UPDATED: A Look Ahead — Week of September 8-11

Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced the following upcoming Committee events:

Joint Subcommittee Hearing: China’s Advance in Latin America and the Caribbean

Thursday, September 10 at 2 p.m. in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Chairman

Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Chairman

Invited Witnesses Include:

Evan Ellis, Ph.D.
Author
China on the Ground in Latin America

Enrique Dussel Peters, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Chinese-Mexican Studies
School of Economics
National Autonomous University of Mexico

Ms. Serena Joseph-Harris
Chief Executive Officer
Sirius International (Caribbean) Defense Contractors Ltd.
(Former High Commissioner of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago)

Chairman Duncan on the hearing: “The lack of U.S. leadership and engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean has led to other countries taking steps to fill the vacuum. Secretary Kerry’s announcement in 2013 that ‘the era of the Monroe Doctrine is over’ effectively put other countries, such as China, Russia and Iran, on notice that the U.S. would no longer contend their actions in our neighborhood. In particular, China is building a vast array of diplomatic, economic, and military ties with multiple countries in the region. This year, China promised its investment in the region would hit $250 Billion over the next decade. A proposed Chinese-funded and Chinese-controlled Canal in Nicaragua, estimated to cost almost $70 Billion, aims to rival the Panama Canal and provide greater access for Chinese ships, and potentially submarines, to waters near the U.S.  A Chinese-funded ‘twin-ocean’ railroad project connecting Peru to Brazil will also project greater Chinese influence and access in the region. The U.S. cannot continue to ignore China’s presence in this hemisphere. It should serve as a jarring wakeup call that just a few days ago, five Chinese navy ships were spotted off the coast of Alaska. This hearing will examine China’s activities in the Western Hemisphere and consider how the U.S. can better balance those actions with more effective engagement in the region.”

Chairman Salmon on the hearing: “China’s growing economic, trade, military, and diplomatic relationships with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have strategic implications for our foreign policy and engagement. China is leveraging its vast pool of “no-strings” capital for investment in industry and infrastructure to garner friendships in our hemisphere. An energy and commodity hungry country, China is also fostering robust trade relationships in the region. Nuclear cooperation, shared space assets, and arms sales further amplify the China-Latin America relationship. This hearing will uncover China’s strategy with LAC countries and examine how the United States can more effectively manage and balance its relationships with LAC countries and China.”

Hearing: Implications of a Nuclear Agreement with Iran (Part V)

Committee on Foreign Affairs
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman

Invited Witnesses Include:

The Honorable Juan C. Zarate
Chairman
Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies

Robert Satloff, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Howard P. Berkowitz Chair in U.S. Middle East Policy
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Olli Heinonen, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University

Mr. Robert Einhorn
Senior Fellow
Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence
Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative
Foreign Policy Program
The Brookings Institution

Chairman Royce on the hearing: “This agreement is fatally flawed. The Obama Administration has committed to providing Iran permanent sanctions relief from the U.S. in return for temporary and inadequate constraints on Iran’s nuclear program. It will permit Iran to launch an industrial-scale nuclear program after 10 years, continue to block international inspectors from its secret nuclear facilities, hide its past work on a nuclear weapon, and emerge with its record wiped clean. This hearing is part of a series to examine the nuclear agreement and discuss ways to lessen the fallout from this bad deal.”

***See foreignaffairs.house.gov for updates.

*** The hearings will be webcast live HERE.

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