UPDATED: A Look Ahead—March 21-25
*Witness list changed*
**Hearing postponed**
Washington, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) announced the following upcoming Committee events:
Tuesday, March 22
Hearing: Women Fighting for Peace: Lessons for Today’s Conflicts
10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, March 22 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
Her Excellency Betty Bigombe
Senior Director for Fragility, Conflict and Violence
The World Bank
Her Excellency Monica McWilliams
Professor of Women’s Studies
Transitional Justice Institute
Ulster University
Hassan Abbas, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
Regional and Analytical Studies Department
National Defense University
Ms. Jacqueline O’Neill
Director
The Institute for Inclusive Security
Chairman Royce on the hearing: “This timely hearing will examine the critical role of women in resolving conflict and promoting security. It will feature testimony from two courageous women leaders who risked much to end violence in their respective countries, blazing a trail for women peacemakers to come. Their successes and setbacks carry important lessons for the effectiveness of peace negotiations in Syria and Afghanistan, as well as efforts to prevent conflict and counter violent extremism in many other parts of the world.”
Tuesday, March 22
Subcommittee Hearing: Get It Right This Time: A Victims-Centered Trafficking in Persons Report
2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22 in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), Chairman
*Witness list changed
Invited Witnesses Include:
The Honorable Mark Lagon
President
Freedom House
Mr. Matthew Smith
Executive Director
Fortify Rights
Ms. Jinhye Jo
President
NKinUSA
Ms. Maria Werlau
President
Free Society Project
Chairman Smith on the hearing: “The State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is a highly effective diplomatic tool—the gold standard used by parliamentarians, law enforcement, and anti-trafficking advocates the world over to ensure their countries are actively prosecuting human traffickers, protecting victims, and preventing human trafficking. The 2015 TIP Report, however, was marked by well-founded criticism that political concerns trumped honest evaluation of the actual records of some countries on fighting trafficking, and significantly—and unjustifiably—padded their tier rankings. In advance of the 2016 TIP Report, this hearing will look closely at the records of several countries whose rankings are of particular concern, including Malaysia, Burma, China and Cuba.”
Tuesday, March 22
2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22 in 2200 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
Mr. Juan Gonzalez
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
U.S. Department of State
The Honorable Alan D. Bersin
Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Mr. Lev Kubiak
Assistant Director for International Operations
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Chairman Duncan on the hearing: “Following the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, reports surfaced that one of the individuals under investigation for participating in the attacks had spent time in Latin America. We also learned that five Syrians using fake passports had traveled freely through Argentina and Costa Rica before being apprehended by Honduran authorities. Others from Pakistan and Afghanistan have attempted to enter the U.S. through our Southwest border as was reported last November. Interpol has stated that only 5,600 out of 25,000 foreign terrorist fighters thought to be operating worldwide have been identified by law enforcement agencies. In view of this, I believe it is critical that we examine potential threats to the U.S. and the region from border security vulnerabilities and work to strengthen our security cooperation with our neighbors.”
Tuesday, March 22
**Hearing postponed
**2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22 in 2255 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
The Honorable Nisha Desai Biswal
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of South and Central Asian 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: “South Asia, with over 1.5 billion people, has enormous potential, but the region also faces major development challenges and threats from violent extremism, weak governance, and corruption. This hearing will conduct oversight on our diplomacy and foreign assistance in the region, and discuss ways to improve and streamline our efforts in South Asia.”
Tuesday, March 22
2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
Matthew Levitt, Ph.D.
Director and Fromer-Wexler Fellow
Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Mr. Tony Badran
Research Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Daniel L. Byman, Ph.D.
Professor
Security Studies Program
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
Georgetown University
Chairman Ros-Lehtinen on the hearing: "Hezbollah isn't just a threat to our ally, the democratic Jewish State of Israel, it is a growing threat to the region and to our own national security interests. The terror group – an Iranian proxy – has been helping keep Assad in power in Syria and prolonging the conflict there, while simultaneously building up its missile stockpile that it has targeted for attacks on Israel. There's no doubt that, in the wake of the sanctions relief for Iran as part of the JCPOA, Iran will only increase its support for the terror group, making it an even greater menace. This threat Hezbollah poses to the region has also led the GCC and Arab League to designate it as a terrorist organization. This hearing will allow our Members to hear the geopolitical ramifications of this designation, as well as the growing threats the radical group poses to the U.S., Israel and the region."
Wednesday, March 23
9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 23 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include:
Mr. Lee Wolosky
Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure
U.S. Department of State
Mr. Paul M. Lewis
Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure
U.S. Department of Defense
Chairman Royce on the hearing: “According to the Obama administration’s own figures, more than 30 percent of detainees released from the prison at Guantanamo Bay have returned to terrorist activities. Those that remain are among the most hardened and highly trained terrorists in the world – and they are committed to killing Americans. This hearing will allow members to question officials from Departments of State and Defense on the president’s plan to close the prison by bringing some of these terrorists to U.S. soil, and releasing others to countries that are ill-equipped to stop them from returning to the battlefield.”
***See foreignaffairs.house.gov for updates.
***Coverage note: All Foreign Affairs Committee proceedings are webcast live at foreignaffairs.house.gov/live-video-feed.
###