A Look Ahead — Week of November 17-21
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced the following upcoming Committee events:
Tuesday, November 18
Subcommittee Hearing: Fighting Ebola: A Ground-Level View
10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 18 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
Mr. Rabih Torbay
Senior Vice President for International Operations
International Medical Corps
Mr. Brett Sedgewick
Technical Advisor for Food Security and Livelihoods
Global Communities
Darius Mans, Ph.D.
President
Africare
Chairman Smith on the hearing: “In our third hearing over the past four months on the Ebola virus in West Africa, the subcommittee will examine this fight from the vantage point of people on the ground who have been contracted to provide services, including patient treatment, local medical efforts and community disease education. It is imperative that in Congress’ efforts to work with the Administration we know how successful efforts havebeen to date and whether adjustments are needed to more effectively achievedisease mitigation goals.”
Tuesday, November 18
Subcommittee Hearing: Unaccompanied Alien Children: Pressing the Administration for a Strategy
2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
The Honorable Roberta S. Jacobson
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Ms. Elizabeth Hogan
Acting Assistant Administrator
Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean
U.S. Agency for International Development
Mr. Robert N. Kaplan
President and Chief Executive Officer
Inter-American Foundation
Chairman Salmon on the hearing: “In the past 12 months, over 66,000 Unaccompanied Alien Children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have left their home countries to embark on a dangerous trek to the southern border of the United States. These children and their families are being lured and misinformed byhuman smugglers and drug traffickers who have taken advantage of our unenforced immigration laws. This has resulted in extremely dangerous conditions for these unaccompanied children, while weakening our capacity to secure our southern border. This is particularly troubling now as we face the danger of increased terrorist threats with the growth of ISIS, in addition to the existing insecurity posed by narcotics traffickers. I am convening a second hearing on this crisis to press the administration for a thorough description of its strategy to address the issues contributing to the shocking migration patterns from Central America. A solid strategy should include income generation and capacity building programs for the region.”
Tuesday, November 18
Subcommittee Hearing: Iranian Nuclear Talks: Negotiating a Bad Deal?
2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18 in 2200 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
Ray Takeyh, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
Council on Foreign Relations
Mr. J. Matthew McInnis
Resident Fellow
American Enterprise Institute
Mr. David Albright
President
Institute for Science and International Security
Chairman Poe on the hearing: “According to reports, not much progress has been made since the last extension of nuclear talks in July. If the Iranians are buying for time, they shouldn’t get additional sanctions relief simply to kick the can down the road another 4-5 months. It’s time for Congress to hold the line and ensure that this Administration and the P5+1 don’t make a dangerous deal. This hearing will examine concerns over the current negotiations and also outline what an acceptable deal might look like.”
Tuesday, November 18
Subcommittee Hearing: Water Sharing Conflicts and the Threat to International Peace
2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18 in 2255 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Chairman
Invited Witnesses include:
Paul Sullivan, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
National Defense University
Amanda Wooden, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Bucknell University
Chairman Rohrabacher on the hearing: “Throughout history, nation states have often fought to secure natural resources. Unfortunately, such conflict is not limited to the past, but a reason for conflict even today. Along the Nile River and in Central Asia, disputes over water sharing, management, and infrastructure increase tensions when regional cooperation would benefit all the governments and peoples involved. This hearing will allow Members to ask detailed questionsabout the specifics of each case and learn how the U.S. Government and the Congress can play a positive role in facilitating agreements to help turn resource driven hostility into a mutual benefit.”
Wednesday, November 19
Markup: H.R. 2901, H.R. 5206, and H.R. 5685
10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 19 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman
Bills to be marked up:
H.R. 2901, Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2013
H.R. 5685, Rewards for Justice Congressional Notification Act of 2014
Wednesday, November 19
Subcommittee Markup: H.R. 5648
2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman
Bills to be marked up:
H.R. 5648, United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2014
Wednesday, November 19
Subcommittee Hearing: Next Steps for U.S. Foreign Policy on Syria and Iraq
2:30 p.m. in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
The Honorable Robert Stephen Ford
Senior Fellow
Middle East Institute
(Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria)
The Honorable Elliott Abrams
Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
Council on Foreign Relations
Kimberly Kagan, Ph.D.
Founder and President
Institute for the Study of War
Steven Heydemann, Ph.D.
Vice President of Applied Research on Conflict
United States Institute of Peace
Chairman Ros-Lehtinen on the hearing: “Over the past two years, the Middle East and North Africa subcommittee has held ninehearings that have focused on the situations in Iraq, Syria or on ISIL. The one takeaway we have had from each of those hearings was that U.S. policy in Iraq and Syria, and our strategy to combat ISIL, is inconsistent, indecisive andinexcusable. The U.S. government strategy must not continue to allow Assad to act with impunity as more than 200,000 Syrians have been killed since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. Nor can our strategy continue to allow large portions of Iraq to remain in the hands of the terror group ISIL. We are now several months into our engagement against ISIL, yet our strategy has not had the kind of impact we had hoped, and this hearing is an opportunity for ourMembers to assess the effectiveness of our policies toward Iraq, Syria and ISIL thus far, and to evaluate how our strategic goals and objectives need to change in order to seek progress on these fronts.”
Thursday, November 20
Subcommittee Hearing: Examining What a Nuclear Iran Deal Means for Global Security
1:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 20 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
General Michael Hayden, USAF, Retired
Principal
The Chertoff Group
(Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency)
Mr. Mark Dubowitz
Executive Director
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Mr. Karim Sadjadpour
Senior Associate
Middle East Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Chairman Ros-Lehtinen on the hearing: “With the November 24th Iran nuclear negotiations deadline fast approaching, it is important for Members to express their concerns with any potential deal and its aftermath. The Iranian regime has shown no signs that it will cease its enrichment of uranium, or dismantle its nuclear weapons program which remains a threat to U.S. national security interests and regional security. In fact, Iran has only become bolder in recent weeks, calling for the annihilation of ourclosest ally in the Middle East, the democratic Jewish state of Israel. Congress has led the push on Iran sanctions in an effort to force Tehran toabandon its nuclear pursuit and that is why Congress must have a say in anyfinal agreement with Iran. Any nuclear deal that could have such a large impact on our national security must not be made unilaterally by the Administration.”
***See foreignaffairs.house.gov for updates.
***Coverage note: All Foreign Affairs Committee proceedings are webcast live at foreignaffairs.house.gov/live-video-feed.
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