Washington, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) announced the following upcoming Committee events:

Wednesday, April 5

Subcommittee Hearing: Turkey’s Democracy Under Challenge

2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 5 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Chairman

Invited Witnesses Include:

Mr. David L. Phillips
Director
Program on Peace-Building and Rights
Institute for the Study of Human Rights
Columbia University

Mr. Mehmet Yuksel
Representative to the United States
People’s Democratic Party in Turkey

Mr. Ali Cinar
President
Turkish Heritage Organization

Ms. Naz Durakoglu
Strategist and Senior Fellow
Digital Forensic Research Lab
Atlantic Council

Chairman Rohrabacher on the hearing: “Turkey, under the current leadership of President Erdogan, is heading in exactly the wrong direction. Journalists, educators, judges, as well as others, have been arrested as part of a nation-wide suppression of any political opposition. Erdogan is positioning his government and has been making statements that are belligerent to the interests of friendship and cooperation between our two countries. All of this is counterproductive and inappropriate for a NATO ally and a country that has been a strong friend of the United States for many decades. This hearing will give us, Members of Congress and the American people, a look at what is going on with the Turkish government as we watch and wait for the results of a course-changing constitutional referendum in Turkey later this month.”

Thursday, April 6

Subcommittee Hearing: Enforcement Is Not Optional: The Goldman Act to Return Abducted American Children

12 p.m. on Thursday, April 6 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:

Noelle Hunter, Ph.D.
Founder
iStand Parent Network
(Mother of Child Returned from Mali)

Mr. James Cook
(Father of Children Abducted to Japan)

Augusto Frisancho, M.D.
(Father of Children Abducted to Slovakia)

Mr. Vikram Jagtiani
Co-Founder
Bring Our Kids Home
(Father of Child Abducted to India)

Chairman Smith on the hearing: “The Trump Administration has the opportunity to prioritize the enforcement of the Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act and show foreign countries that the United States means business when we ask for the return of American children suffering from international parental child abduction.  Signed into law almost three years ago and largely unenforced by the last Administration, the Goldman Act requires a series of escalating actions against countries that persistently refuse to cooperate in the resolution of abductions.  Barely one-third of nearly 1,000 children abducted each year are coming home with the meetings-and-letters approach of the last Administration, even from allies like Japan, India and Slovakia.  Brokenhearted parents from across the country are hoping and praying that the new Administration will finally set things right and put American parents and children first.”

 

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

***Coverage note:  All Foreign Affairs Committee proceedings are webcast live at www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/live-video-feed.

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