can
cut that number, and it is all about making sure that there is
proper food and supplementation.
And this also gives us the ability--and I would ask to put
in a letter by Dr. Shah. He lays out some of the great
successes already achieved.
The Ebola Emergency Response Act, cosponsored by myself and
Karen Bass, is also an important bill that puts a framework and
gives Congress a further role in ensuring that this terrible
crisis of Ebola is combated. We have had three hearings in the
subcommittee. Chairman Royce had a major hearing in the full
committee. We think we know what we have to do. This provides
additional support.
And, finally, to Congressmen Blumenauer and Poe, we had a
hearing on August 1, 2013, on his legislation and on the
initiative. Thank you. Water is a precious resource. This will
provide more of it and making sure that it is clean.
I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Yeah, well, the vote is on, so we are going
to go to Mr. Connolly of Virginia.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will try to speak
fast.
I want to thank you and Mr. Engel for bringing up this
package of en bloc bills, especially my bill and that of Mr.
Chabot, H.R. 5241, the Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act.
The dangerous precedent set in Crimea cannot be
understated--or overstated. Russia's illegal annexation of
Crimea undermines Ukrainian sovereignty and threatens the
stability of European borders. Acquiescence on the part of the
United States and its allies would threaten the security of
sovereign nations. Who is next? Moldova? Georgia? The Baltic
Republics?
For a country seeking to shed authoritarian institutions,
Western economic prosperity and democratic freedoms have
historically functioned like a shining beacon. Cold-war-era
geopolitics dictated that the end game for the Soviet Union was
to extinguish that beacon. In the post-cold-war era,
unfortunately Putin's Russia seems once again to be setting its
sights anew on extinguishing that beacon.
When Russian troops were identified as fomenting unrest in
Crimea in February of this year, the Russian Prime Minister,
Putin, adamantly denied any such involvement. By April, Russia
had illegally annexed Crimea and Putin had come clean about
blatant Russian intrusion into Crimea, admitting that Russian
troops had been deployed to Crimea before the illegal
annexation of March 21.
Now Putin's playbook is being put to use in eastern
Ukraine. Last week, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg
certified a serious Russian military buildup in the eastern
part of Ukraine. The U.S. and European allies have issued
successive rounds of sanctions and warnings, as Russian
aggression has mounted and spurred violence and destruction in
the region, including the downing of a major commercial
aircraft--a terrible loss of life.
However, I continue to be stuck on Crimea, and I hope we
are too. The U.S. lacks credibility objecting to Russia's
aggression elsewhere, including eastern Ukraine, without a firm
stance on the illegal annexation of Crimea in the first place.
To concede Crimea, as George Bernard Shaw said, ``is to descend
simply into a process of quibbling about the price.''
Congress must make a simple declarative statement on
Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. This bill does just
that.
The legislation prohibits any Federal department or agency
from taking any action or extending any assistance that
recognizes or implies recognition of the de jure or de facto
sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea, its airspace
or territorial waters. It authorizes the President to waive
such prohibition if he determines that doing so is vital to
U.S. National security interests, which I hope will never
happen.
As Mr. Engel indicated, during the cold war era, the United
States had a policy of nonrecognition regarding the Soviet
Union's annexation of the Baltic Republics. The U.S. Recognized
neither the de jure nor de facto sovereignty of the Soviet
Union over those republics.
Our policy of nonrecognition did not end in 1991 because it
had become outdated or failed to recognize a fait accompli on
the ground, although I can attest there were many in Washington
and elsewhere who believed it quixotic that we did not
recognize such de facto occupation and that those Baltic
Republics would forever be in the Soviet Union. The Baltic
people gained their independence in 1991, almost 50 years after
Soviet occupation after World War II, and today Estonia,
Lithuania, and Latvia are NATO allies.
This is an important moment for the United States and our
allies. We are not seeking a return to cold-war brinkmanship,
but all of our last century's history tells us that the bullies
can never be satisfied by concession.
I thank the chair and the ranking member.
Chairman Royce. I thank you, Mr. Connolly.
In September, we had the Secretary of State here before
this committee, and Mr. Rohrabacher raised the issue at that
time of providing temporary authority to provide weapons
directly to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The legislation that
myself, Mr. Engel, and Mr. Rohrabacher will draw up today will
do exactly that.
We now go to Mr. Rohrabacher of California.
Mr. Rohrabacher. I will be supporting the en bloc
amendment, but let me remind our colleagues that this is only
saying that these bills should be permitted to come to the
floor.
I have some serious objections to several of these bills. I
would, for example, have been much more pleased with
legislation calling for Russia to have internationally
supervised elections in Crimea to see where the people of
Crimea would like to go, what their sovereignty would say at
the ballot box.
But, with that, knowing that we have very limited time, I
will support the en bloc amendment, realizing there are some
disagreements on other areas, like with Mr. Blumenauer and the
efforts of Mr. Smith, with helping children and getting better
water. Of course, we are all in favor of that.
One last note: Eni and I went to one of our first CODELs
together up to northern Pakistan into--what is the name of that
city, Eni, up there? Peshawar. Peshawar. And the State
Department didn't try to stop us. We were meeting with some
very radical elements of the Afghan society, and at the end of
our meetings, instead of trying to say, ``You can't come and
talk to these people,'' they issued us guns and said, ``Put
these guns under your pillow, and if anybody tries to come in
your room during the evening, shoot them, because they are
there to kill you.'' And that is a far-cry difference from the
attitude we have now with the roadblocks; ``Don't talk to
anybody, and don't come up.''
So, with that, Eni, it has been a wonder working with you.
God bless you.
Chairman Royce. Mr. Rohrabacher, I had wondered why Eni
started laughing when you started to tell the story, and now we
all know why.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman Royce. Thank you.
We have 5 minutes left on the vote. If I hear no further
requests for recognition, I will call the question on the items
considered en bloc.
Hearing no further requests, all those in favor, say aye.
All those opposed, no.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. And the
measures considered en bloc--H.R. 2901, 5206, 5241, 5656, 5685,
5710, and House Resolution 714 and House Resolution 758--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 today. I thank our ranking
member and all the committee members for their contributions
and assistance.
The committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:13 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Material Submitted for the Record
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Material submitted for the record by the Honorable Christopher H.
Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey
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