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

Wednesday, June 20
Hearing: U.S. Policy Toward Afghanistan

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

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

Invited witness includes:

The Honorable Alice G. Wells
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
U.S. Department of State

Chairman Royce on the hearing: “A stable and secure Afghanistan is in the interest of the United States. Achieving this requires a credible U.S. military presence and an equally strong diplomatic strategy. This hearing will look at the administration’s policy toward Afghanistan, particularly in light of upcoming elections, the challenges regional actors pose to Afghanistan and efforts to counter violent extremism.”

Wednesday, June 20
Subcommittee Hearing: The Trump-Kim Summit: Outcomes and Oversight

2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 20, in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), Chairman

Invited witnesses include:

Mr. Bruce Klingner
Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia
Asian Studies Center
The Heritage Foundation

Michael J. Green, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President for Asia
Japan Chair
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Mr. Abraham Denmark
Director
Asia Program
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Chairman Yoho on the hearing: “President Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong Un does not mark the end of a security crisis, but the beginning of a new phase in managing the North Korean threat. A head-of-state level meeting is an unprecedented diplomatic step, and the Kim regime has used such diplomatic gambits as cynical ploys for decades. Until Kim lives up to his word, we have no evidence to show that this isn’t just more of the same. We must maintain pressure until denuclearization is complete, verifiable, and irreversible, and ensure that the security needs of our South Korean and Japanese allies are met. Congress must play an aggressive oversight role, so in this hearing we’ll begin identifying priorities and areas of concern.”

Wednesday, June 20
Subcommittee Hearing: Human Rights Concerns in Sri Lanka

2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 20, in 2200 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. J.S. Tissainayagam
Journalist and Human Rights Advocate

Michael Jerryson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Youngstown State University

Mr. David M. Crane
Principal
Justice Consultancy International, LLC

Chairman Smith on the hearing: “Although the civil war ended almost 10 years ago, important work remains to make sure basic human rights are being respected in Sri Lanka. The resurgence of Buddhist Sinhalese nationalism poses a particular challenge to ethnic reconciliation. It is imperative for Congress to exercise leadership on this issue and ensure that a country as strategically located as Sri Lanka doesn’t collapse again.”

Thursday, June 21
Subcommittee Hearing: Russian and Chinese Nuclear Arsenals: Posture, Proliferation, and the Future of Arms Control

2 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

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

Invited witnesses include:

Austin Long, Ph.D.
Senior Political Scientist
RAND Corporation

Patricia M. Kim, Ph.D.
Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations

The Honorable Frank Rose
Senior Fellow
Security and Strategy
Foreign Policy Program
The Brookings Institution
(Former Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, U.S. Department of State)

Chairman Poe on the hearing: “With the world’s attention focused on the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, it’s vital that we do not forget the advancing capabilities of our most powerful nuclear rivals. In the last year, both Russia and China unveiled new nuclear weapons that are specifically designed to target the United States in the event of a nuclear conflict. Meanwhile, Russia is in clear violation of its Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty obligations and China is rapidly expanding and modernizing its nuclear arsenal. As these two principal rivals continue to aggressively assert their influence around the world, it is essential that we explore how the world’s most dangerous weapons factor into the equation and how we may be able to mitigate this enormous threat.”

 

***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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