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

Tuesday, April 19

Joint Subcommittee Hearing: Israel Imperiled: Threats to the Jewish State

1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), Chairman

Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman

Invited Witnesses Include:

Michael Rubin, Ph.D.
Resident Scholar
American Enterprise Institute

Johnathan Schanzer, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research
Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Mr. David Makovsky
Ziegler Distinguished Fellow
Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Tamara Cofman Wittes, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Middle East Policy
Brookings Institution

Chairman Poe on the hearing: “In recent years the threats to Israel have grown more deadly and diverse. In addition to a strengthened Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, Israel is now also surrounded by an active ISIS affiliate in the Sinai and a destabilized and full-blown terrorist haven created by the Syrian civil war. Added to all of that is a wave of Palestinian lone wolf attacks that have proven very difficult for Israel to prevent and are encouraged and glorified by the Palestinian Authority leaders, underscoring their lack of willingness to engage in meaningful peace negotiations with Israel. Beyond terrorism, Israel faces a barrage of de-legitimization campaigns represented by the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that seeks to isolate Israel internationally until it is ultimately dissolved. Then there is of course the nuclear agreement with Iran, which all but ensures an existential threat in a nuclear armed Iran after the agreement’s sunset provisions come into effect.  Members will have an opportunity to gain a better understanding of these many threats Israel faces and hear some new policy recommendations to ensure that the United States stands beside its strategic ally.”

Chairman Ros-Lehtinen on the hearing: “The democratic Jewish State of Israel is facing new threats to its security as the Syrian conflict continues so close to its borders and as Palestinians are being incited to violence and carrying out lone wolf knife attacks that have left Israelis unnerved. But it is perhaps the efforts being waged against Israel to delegitimize it in international fora, such as the UN, and through measures meant to isolate it from the global community, such as the BDS movement, that have become more apparent strategic threats to the Jewish State. This hearing is an opportunity to assess the assorted and complex threats facing the United States’ closest friend and major strategic partner, Israel, and to explore ways in which Congress and the administration can work to help our ally counter these threats.”

Tuesday, April 19

Subcommittee Hearing: FY 2017 Budget Priorities for East Asia: Engagement, Integration, and Democracy

1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19 in 2200 Rayburn House Office Building

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

Invited Witnesses Include:

The Honorable Daniel R. Russel
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State

The Honorable Jonathan Stivers
Assistant Administrator
Bureau for Asia
U.S. Agency for International Development

Chairman Salmon on the hearing: “If the United States is to continue to lead in what some call the “Asian Century,” our strategy for engagement in the Asia-Pacific is paramount.  The region faces some of the world’s most dire security challenges, including the North Korean nuclear threat and the militarization of the South China Sea, but it also offers the biggest economic opportunities on the globe, a part of which is the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.  In this hearing, we will assess the Administration’s fiscal year 2017 budget request for State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development activities in the region to determine whether it properly resources the Asia Rebalance, and ensures that U.S. taxpayer money is being used appropriately and efficiently.”

Wednesday, April 20

Markup: H.R. 1150, H.R. 3694, H.R. 4939, H. Con. Res. 88, S. 284, and S. 2143

10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 20 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

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

Measures to be marked up include:

H.R. 1150, Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2015

H.R. 3694, Strategy to Oppose Predatory Organ Trafficking Act

H.R. 4939, United States – Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016

H. Con. Res. 88, Reaffirming the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as the cornerstone of United States-Taiwan relations

S. 284, Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act

S. 2143, A bill to provide for the authority for the successors and assigns of the Starr-Camargo Bridge Company to maintain and operate a toll bridge across the Rio Grande near Rio Grande City, Texas, and for other purposes

 

***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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